The most underrated film cameras

retrogamer1990

retrogamer1990

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In the same spirit as the recent "10 greatest" thread, post the cameras that you think are the most underrated and why. Doesn't have to be 10, just whatever you can think of! Give some love to the overlooked ones - don't let leica take all the limelight :D

I'll start with

Canon EOS 30: fantastic, very modern autofocus canon slr with some brilliant features (eye control!) and cracking ergonomics. I was very surprised to see them going for about £30-40 on the bay, considering how nice they are.

Olympus XA2: you rarely see one for more than £25, but why? They're so small, have a zuiko wide lens, and just... shoot. Great travel camera.

Nikon F801: I had one of these a while back, and gave it away with regret. They've got all the mod cons, take nikon glass, are nice to use, well made...and I've seen a few go for a tenner online.
 
My vote is the Olympus Mju ii true it might not have many controls but it's great lens certainly makes up for it!
 
Good idea. I would suggest the Voigtlander Vito series. Cracking lenses on v simple but stylish bodies and built to last. I've had a few and they all produce great images and can be picked up for peanuts.

Andy
 
I would venture here the Nikon EM, Nikon developed the camera with the Lady photographer in mind, see the publicity of the time.

The camera is small light as its own E series lens range designed for the camera, but will take all Nikkor AI and more manual lenses, it is auto/ aperture priority with M90 for when battery gives out mid film and B.

A thoroughly good camera to use as walk about in town street work candid's that will never let you down on quality of shot.

Nikon spent serious money in trying to develop this market and I believe the camera for next to nothing now is a great buy.
 
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walsh said:
My vote is the Olympus Mju ii true it might not have many controls but it's great lens certainly makes up for it!
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I'm biased because I've got one, but I wouldn't call it particularly underrated, the reviews I've seen have all been positive. To quote a certain mr Rockwell: "Least expensive pro-image-quality 35mm camera: Olympus Stylus Epic. ($85) This camera is a pro's secret: it has a super sharp, super fast f/2.8 lens and is even splashproof! This is the best $85 you can spend if you don't need to zoom."

The only downside I've seen is the program keeps the lens wide open as long as possible, and only stops down when it runs out of shutter speed, but hey-ho, it's still sharp.
 
medwaygreen said:
I would venture here the Nikon EM, Nikon developed the camera with the Lady photographer in mind, see the publicity of the time.

The camera is small light as its own E series lens range designed for the camera, but will take all Nikkor AI and more manual lenses, it is auto/ aperture priority with M90 for when battery gives out mid film and B.

A thoroughly good camera to use as walk about in town street work candid's that will never let you down on quality of shot.

Nikon spent serious money in trying to develop this market and I believe the camera for next to nothing now is a great buy.
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Hey EM for a Lady :LOL: My father then me (at first) have been using it for about 15-20 years. Got the exposure right 99% of the time...nice simple camera.

Nikon EM shot
Ibizasunset800px.jpg
 
retrogamer1990 said:
Olympus XA2: you rarely see one for more than £25, but why? They're so small, have a zuiko wide lens, and just... shoot. Great travel camera.
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Well I have one and wasn't impressed as it didn't seem to cope with indoor shots (without flash), maybe it was faulty as I bought it for a £1 at the bootie.
 
More Nikon suggestions from me:

Nikkormats generally (FT2 and FT3 possibly best). Nobody seems to want these, but they are extremely tough, reliable workhorses, and beautifully made. I recently bought an FT3 with a couple of lenses on ebay for £40. I didn't want one of the lenses so I put it straight back on ebay, and sold it for £42! So the remaining camera plus Nikkor 50mm lens were essentially free (minus a bit of ebay fee and postage).

F90: this was a very advanced semi-professional and well made camera and remains excellent to use today. Yet you can easily pick one up for about £30. (go for an F90x if you get the choice). Criminally under-rated these days. While everyone raves (justifiably) about the F100, which you can buy for about £150, the £30 F90 does almost everything just as well.

FG: light, small, quite advanced technically (TTL flash, P and A modes), yet unloved by most Nikon collectors. Much more useful camera than its sisters the EM and FG-20, in my opinion. Also available for peanuts.
 
I agree with the FG, though I'm biased as it was my first SLR and I got some great pictures while travelling.

Not so sure about the F90 though, as it can't do aperture priority with a G-series lens while the F100 can (F90 requires an aperture ring on the lens). So 90% of an F100 ... ;)
 
Strappy said:
I agree with the FG, though I'm biased as it was my first SLR and I got some great pictures while travelling.

Not so sure about the F90 though, as it can't do aperture priority with a G-series lens while the F100 can (F90 requires an aperture ring on the lens). So 90% of an F100 ... ;)
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At 20% of the price.

Like I said, under-rated ;)
 
Strappy said:
I agree with the FG, though I'm biased as it was my first SLR and I got some great pictures while travelling.
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My first Nikon SLR was an FG. I still have it and it works fine.

It was very well specified for its time with programme mode and TTL flash metering and it's a lot more compact than most other Nikon bodies.


Steve.
 
Another vote for the Olympus XA2! Fantastic little camera. And the Praktica MTL-3, everyone's had one, they'll survive the apocalypse, you can also use them as self-defense weapons.
 
Sadly the old faithful Russian heavyweight Zenits seem to not rate very high with many photographers.

Yes they're heavy, limited to 1/500 shutter speed and a 1/30 synch but on a positive note lenses cost peanuts , they don't need batteries and if you drop one, it doesn't usually mean a fatal end to its life!
 
