# In your opinion...



## Mitica100 (Dec 22, 2006)

...what is the most beautiful camera and what is the ugliest camera?

I'll start:







The Leica Luxus.








The Mercury II by Univex.


----------



## Jeremy Z (Jan 9, 2007)

*Most beautiful:*  Tie: Any clean Rolleiflex TLR or Olympus OM1n

*Ugliest:* Any of the box-style cameras, such as Kodak Brownie, etc.


----------



## Torus34 (Jan 10, 2007)

For simple, clean design, the Clarus was not bad. [Mechanically, it was a dog!]

And ugly? The Kodak 35 - an otherwise ordinary camera that got captured by the Borg!


----------



## mysteryscribe (Jan 11, 2007)

I loved the look of my old kowa 6  big reared chunk of chrome.  I also love the pure clunky look of a graflex.

most of the polaroids after their roll film models were just plan junkie looking nothing had any functional purpose....or style.  I love to work with them as a base but they are just dog ugly.


----------



## ksmattfish (Jan 11, 2007)

Jurgen Kreckel does wonderful things to cameras.

http://www.certo6.com/

I love the look of any camera that shows plenty of wood.  I have plans to strip the leather from my Anniversary Speed Graphic, and refinish the wooden body someday. 

http://www.ebonycamera.com/

http://www.wisner.com/

http://www.gandolficameras.com/home_page.html

http://www.gadgetizer.com/2006/12/24/wooden-camera-from-olympus/

http://www.antiquewoodcameras.com/

On some Japanese website I saw a refurbished 4x5 SLR (like a Graflex RB) that had the leather stripped off, the wood polished up, and cherry blossoms painted on it.  It was the most beautiful camera I've ever seen.

Arturo Rebora makes cameras that are works of art.  not quite my style, but cool.

http://www.exakta.org/rebora/

The first electronic 35mm SLRs from the late 1980's and early 1990's were hideous (the entry level models at least).  I'm also not a big fan of most Polaroids (although the SX-70 is pretty catchy).  Hollow plastic cameras made to look like 35mm SLRs are nasty.

Here is the world's ugliest camera.

http://photoshopnews.com/2006/04/24/the-hand-made-camera-of-miroslav-tichy/


----------



## Mitica100 (Jan 11, 2007)

Oh wow! I didn't even think that was a camera! That is U-G-L-Y !!


----------



## Big Mike (Jan 11, 2007)

I have a slick looking Polaroid SX-70 with an all metal (brushed Al. I think) outer casing.

I also have one of those junkie looking 80's Polaroids (well several actually)...but the ugliest one is Barbie pink, and comes with a matching pink beach bag with 'Cool Cam' printed on it.


----------



## ksmattfish (Jan 11, 2007)

This one's a contender for ugliest camera, particularly with the mustach....  

http://www.pinholephotography.org/110 camera sales page.htm


----------



## fmw (Jan 11, 2007)

I think the prettiest camera I can ever remember was the Alpa.  It was only pretty if you saw it in person.  It was the most precisely made camera I have ever seen.  If you enjoy the ultimate in quality, you would enjoy an Alpa.  I never owned one.

The ugliest are the current crop of small, cheap digital cameras.  One brand looks as bad as another.


----------



## Big Mike (Jan 11, 2007)

> The ugliest are the current crop of small, cheap digital cameras. One brand looks as bad as another


I don't know...I've seen a small Canon that looked absolutely majestic...next to the 'Concord' that we have here at work.


----------



## fmw (Jan 11, 2007)

OK, I'm sure a discerning eye can find levels of ugliness among these cameras.  I guess I just haven't paid enough attention to pick up on it.  

Another ugly one was the Argus C3.  I doubt anybody would argue that one.


----------



## Alex_B (Jan 11, 2007)

to me most of those polaroid cameras were pretty ugly.


----------



## fmw (Jan 11, 2007)

One beauty I would love to have owned was the Linhof Kardan view camera. What a wonderful piece of equipment that was. Many of the Japanese 4X5 field cameras with wooden bodies are great looking to me. The old Nikon F2 was a hand made, all metal, ruggedly built precision machine that had beauty because of that. I had a couple of those. I feel the same way about the Leica rangefinders, particularly the late screw mount models like the IIIG and the bayonet mount M5. I had some of those as well. How can you not appreciate the look and precision of the TLR Rollies? I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some people are impressed with shape and design. I'm impressed with precision and flawless fit and finish. I don't see much of it these days. All I see is battery driven electronics in plastic shells.  Even my Mamiya 645 is in a plastic shell.

Also, my apologies to any Argus C3 collectors I might have offended. They are actually a passionate group of cameras collectors. But the C3 wasn't my cup of tea.


----------



## Big Mike (Jan 11, 2007)

> How can you not appreciate the look and precision of the TLR Rollies?


:thumbup:  I've never touched one...but they do have a certain look that I like.

On another note...at lunch today, I went to hang out in the camera shop and I took a long drooling look at the Canon EF 85mm F1.2 L.  Man...from the top, it looks like a coffee mug.  The glass is just so big.


----------



## fmw (Jan 11, 2007)

Your'e hanging around the wrong camera shop. You need to find one with a lot of used gear. Old Rollies are very cool.

I also note that I owe an apology to Linhof for talking about the Kardan view camera in the past tense. It is very much alive and available and under $10,000 at B&H. Sorry.






Alex, this wondrous product from Bavaria should make your heart sing! What a place! BMW cars, Linhof cameras and the Hofbrau Haus! Bavaria has it all!  Ein, Zwei, Gsufa!


----------



## Big Mike (Jan 11, 2007)

> Your'e hanging around the wrong camera shop. You need to find one with a lot of used gear. Old Rollies are very cool.


I went to the used shop 'Classic Camera Exchange' last week during lunch.  I know he has some TRLs in there...but I'm not sure if there is a Rollie or not.

That Kardan looks like something Darth Vader would use.


----------



## ksmattfish (Jan 11, 2007)

Big Mike said:


> :thumbup:  I've never touched one...but they do have a certain look that I like.



I think they feel even better than they look.  I got mine at a charity rummage sale.  I'd never used a Rollei or TLR, but once I held it, I had to have it.  It was marked $150.  I didn't have a clue about the value, but it felt like it was worth more than that.  When I got home with it, and looked on Ebay, I found out it was probably worth around $350, so it was a heck of a deal.  Keh is selling them now for over $550.  It's one of the few film cameras I have that is going up in value.


----------



## fmw (Jan 11, 2007)

Big Mike said:


> That Kardan looks like something Darth Vader would use.


 
It is an upscale (very upscale) studio shooting machine.  It would take Darth Vadar or someone that strong to lug one around for location shoots.  That's for sure.

The Sinars are a little cheaper and a little lighter.  Also very cool.


----------



## Alex_B (Jan 12, 2007)

fmw said:


> Alex, this wondrous product from Bavaria should make your heart sing!



Don't worry, it does! 



> What a place! BMW cars, Linhof cameras and the Hofbrau Haus! Bavaria has it all!  Ein, Zwei, Gsufa!


lol, well, I also like BMW (and Audi) alot ... the only proble is, that this all is Bavarian, and I am Westfalian (which is why they already would call me a northern German, or Prussian). But actually we are not northern here either, we are just in the middle (of nowhere ) ... our stubborn folks here stopped the Roman invasions, so we have never really been fully "cultivated" some say 

We might not produce elaborate cameras, but us got some good sturdy farmhorses here :lmao:

OK, wasn't talking of my current location, Düsseldorf, but of my homecountry where my heart lies (some 200 km to the east of here  )


----------

