Which camera has inspired you the most?

[jonoslack]

Just something I was thinking about tonight.
Some cameras 'just click' whilst others can be much better from a technical point of view but are lacking in soul.

So; was it that box brownie from your grannies attic, the Leica MP you saved up years to buy, that delicious E1 or your nice new Phase with a P65+

Tell us what presses your shutter!

 

[Vivek]

Jono,

None. There will never be one either.

 

[bbodine9]

The venerable E-1!

 

[thomas]

Cameras do not "inspire" me ... though sometimes they may evoke some technical faszination of the little boy in me...
A camera should follow the way I want to shoot - I don't like cameras that force me to operate them in a particular way. I am really not inflexible... actually I can adapt quite easy to any kind of gear. But still... I have preferences.
I like aperture rings on the lens (very much).
I like cameras where everything is in place... without complicated menus.
I like exchangable finders.
Pentax LX... Contax 645... tech cameras... that's what I like.

 

[GrahamWelland]

The next one ... :salute:

Actually the Leica M8 - M9 have been pretty inspirational in terms of pure photographic enjoyment. I love my MP but the digital connection is strong.

Photographically I think that my Mamiya 645AFD/Kodak 645M combination probably had me visiting more photogenic locations at prime golden light times than any other system I've ever owned. The love/hate relationship with that camera/back has produced the highest keeper print rate than anything that has followed.

Lastly, my Canon AE-1 for starting the journey ...

 

[Godfrey]

I don't know that cameras "inspire" me. Some have proven to be very nice to use. At present, all of my cameras do it well ... Olympus E-1, Panasonic L1, Panasonic G1, Minox EC and C ...

I wanted a Hasselblad SuperWide from the first day I saw one in 1967. Finally got one in 2002. Loved working with it. But it was at the inflection point when I was turning to digital capture entirely and found that I used it for a year and then it sat on the shelf. I sold it to finance other equipment and endeavors while I was still able to recoup 95% of what I'd paid for it. It's probably the only film camera I have occasional second thoughts about selling because it was just a fun camera to use. But if I really needed or wanted one, I'd find another.

 

[Leigh]

Two, at different times in my life:

1962 - Contaflex Beta - converted me to 35mm from the roll film formats I had been using.

1978 - Hasselblad - finally could afford one, and have used it happily ever since.

- Leigh

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

I've had three cameras with "soul":

The grey Rolleiflex Baby, which I sold when 127 film became difficult to find. Always regretted that, and in retrospect, I've always wondered how I could get exposure spot on without metering of any kind.

The OM-1, which was my main camera for 30 years. Although I had other lenses, I hardly used anything but the 50mm f/1.8. In the end, it was simply worn out, and replaced by an OM-3, which was a better camera, but not as loved as the OM-1.

The E-1. The most undervalued camera ever. A perfect travel companion, just like the OM-1, and with the 11-22mm, not much more was needed. I usually brought an OM 100mm f/2.8 too, in case I wanted to take photos of faraway places

And now? The Pentax K-7 has potential. If money allows, and preferably if Pentax gives it a better sensor, I will probably try, but not this year.

 

[etrigan63]

My first was the Yashica TL-Electro that got me hooked on photography.

My Leica M8 was the realization of a dream and a lesson in returning to the roots of photography. It made me a photographer again instead of a button monkey.

My Nikon D700 allowed me to capture the world of dance.

My journey continues, hopefully into the world of MFD.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Canon A-1, only camera I ever loved.

 

[PeterA]

Fair question Jono
simple answer - ALL of them -

otherwise I wouldn't bother!

Pete

 

[jonoslack]

Interesting replies.
I think it's an interesting subject, not quite sure how much it has to do with photography maybe it's more to do with 'things' - like having a nice pen to write with, or a nice computer to use - to some people it's really only the functionality that's important (Vivek?). I actually mind what I use very much, and like to have nice things about me.

For me, I think the Contax 139 I had in the 70s and Contax RTSII I had in the 90s did it for me. Then definitely the Olympus E1.

Now I think that my rather bashed up black M9 just about makes it.

 

[tomh]

Right after thinking "it is about capturing interesting images, not the camera", I had to admit the Canon S90 was what rekindled an interest in photography.

The S90 performs decently, but the important thing is it fits in a pocket and is always ready. After taking a couple hundred pictures, the bug to capture good images had asserted itself fully...

You quickly realize that equipment limits often stand between you and a good image, so knowing equipment capabilities is important. But, the object is still about capturing interesting images. That is what gets you out the door and looking at the world.

 

[Lisa]

The camera that inspires me is the one that I'm so experienced with that I can just take the photo without a lot of fussing around with it; the camera that just takes a good picture without being an intrusive part of the process. For me, it's my trusty Nikon D300 & IR-converted D200. Now & then I try a smaller camera (because the D200/D300 is a little too heavy for comfort for me), but I just can't get past getting frustrated with my unfamiliarity with it before I just go back to my D300 & D200. (That's why my Panny GH-1 is still sitting on the shelf - I do mean to get back to practicing with it more one of these days...)

Lisa

 

[tokengirl]

They all do. I wouldn't have bought any of them if I didn't feel strongly about them. They each have their own special characteristics and personality. Each one of them does something that the others do not - the funny little apps for my iPhone camera, the dreaminess and mystery of my pinhole camera, the wide perspective of my panoramic camera, the overall image quality of my Canon, the ability to see beyond the frame of my M6, the mystifying lack of weight and size of my little pink Superheadz Wide & Slim... I love them all, and they all inspire me.

 

[Jeremy]

Deardorff 4x5/5x7 field camera. This got me into large format. I now shoot with a 4x5 Chamonix instead (for a number of reasons), but this has been the greatest inspiration to what and how I work today as a fine art photographer.

 

[Bill_Green]

Cameras that inspired me as a pure mechanical device?
Sony A900
Nikon F3
Canon EOS 1vHS (this was the first camera I had that seemed to see the world the same way I did)
Hasselblad 501c/m

Cameras that created images that made my jaw drop?
Fuji GSW690III
Sinar F2
Leica DMR

As I have said before, the Sony A900 is the best overall camera I have used because most of the time it doesn't get in the way.

Edit: I should add that if there is one camera that changed my life it was a Nikon FM. Small and light. Everything I really needed, nothing I didn't. Always with me. RIP little buddy.

 

[bradhusick]

Two cameras changed my photographic life forever...

The first was the Nikon D1 - the first digital SLR. What freedom to experiment!!!

The second was the Epson R-D1. Combining rangefinder and digital was brilliant. Then came the M8, M8.2 and M9. Rangefinder photography is liberating.

 

[Don Libby]

Reminds me of the car commercial where the spokesperson asks - "when you turn your car on does it return the favor?".

My answer to that has always been my Cambo WRS1000/P45+ and I've now decided to add the Leica M9 to that list.

Might not answer you question but it's close...


Don

 

[Jack]

The camera that inspired me to explore photography to begin with was a Boy Scout Brownie in around 1963. The camera that got me into a state of creating serious images was a Nikon FE. The camera that taught me the most about photography and creating images was my first 4x5, a Linhof Technikardan.