Welcome, Paul. You’ve made a few interesting posts already. Glad to have you here. Looks like you could open your own camera store - that’s quite a collection. Tell us about its highlights. What are the best, your favs?
Sorry about the incoming novel....
For 35mm - Hands down the Contax RX is my favorite. It is a pleasure to use and you can tell the people who designed it love photography. It is a more modern film camera, so it has all the modes like aperature priority and program - but it retains manual focus. It has a nifty little display in the bottom of the viewfinder that indicates if and how back/front focused you are. It has probably the best sounding shutter ever put in a 35mm camera, the viewfinder is bright, clear, and precise. Film loading is easy, you don't have to feed it through anything or wrap/stick the leader in a particular slot or area. You can set the rewind to leave the leader exposed, which I love as it makes developing easier. It is heavy, and even heavier with my fav lens (Vario-Sonnar 28-85) but it is the kind of heavy that lets you know you are using something very special. It could take the worst pictures and I would still ove it just because of how nice of a machine it is, and how much of a joy to use it is.
I have a Minolta X700 that I have owned since the late 80s and has quite a few rolls through it as I like how compact and easy to use it is, and a Minolta Alpha/Dynax/Maxxum a7. The a7 is a very advanced camera and one of the last film cameras Minolta made and I like that is basically is a film version of my Minolta 7D digital. The bodies and controls between the two are almost identical, and they are both A-mount. I usually take both of them out together cause it is really easy to seamlessly swap between them and use the same lenses.I have a couple Minolta Hi-Matics and rarely use them - they are kind of "kid duty" for when I watch my friend's 8 year old once a week, she enjoys them as they are small.
The Canonet in the picture doesn't belong to me. My friend recently wanted to try shooting film again and this had been sitting around his house since new and developed a few issues due to not being used (stuck shutter and hazy viewfinder) so I repaired it for him. I am going to finish out the roll of film in it, develop it to verify my fixes and return it.
Medium Format is my favorite format to shoot, and if I had to choose a favorite it would be my Pentax 645. It is the original model with the 80s alarm clock controls (which I quite like.) It was the first medium format I bought, and I think they are quite the bargain these days for those wanting a reliable, quality medium format camera that takes excellent images. The lenses are affordable as well. When the adhesive that holds on the "leathers" started failing - I ordered a replacement set from Hugo Studios in red gator skin just to personalize it a bit. You feel like a "real" photographer when using a Pentax 645, the shutter is loud and reverberates through the body and the form factor, grip and weight conveys a very "I am doing something" mentality. I don't get some of the critisms they recieve, while it is large it isn't unweildly and the viewfinder is completely fine despite what people regurgitate about them being "dim." I think the whole "dim" viewfinder thing sprouts from people who haven't used many film cameras, and/or possibly came from the world of digital EVFs.
In a close second place is my Fuji GS645W. I really enjoy how small/portable/unassuming these cameras are for a medium format. It takes wonderful pictures and I like the constraint of the fixed lens. The metering system is easy to use and very accurate. The lens is super sharp and renders colors very well. Being a zone focus mostly manual camera - it is easy to use and I rarely "miss" with it. However, the reason it isn't my favorite is because how cheap it feels. It feels like a giant disposable, which is really disappointing considering the cost of these (both when new, and used nowadays.) I purposely sought out a like new, low use example and still everytime I use the film advance I wonder if this shot is the last before it breaks and I have to fix it. The shutter sound is pretty "meh" and the zone / aperature rings aren't very smooth or tactile. The viewfinder is quite good, and I like the simple "+ o - " metering display. It is easy to load and unload. I would imagine the Mamiya 6/7 "rangefinder" style medium formats are built better - but they are also 3x the cost.
Oh, and then there is the Bronica. I wanted a waist level viewfinder, as who doesn't love such a thing? I didn't want to spend Hassleblad money though - so the Bronica seemed like the answer. I bought a nice, tested and working model. Then it stopped working. Then I realized I probably shouldn't have bought an EC model as they are way harder to get stuff for and no one works on them. Four sellers, three countries, and many badly scanned service manuals that aren't for the model I own later - I have a really nice and *Fully Functional* Bronica EC. I have both the waist level viewfinder and the submarine periscope-esque viewfinder with a light meter. At this point I have enough spare parts to keep this one running for quite some time. That being said - it is fun to use and I like the 6x6 format. While it took too much money, too much time, and too much cursing - I am glad I own it.
