The Best Camera In The World…Ever!

• Rog

  Member

  September 5, 2009 at 10:16 pm

  So, what is the best camera in the world…ever?
  This question will probably have almost as many answers as there are different cameras.

  Now, we all would, I’d presume at least some of the time, use digital.
  They give what’s demanded from most of us, most of the time, which is instant, convenient, cheap and high quality images. But, lets face it. They can seem a bit “soulless”.
  They’re like a Ford Focus, getting you from A to B in a cost effective, no frills fashion.
  But if you want the actual journey from A to B to be part of the enjoyment, wouldn’t you prefer a Ferrari, a Morgan , a Jaguar, or even a 4×4?

  Certain cameras have a certain indefinable attraction to different people. They just feel right.
  They do everything you want, but do it in style.

  I love the 500 series Hasselblads, so well put together. Everything works as it should.
  Everything feels like it’d last a lifetime. But they’re a bit too big and cumbersome to be my top choice.

  The Nikon FM2n. Small, compact, totally mechanical operation.
  Has anyone else ever thought about this? How is it possible, by means of just levers and springs, to make a shutter open and close in 1/4000 of a second? 1/4000?. And do it time after time for years on end? Amazing.

  However, my top choice has to be, the Nikon F3. It just feels so perfect when you pick it up.
  Everything is there, and everything works as it should. Metering is only centre weighted.
  No zone, partial, multi-zone or spot. Yet, it delivers accurately exposed transparencies over and over.
  It has interchangeable lenses, screens, backs and prisms. You can have a waist level finder.
  You can customise it to your own style or needs.
  It has depth of field lever, exposure compensation, flash sync socket, eyepiece blind.
  It’s manual, it’s aperture priority, it can even fire mechanically with dead batteries.
  It’s rugged, dependable and will last a lifetime. Unfortunately, the one thing it doesn’t have is…
  a sensor.
  If Nikon brought out an F3D, identical to the original, but with a 22MP sensor inside, I’d bite off their hands for one. The cost wouldn’t be a problem. I’d just have to have one.

  In the meantime, I think I’ll wheel out the F3 and take her for a spin, because sometimes the journey can be more fun than the arrival. :D