Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/09/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hope I didn't get to this thread too late, as it is a subject that I warm to. I'm a big fan of compact cameras. Among the smallest ones, I'm fond of the Olympus XA with its rangefinder, but actually prefer its rarer stablemate, the XA-4 with a great 28mm f3.5lens. The lens on the Rollei 35SE is about as good a lens as you will encounter on a small camera, and it is somewhat cheaper than the Contax T3. If size and weight are really critical for you, it is hard to beat the Minox 35 cameras in their various incarnations. A bit awkward to operate, but a very sharp contrasty Tessar type lens and really, really tiny. Also worth checking out is the Chinon Belami, which looks like what happens if you mate an Olympus XA with a Minox 35. A very underrated compact 35. If you want autofocus, I've tried the Olympus Stylus Epic and the Yashica T4Super/T5. They are good cameras, but I prefer the Contax TVS with its zoom lens by a long shot. If you are going a little bigger, Japanese compact rangefinders from the late 60s and early 70s are great cameras. Check out Steve Gandy's CameraQuest website which has a much better consideration of these cameras than I could give here. My favourite among these is the Konica. Mark On 9/4/06, Luis Ripoll <luisripoll@telefonica.net> wrote: > > Hi all, > > Some days ago I was reading B.D. recommendation to carry always a camera > on > your pocket, I'm agree but usually I never do it. Why?, for me a Leica M > is > a little too big, a Leica IIIF is just too nice. > > I'm thinking on different possibilities and I would like to know your > experiences and opinions. > > First at all, I'm "classical" and I prefer a film camera, as you know, I > shot normalIy B&W. I think that could be good options the following ones: > Leica CL (is still too big and maybe too expensive), the small Rollei 35 > (I > think with Tessar), Leica Minilux (I think is better the model with > Summarit > 2,4/40mm than the zoom with a slower lens), Olympus XA, Minox .... > > Any recommendations? > > Thanks in advance > Saludos desde Barcelona > Luis > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >