55 Comments
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Ivan Galic's avatar

Zenit 11 with a Helios-44 lens. As for digital cameras, nearly all the ones I use are “old”, dating from 2012 to 2016.

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Wesley Verhoeve's avatar

Classic too!

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Juliette's avatar

75% of my collection is comprised of older film and digital cameras... where to begin? My favorite is the Panny GM5. Goes with me everywhere. I can adapt older Olympus SLR lenses. For older cameras, regardless of whether MFT or APS-C, the key is zone focusing and manual lenses. However, there are some older P&S that have decent AF, especially Olympus. On another note, I would have loved to have been at Paris Photo. It looked amazing!!

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Wesley Verhoeve's avatar

Next year :) Thanks for sharing, so many gems!

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Alejandro De La Cruz's avatar

Yes. I bought a $150 Nikon FM2 recently because I have this urge to focus on all mechanical cameras since my Fuji X-T5 recently got a little "glitchy." It was a humbling few rolls of film but loved it.

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Wesley Verhoeve's avatar

ooohhh the FM2 is iconic!

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Andrew Hager's avatar

I’ve spent the week playing with an old Linhoff 4x5 view camera. Just a little EXPENSIVE fun. I live in a very seasonal place in the USA so I’ve been shooting closed-for-winter hotels and even an empty bible camp.

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Wesley Verhoeve's avatar

that sounds so cool!

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Gustavo Schiavon's avatar

I shoot mine gf1 exclusively at iso 1600, it's a vibe. It's got great manual control but I shoot most at shutter priority to mimic sunny 16 😂 because of the lack of constant preview, bit of a hassle to use a button to preview your image then you shoot, but that's more of a me problem

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Wesley Verhoeve's avatar

hahah hey but that is a totally legit way of shooting!

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Alexa Polo's avatar

I’m using a Olympus Xa2

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Wesley Verhoeve's avatar

Iconic little fella!

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Ed Clews's avatar

That GF1 is a champ. I still have mine on hand as a spare though the gx85 is my go to throw in the bag camera.

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Wesley Verhoeve's avatar

Great combo!

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Cedric's avatar

I really wish I could have come since I was in Paris and I visited Paris Photo too. But my dad's funerals were the next day, we were busy and I didn't want to leave my mum alone. Next year hopefully.

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Wesley Verhoeve's avatar

Cedric, you got your priorities right! I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your father. All the best, I can't even imagine. Next year I hope to see you and I hope things go well for your and your family until then

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George Webster's avatar

Another awesome read Wesley! I recently found a little Voigtlander vf135 that I'm hoping to put a roll through soon.

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Wesley Verhoeve's avatar

Thank you George! I have heard great things about the VF135!

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Madeleine's avatar

Great post! I have the Olympus Pen E-P1 that I use on occation, brought it this summer and it was the perfect camera to bringa to the beach. I love it! It is also form 2009, like the one you borrowed!

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Wesley Verhoeve's avatar

wonderful! 2009 twins!

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Julian Adam's avatar

Contax T2. I bought it last year and only managed to shoot one roll of film so far. I took some shots last week finally.

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Wesley Verhoeve's avatar

Oh boy, big classic!

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Jason Kravitz's avatar

Shooting mainly with modern MFT cameras, I forget about these old bodies and the unique look you get from older digital sensors. Do you know how the GX1 compare with the GF1? I saw someone selling one (GX) around here recently.

On a side note, finally got to take my Dad's Pentax ES out for a spin a few weeks ago and it did pretty good. The meter works but there is a slight issue for slower shutter speeds where the shutter closes and seems to get stuck. I have to burn a frame or two advancing film and it clicks back. Just posted a few of my pics in my Notes feed.

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Wesley Verhoeve's avatar

Love the Pentax ES! I am not familiar with the GX1 I am afraid.

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Jean-Paul Pastor Guzmán's avatar

Nice insights.. thanks!

About old cameras... after using heavily my lovely Olympus Mju II's and then Mju 1, i sticked to Minolta Riwa Zoom70 w. Unlucklily these ones did not last long (3 cameras in a 1 year) even though they are quite nice to handle. Now i am back on my Nikon L35 AF2 point and shoot camera... which i still had in my drawer. It's a bit more bulky but fun and easy to shoot. For fun i'm using sometimes the digital olympus mju mini digital from the early 2000s. Hilariously small but with its 4MP it comes with the film look. :D .

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Wesley Verhoeve's avatar

All fun ones!!

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daniel brenden's avatar

i've been using my 90s canon rebel 35mm with the pop up flash along with my mamiya 7 quite a bit lately!

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Wesley Verhoeve's avatar

Those punch so far above their weight!

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Natta's avatar

I have a Salyut-S sitting on my shelf that belonged to my grandpa and a bunch of expired film waiting for me!

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Wesley Verhoeve's avatar

oh wow I've never seen that one before Natta!

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Paul Votava's avatar

I like to go back to older cameras, it's a change in thought process and the "feel" I get in the super compacts is more like the snapshots that make the Ricoh GR series so popular. I have a GF-3 I picked up for cheap locally and I am surprised at the quality of the shots and some amazing features for how old it is. I still shoot on a very bulky Nikon D200 frequently and although not a great choice for low light without a tripod, and the fact it draws attention, the color science is such that SOOC shots are the norm, and smaller files to work with is another upside. The real benefit is how it makes me think about what I want out of my M43 mirrorless kit and how to tweak the exposure more than I have in the past for dramatic lighting in the RAW file instead of tweaking more in post.

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Wesley Verhoeve's avatar

Love that it does that for you Paul! We learn!

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