I want a tough camera

Jared

Jared

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To me, the weak link in all modern digital cameras seems to be the electrics in the rain so an obvious solution to me seems to be to buy a nice manual film camera with no electrics.

I do a lot of cycling and walking so I want it to be fairly light but I'm totally open to suggestions. A good quality M42 mount SLR seems a good idea to me as I have a range of lenses in M42.

However maybe an old "compact"/rangefinder would work just as well as I only want it for landscapes.

No Plastic :nono:

Oh and below £100 please
 
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If you can put up with something heavy then MTL3/5, Canon FTb, Minolta SR101 and similar...a bit lighter would be Pentax S3 to Spotmatics...also you can get early Konica cameras and use M42 adapter, but these would be on the heavy side. erm must be many more but that's all I can think of ATM.
 
"Fairly light" and "no plastic" is going to limit you to some pretty hefty old tanks you realise? Why not look at some of the bridge cameras... Ricoh Mirai, Canon Epoca, possibly even the AiBorg? Or the Chinon Genisis, Olympus AZ300, not to mention the Yashica Samurai (though they are half frame). These can out-weird the king of weirdness when he's having a good day!
 
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I just like the feel of metal, to me film + metal cameras is just more "organic" than electric plastic. (I know that makes no sense)
 
... waterproof, or even water resistant is going to be an expensive target to hit in that case :(
 
How about an Oly Trip 35, or one of the Oly rangefinders? The Trip has no battery, and is well within your budget.
 
Trip sounds good, any opinions on a Zorki 4, they look solid and well within budget?
 
Zorki=twice the size of a Trip... what exactly are you after here? I read this and think Konica C35... then maybe Yashica MG1... then I think Fujica Compact 35... do you want big in-ya-face metal or compact-delicate? You want old-style or new? fixed lens? Electrics-wise, Trip has photo-cell stuff so I guess that's out... but are you OK with no metering?
 
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Sorry, should have been more specific. In your face metal over compact delicate please and definitely old style, fixed lens is good and I'm fine with no metering.
 
M42 ? I had a zenit XP once.....it was a complete meat head.

Maybe you'd be risking reliability issues a little with it, but it felt like an indestructible tank in my hands compared to a spotmatic.

A heavy and tough camera with a mechanism that was exceedingly simple designed with the idea that "what isn't there, can't go wrong"

lol


sold it here - http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=219995&highlight=zenit
 
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Ambermile said:
Zorki=twice the size of a Trip... what exactly are you after here? I read this and think Konica C35... then maybe Yashica MG1... then I think Fujica Compact 35... do you want big in-ya-face metal or compact-delicate? You want old-style or new? fixed lens? Electrics-wise, Trip has photo-cell stuff so I guess that's out... but are you OK with no metering?
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Well the Trip has a photo cell but no battery; I'm assuming mine is prety rugged (after all, a camera has to have glass in it), and if you smash it, there's another somewhere for £20!
 
You want a film camera that is mechanical, without reliance on electronics, that can cope with a bit of rain, right? Might I suggest you forget your M42 lenses? Ok, you already have them, but lenses for old film cameras are cheap, third party lenses are really cheap, and by restricting your choices to cameras that take M42, you are looking at Eastern European cameras from the 1970s and 1980s and maybe older far eastern stuff.

What about any Nikon F, or F2? Good ones are not cheap but they fit your bill. Also, the Pentax LX is a great camera and will carry on working when the batteries die. Olympus OM1s, Nikon FMs (and Nikkormats) and Pentax MXs are maybe not as well put together as the previously mentioned Nikon and Pentax jobs, but should manage a mild shower.

Although I am a Nikon person, if I was looking for a good reliable, rugged film camera at a decent price without any previous lens investment, I would struggle to look beyond the Pentax LX.
Rangefinders are fine, but good ones seem to be getting expensive imho.
 
kenm said:
You want a film camera that is mechanical, without reliance on electronics, that can cope with a bit of rain, right?
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:thumbs::thumbs:

The Nikon looks fantastic but the prices appear to be quite steep. I don't mind a different lens mount, as I'd just be after one 28mm lens for it and that is all.
 
The Nikon FMs are pretty solid, and a lot less expensive than a good F2 (I have both). You lose the metering if the batteries go, but that's all - everything else is mechanical. They were quite popular pro back ups in their day
 
The only weathersealed 35mm cameras I know of are the Pentax LX and Olympus OM4Ti, Neither of which you will find cheap and neither of which have weathersealed lenses.

I've never had problems with any of my others in the rain though, even an OM10.
 
Alan Clogwyn said:
The only weathersealed 35mm cameras I know of are the Pentax LX and Olympus OM4Ti, Neither of which you will find cheap and neither of which have weathersealed lenses.

I've never had problems with any of my others in the rain though, even an OM10.
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Could always see about a proper waterproof mechanical 35mm film camera - Nikonos - mainly used for scuba diving, not sure of current prices but they have removable lenses and proper O ring seals on everything, they can be used to 30m (at least) scuba diving so I dont think a bit of rain will affect them too much :)

Matt
 
I nearly bought a Nikonos in South Africa a few years ago. There was no flood of quality 35mm gear coming onto the market when digital became dominant, and the rock bottom price window was short, but there were some good buys around. I'd always fancied one but I didn't really need it, and the money was going to be a stretch so I left it. Same story for a lovely F100 and another F2. Oh well................
 
MartynK said:
The Nikon FMs are pretty solid, and a lot less expensive than a good F2 (I have both). You lose the metering if the batteries go, but that's all - everything else is mechanical. They were quite popular pro back ups in their day
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hmm I like the FM :love: Batteries give it a meter but if they fail it all still works and I've never had a Nikon and that's an ich i'd love to scratch.
 
Most of the Nikonos series lenses are designed to work underwater only (UW series) and can't really be used optimally above water except for a few (W series) which were designed to be used for watersports etc on the surface but also work fine underwater but to not as good standards as the optimised UW lenses. There is also a water resistant but not waterproof LW lens for dry land use.

I don't think that their really what he's looking for as their optimised for use with diving etc and are not really designed for use as a general camera with various quirks such as the scale focus markings being tailored for the refractive index of water rather than air etc.
 
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