-Another vote for Zenits, My gdad told me a story of how he defended him self with a Zenit E back in 70's while someone tried to mug him back in Communist Poland, the only damage was 2 guys knocked out on the floor. Camera is now on my shelf, working like new.

-Russian cameras in general, yes they are mostly copied but that's the point. If you can't beat the best, copy them! Zorki's are brilliant! Early FED's too. Smena 8M or Symbol are brilliant as a walk around ''so what if i drop it'' camera and the triplet lens still manages good photos.

-Russian lenses, yes they are copied again, but Helios 44-2 go for about £20 on ebay and with it on my DSLR I manage to take some of my best photos.

(Canon EOS 1000D + Helios 44-2)
 
I bought an Olympus OM10 the other day to pinch parts from to refurbish one of my OM1's. I can't bring myself to take it apart though. It feels quite cheap but I'm so impressed by how well everything works on it. Cost me £5!

Also love the Minolta CLE's though not sure they'd be classed as underrated but I rarely hear anything about them.

One of my other favourites is the little Minox 35 GT. My Dad's had one for years and I've always admired it.
 
The mju II definitely goes for quite a bit (one went on the bay for £60+ a couple of days ago), it's reputation is very well known. Many of the underrated cameras I can think of are mentioned already, often the ones that cost absolutely peanuts but at the time were decent prosumer cameras. The F-801(S) is the one that springs to mind, it was basically the D600 of its time (below the F90 and flagship F), and yet on a good day they go for £10-20.
 
walsh said:
My vote is the Olympus Mju ii true it might not have many controls but it's great lens certainly makes up for it!
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Agree it's a great camera but wouldn't say it's underrated the second hand prices are very high for a full auto compact!
 
excalibur2 said:
Hey EM for a Lady :LOL: My father then me (at first) have been using it for about 15-20 years. Got the exposure right 99% of the time...nice simple camera.

Nikon EM shot
Ibizasunset800px.jpg
Click to expand...

Hi there you go, it,s so easy to take shots in a foreign climate, give us some UK shots please.(y):D
 
freecom2 said:
The mju II definitely goes for quite a bit (one went on the bay for £60+ a couple of days ago), it's reputation is very well known. Many of the underrated cameras I can think of are mentioned already, often the ones that cost absolutely peanuts but at the time were decent prosumer cameras. The F-801(S) is the one that springs to mind, it was basically the D600 of its time (below the F90 and flagship F), and yet on a good day they go for £10-20.
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The F-801(S)

You cannot keep a secret, can you,;) I agree 100%, (y)
 
I've really struggled to think of one but i'd say the Olympus OM-40 SLR is underrated and overlooked, it reminds me very much of a Canon AE-1 Program, it has a nice mix of automatic and manual features, takes modern batteries, has a comfortable rubber hand grip and can be had for very little, like £10-20 for a body, i've seen them go with 50mm 1.8 Zuiko lenses for under £50, bargain.

That F-801s is pretty cool, has the retro 1980's styling but prosumer level spec, even lower level DSLR from Nikon don't have 1/8000th top speed. That F-801s was pretty much the replacement for the FE2. The Canon equivalent would be the EOS 5 which can be had for less than £50 today but is high spec.

It's really hard to think of an underrated camera since most of the hidden gems are no longer hidden now. I agree with the Olympus XA2, people tend to go for the older Trip 35 or the newer Mju-II, i've owned a Trip 35, XA, XA2 and i have two Mju-II's currently, the XA2 is a great little camera and i'd use it over the annoyingly fiddly XA rangefinder and the bulky and too basic Trip 35 any day, i often tell people thinking of a Trip 35 to get the XA2 instead since it's basically the replacement for the Trip 35 and much better, and for a little plastic camera it's really solid feeling.
 
Anybody want a quiz? Well these cameras I own or have used in the last few years...which one have I used most (excluding Pentax S3) and is one of my favourites (no love as they are just tools to me). You could also say what you would like to use out of the list as they can all take great shots (with the right lens of course).

Canon FTb
Canon A1
Canon AV1
Canon AE1
Canon T70
Canon T90
Centon K100
Contax 139
Fuji STX-2
Konica TC
Konica FT1
Konica FS1
Minolta X300
Minolta X700
Minolta SRT101b
Nikon EM
Nikon N2000
Olympus OM10
Olympus OM20
Pentax S3
Petri MF-1
Praktica MT3
Praktica MT5
Praktica BC1
Yashica FT1
Zenith monster for 15mins before I threw it into the bin
 
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as your most used, i'd guess the T70 Brian - personally - out of that list, i'd either take the A1 or T90, primarily because of the glass i've already got in stock. The choice would vary, as if I was going out with 2 bodies - 1b&w the other colour i'd want a matching pair of A1's - but I'd like to give a "tank" a proper workout - the one I bought (and promptly returned) had a certain appeal and I'd like to try a "kosher" example (though not enough to buy one, of course!)
 
TheBigYin said:
as your most used, i'd guess the T70 Brian - personally - out of that list, i'd either take the A1 or T90, primarily because of the glass i've already got in stock. The choice would vary, as if I was going out with 2 bodies - 1b&w the other colour i'd want a matching pair of A1's - but I'd like to give a "tank" a proper workout - the one I bought (and promptly returned) had a certain appeal and I'd like to try a "kosher" example (though not enough to buy one, of course!)
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Brownie points for you Mark got it in one :clap: The T90 with matching 300tl flashgun combo is superb and as for the tank..... someone knocked my T90 with the flashgun attached off a high desk, the flashgun took the main impact and snapped off at the hot shoe.....the T90 hot shoe? no damage.
 
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