List the Film SLR you used only one time and why?

[djmike]

This is embarrassed but could heppen to you all.
Mine is Voigtlander Bessamatic. It looks really fantastic but quite heavy and not easy to setting speed....
What's yours?

[Nesster]

Konica TC. I'd bought a Vivitar 200/3.5 thinking "KA" meant it was a Pentax K-A though it didn't look like a P-k-a. So I have brother-in-law's Konica on semi-permanent loan.

I don't get along with it. Shutter priority automation. I shot a half roll with flash where I had the camera set (or assumed it set itself, with a dedicated flash) on a speed higher than its sync. I didn't really get good pics with the Vivitar 200. Maybe a couple. I think I ran one... ok maybe 2 rolls through the camera.

[Attila]

[Nesster]

I really ought to give it another go

[Attila]

[scsambrook]

East German Pentina - bought it (brand new in the early 1960s) at 10.30 am, loaded a film, took four shots and it jammed up solid before 11.00 am. The nice photo dealer exchanged it for an Exa IIa. That worked fine but the Domiplan lens fell apart within a fairly short time ...

[Attila]

Almost all SLR,RF what I have I used only one times , due I buy always new ones and I love result better from medium format cameras.

[LucisPictor]

Most of the M42-Practika SLRs that I got together with some M42-lenses.
I have used each of them once to check if they are working. Only two weren't.

Then, my two Zenit E copies for the same reason. I have always preferred my Zenit EM.

But if you have a fully functional Spotmatic II, you don't use any other M42-cam any more.

I also have used my Minolta Hi-Matic E only with one roll. It's a very nice cam, but I prefer the Oly 35RC and the Yashica Electro 35GS.

I have also used my Yashica-24 only once (because the shutter got stuck at the first roll) and my Dehel - Demaria Fréres 1941 (4.5x6), because it's a medium format cam and med.form. film is terribly expensive to develop where I live.

Others I only have used once are:
- Reflekta Junior (6x6)
- AGFA Box 50 (6x9)
- Konica Z-up 120 VP
- AGFA Super Silette II (all for different reasons)
- Konica Autoreflex A (because it doesn't work properly)
- Canon EOS 600 (because the shutter broke while the first roll was loaded)

I was really lucky with most of my lenses, but I sometimes was unfortunate with my cams.

[kuuan]

Pentax SV, ME Super, MX and MV, with each I have not even finished shooting one film yet, but all have a half shot film inside.
- the only reason why is because I have been buying so many MF lenses which I wanted to try out on my dSLR
so I did not take the time to shoot film yet, but I am looking forward very much to use all of them in near future

[Excalibur]

Zenit camera, played with it for about 20mins, had no ambition to even put a film in it..........and gave it to a charity shop.

[alex]

The one I used least was a Pentaflex SL, a cheap (oh the irony!) cut-down Praktica Nova. The shutter was speeded 30-500 & B, and it had a Domiplan lens, though it was badged as something else. It wasn't that it was a bad camera, instead, it had the flimsiest rewind crank which meant that you had to operate it like the key on a sardine can, because the little freewheeling knob on the end of the crank was too small to grasp. I sold it after a couple of rolls of film, but kept the lens, and bought a proper Praktica Nova instead. I put the Domiplan on that, and I had such a lot of fun with that camera for quite a few years.

[Nesster]

Outside of SLR's there are a couple I've used literally once:
- a Vitomatic that quit after 2 frames
- a vivitar focus free that quit on frame 26 of 36

[Attila]

[Nesster]

[martinsmith99]

Praktia Super TL.

The meter seemed to be working indoors in low light. Agreeing with my DSLR. I put film in, took it outside and it read exactly the same.

A Zenit EM. I never got around to using it so donated it to Poolhall.

A Spotmatic SPii I bought as a backup to my main spotty. Sadly, my Chinon is my main camera now so it's relagated to 3rd spot.

A Praktica MTL3. I bought it for the lens, but it's the nicest looking and handling of that era of Prakticas and I can't part with it.

I have a couple of other cameras that I haven't used yeat as they're awaiting final minor repairs.

[glockman99]

That would be the Nikon F1 Photomic that I had MANY years ago. It was so much of a hassle to reload film into, that I used the roll I had in it and never used it again. (I sort of wish I still had that one, tho, as it was pretty much mint and quite a solid camera.).

[cooltouch]

The only 35mm SLR that I can recall that I used only once was a first model Nikon F with the non-TTL metered finder. I'd been shooting 35mm for only about a year, and was still pretty much a rookie. Turns out the camera's shutter speeds were erratic, so I returned it for a refund.

-M

[djmike]

[rick_oleson]

Surprised about the Zenits... I hadn't thought much of them until I actually had one, but was surprised at how nice and smooth it is in use. I can't think of any SLR that I've disliked to the point of only using it once. I think the least satisfying one, though, was an Exakta VXIIB with a microprism screen and a Schneider Xenon lens. I had no idea whatsoever whether the camera was in focus or not, it didn't seem to make any difference at all in the finder where you turned the focus ring.

The Bessamatic was pretty close, hard to operate, hard to focus and uncertain reliability. I did run more than one roll through it though. Glutton for punishment.

[cooltouch]

[alex]

[rick_oleson]

I've replaced the IIB with a IIA, which is functionally nearly identical but prettier. Either a glass split-image screen (which seem to be hard to find in good condition) or a plain groundglass is easier to focus on than their microprism, and the Zeiss Biotar lens is more pleasant (for me) to use than the Xenon. Main reason for the latter is the Xenon's micrometer-like focusing, which goes nearly a full circle to get to the near focus limit... it sounds like it would be good for fine focus, but it's SO fine you can't see the image snap in and out, it gets frustrating. So the IIA/groundglass/Biotar combination is much better than the IIB/microprism/Xenon combination for use, and it also looks nicer on the shelf. Both cameras are very sturdy and reliable (but may need new shutter curtains if they haven't been serviced).

The Exakta is still a distinctly acquired taste in handling: the wind stroke is about 300 degrees, non-ratcheted, and the lever won't come back until it's gone the full stroke (and it can get pulled even when the shutter is already wound, in which case you have to go through the whole stroke again to get it folded back out of the way). And everything is left-handed, so if you focus with your right eye the shooting rate is measured in frames per minute rather than per second. But it won't quit on you, and it has a wonderful shutter speed range from 1/1000 to 12 seconds.

[5cent]

A friend loaned me a Canon AE-1P and I ran one roll of film through it before giving it back. I knew after the first couple of shots it was never going to feel right in my hands. The pictures on the roll came out fine, and the camera has a great reputation, but it's just made for a different kind of photographer I think.

[Attila]

[mo]

Pentax MZ50 too plastic after handling the Ricoh super 5.This was a huge disappointment after wanting one for so long and finally obtaining it...