Large Format - I only own one so it wins by default. I wasn't going to take the jump into 4x5 anytime soon - and had been looking at Intrepids casually for a while but was always turned off by their somewhat fragile construction and inprecise movement adjustments even though they are very portable and light. It just happened I was perusing Facebook marketplace on day and someone has posted up for sale a new in box Toyo 45G. I ended up messaging her and learned her and her husband were avid photographers in the 70s-80s but due to "life" never managed to find the time for the big Toyo. I bought it - and it indeed was new in the box. Never taken out of the plastic bag inside the styrofoam in the original delightful box. I figured I would sit on my shelf and when I was ready I would buy a lens, film holders, etc. I got home, took it out of the plastic and messed with it a bit and put it on a shelf. As I was going about my daily activities I had the feeling it was watching me, calling to me - so the same day I ordered a bunch of film holders, a couple lenses, a minolta spotmatic light meter, and everything else I needed. I ordered three 25 packs of B&W film, a developing tank, and watched a ton of youtube videos (especially like Matt Marrash's Large Format Friday series.) I also own the Lomography Instax back for it - which uses Instax Wide instant film and it is really fun and works great. I really like the mechanical nature of the camera - everything is on geared knobs and the adjustments are very precise, which I prefer over the adjustment style of something like an Intrepid. I stumbled upon a youtube video and a guy with the same camera had 3d printed a short rail, so he could collapse it and uses a backpack by a company F.64 to carry the camera. I ordered the same backpack (which even comes with external carriers for 4x5 film holders.) However he didn't publish his 3d printer files for the rail - so I got on TinkerCad and modeled up my own and printed it on my printers along with a ground glass cover I designed. I can now carry the big Toyo in one backpack (and it is comfortable to do so) which really lessens the barriers of using the camera since it is quite portable. It is a great camera, and with the Nikkor lenses I purchased takes great pictures.
Digital - I own a few digital cameras, and the main one I use and enjoy is a Lumix G9. I bought this a couple years ago to replace my aging Sony Nex-7. It feels like a bit of a super computer to use, and I love the viewfinder and controls. I ended up purchasing the Leica 100-400, Olympus 40-150 pro, and a Panasonic 12-60 lens for it so I have good coverage. It does everything right, and I feel like the pictures have more "character" then the Sony it replaced. I added an AlphaGvrd wrap to it for protection and personalization and an aftermarket battery grip. Everyone who I let use it also loves it. It is a great and under-rated camera.
I also own two Lumix GF1s. These were made around 2009. I wanted a cheap, tiny camera that could use my M4/3rds lenses I bought for the G9 and a local seller had a GF1, with two batteries and the box for $60 bucks. I bought it, then ordered a 14mmF2.5 pancake lens from KEH. I have to say, out of all the cameras I have owned over the decades these little guys surprised me the most. They are old, but the "straight out of the camera" Jpgs in the color preset modes - and especially in "Dynamic B&W" knocked my socks off. Once I used the first one I bought for about a year, I then I bought a second one that was a very low shutter count example (which cost me $150 lol) just to have as a backup. Every time I take this combo of camera and lens out I ended up with several shots that I just can't believe came from this old little pocket sized combo. I bought first row seats to a concert (Black Violins - so good!) and smuggled the little GF1 in. The venue has a "no photography" rule - but the band encourages it. The little GF1 done an amazing job even in those challenging light conditions. Outperformed my Pixel 7 cell phone by a large margin.
I also own a Minolta 7D ( 6.1MP baby!) and a Olympus E-500. These cameras have the now coveted "CCD" sensors that are all the rage, turns out I was ahead of the curve I suppose. They are both great cameras, and fun to use. I usually pair the 7D with it's film counterpart - the a7 (mentioned earlier in my dissertation.) I have a Pentax Q as well (it is so cute!) and actually quite nice to use, and produces really nice images.
And finally, my Sony Nex-7. I used this camera for over a decade. It was the camera that brought me back into photography after a hiatus. It has documented so many moments in my life I couldn't bring myself to sell it when I bought the G9. I had a handful of adapted older minolta lenses (MC/MD mount,) an adapted Petri 35mm lens, and a adapted Helios M42 lens. The only autofocus lens I had for it was a Sigma 19mm Art. It was my companion on countless trips, the birth of my best friend's two daughters and all the subsequent birthdays and graduations, many of my biggest professional projects, and some of the pics it took have been published in a few different magazines and books. I used it to shoot a couple comets over the years with decent results. It was kind of like the loyal, lovable dog of the family. So when it came time to upgade - I built a custom film scanning rig for it and now it lives on in that role with a Minolta 50mm Macro - taking pictures of pictures. Amazing little machine, that deserves a leisurely retirement.
I am sure I missed a couple - I typically have ~15-18 cameras in rotation but these were the standouts.
