End Of Summer Reminiscing; My Favorite, Least Favorite, Best And Worst Film And Digital Cameras

Summer's over.  Beach is closed.  September storms have arrived. (click to enlarge)
Ricoh GRIIIx; 1/400th sec. @ f/8; ISO 100

It is the end of meteorological summer and, as every year this time, I’m about fed up with the hot, humid weather.  Are these the Dog Days of Summer yet?  I think they come in another month or so, but I’m ready for cooler, less humid and more pleasant weather—you know, the kind of days where you actually want to spend time outdoors.  

It is this cringeworthy time of year that I’ll spend a bit of time reminiscing about summers past.  One of the things I was recently thinking about was trying to quantify which of the cameras I’ve owned are my favorite, least favorite, best, worst and which ones I wish I still had and which ones I’ve regretted buying. 

I’ve owned and used and enjoyed as well as disliked many, many cameras, both film and digital, over my adult lifetime.  Too many.  Did I mention way too many?  I got my first camera for my 10th birthday (a Kodak Brownie Flashmite 20).  I still have it.  My second camera was a Kodak Instamatic 104.  Still have that one as well.  Not that those two were so good that they were worth keeping.  No, it just turned out they were put in boxes that moved every time I did and a few years ago I opened that box and found them.  But I digress.  As of today, I’ve owned over 100 cameras.  (Cringe! I hope my wife doesn’t read this post Yikes!)  

Over that time there have been some cameras that I really liked and some I sold not long after buying because the camera and I didn’t get along together so well.  Here is my list with various attributes attached.

Disclaimer:  I’m not saying that my choices are the best, worst, etc., of all cameras that have been made.  My selections were made from the list of the cameras I’ve owned and used.

Film Cameras  

Most Liked (35mm)  Nikon F3 HP.  

Most Liked (larger format)  Pentax 6X7.  I just couldn’t take a bad photo with this camera.

Best Made (35mm)  Leica M6, Nikon F2 & Canon Old F1 (tie). You could pound nails with these cameras.

Best Made (larger formats)  Mamiya C330f.  Another camera as solid as they get.

Most Capable (35mm)  Nikon F3 HP.  With the motor drive, it could go anywhere and capture anything.

Most Capable (larger formats)  Pentax 6X7.  All manual, solid, I could (and did) take it anywhere and everywhere.

Best Image Quality (35mm)  No answer as image quality is dependent upon film & lens

Best Image Quality (larger formats)  Tachihara 4” X 5.”  A beautiful and well constructed view camera.  Of course, the Schneider lenses made the difference.

Least Liked (35mm)  Leica R8.  I just couldn’t get past the shape.  Excellent build and all around camera, excellent lenses but I regret buying it.

Least Liked (larger formats)  Koni Rapid Omega 100.  Slow, cumbersome and quirky.  My first medium format camera.  I would regret buying it but I paid almost nothing for it.

Worst Made (35mm).  I would have to say some of the very early Canon AF cameras I owned.

Worst Made (larger Formats)  Holga120.  I had to tape up most of the inside to stop the light leaks.  Need I say more.

Digital Cameras  

Most Liked (full frame sensor)  Nikon Z8.  Amazing tool!  Image quality is as good as I would ever want it.

Most Liked (smaller sensor)  Fujifilm X100VI (X-T5 a close second).  I’ve written about both of these several times.  They just ‘work’ for me in every way.

Best Made (full frame sensor)  Nikon D850.  I think it was a bit better made than is the Z8.  A tank.

Best made (smaller sensor)  OM-1 Mark II.  Another, smaller, tank.  Dunk it in water, freeze it, it doesn’t matter.  This camera can withstand about anything.  Solid as a rock.

Most Capable (full frame sensor)  Nikon Z8.  Excellent, tried and true sensor with no mechanical shutter and fast readout, excellent image quality, fully featured. Wow!

Most Capable (smaller sensor)  OM-1 Mark II,  this camera may be the best bargain in the market today.  There isn’t much it can’t do.  No other camera has all the features that this camera has.

Best All Around Image quality (full frame sensor)  Nikon Zf.  The images look as good as those from the Z8 but don’t have the resolution.  But in low light the images hold up better than any other camera I’ve owned.  This is a keeper for sure.

Best All Around Image Quality (smaller sensor)  Fujifilm X-T5 (X100VI a close second).  These two camera with their 40mp sensors can do almost as much and are so close to being as good as the Z8 but are smaller, lighter and have better features.

Least liked (full format sensor)  I don't think I've not liked any of them. Liked them all in some way.

Least Liked (smaller sensor)  Canon G2.  My first digital camera.  A novelty is the best I can say about it.  I think the other tiny Canon point-and-shoot cameras are right there as well.  Very tiny controls and finicky to use.

Worst Made (full frame sensor) Can’t come up with one for this category

Worst Made (smaller sensor). Minolta Dimage 7.  All plastic with an EVf that was literally unusable.

Biggest regret buying (full frame). None.  They were all well worth the money.

Biggest regret buying (smaller sensor).  Minolta Dimage 7.  I was interested in the EVF with WYSIWYG.  Well, you really couldn’t see much through it.  So, it was a waste of money (although I still have it in its box.)

Overall Favorite Film Camera  

Pentax 6X7

Overall Favorite Digital Cameras  

Fujifilm X-T5 with the X100VI sneaking up quickly.

So there you have it.  Out of all of the cameras I’ve owned and used, these are the one I judged as most liked, least liked, best made and worst made, etc.  I’m sure you have your own list.  I’m sure there are many of us who would like to know your preferences.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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