Of all the camera's you've used/owned what's your favorite?

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without actually counting (and never meaning to keep track) it seems like the D500, D850 and A1 are the front runners. I imagine of the Z9 had been out (and available) for as long as the A1 it would be up there as well.
 
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Stephen Berger said:
not necessarily the best but your favorite. Maybe for sentimental reasons or cause it was so much fun, etc.

The camera's I've owned...

in the early 70's a Kodak instamatic as a kid (I got a shot of Evel Knievel popping a wheelie during the Thanksgiving Day parade in NYC when I was 9).

MANY years later (1995) a Canon EOS (don't remember which but entry level) film camera which I took on trips to Nepal, Tibet and India

A Pentax K1000 which I bought for a photography class in 1996

Then from 2006 through last May a Nikon D70, D200, D7000, D600, D800, D810, D500 and 2 x D850's

And now an A7RIV and A1

The Kodak stands out for being the first, the Canon for the trips I took with it. The Pentax because I loved that photography class. The D800 onward because that's when I started getting into wildlife. The Sony's because I love shooting mirrorless and the A1 is the bomb.

But the winner for me would be the D200. That's when I went from someone who was curious about photography to someone who started carrying a camera much of the time and more importantly really started seeing the world in terms of shape and light, etc.

Yours?
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Any camera my lenses connect to. I love my lenses, not my camera.
 
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It was about 1975 and my dad bought me an old Leica that had a screw on wide angle lens. A 2x teleconverter, and 3 filters. I learned dark room because of that camera. I couldn't afford color film so I shot b&w and learned to process and print it. Threw hay to afford lab equipment and supplies. Then a Pentax K1000, an ME Super, then an FM2, FE2, I used those cameras until first digital cameras in 2020 that I still have, the d500, and d850. The favorites are the Leica, the FM2, d500, d850. Although I learned from all of them.
 
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Film SLR: FM2, F3

Film SLR AF : F90x

DSLR: D850, D6
I've used D60, D7200, D750, D500, Df, D780, D5

MILC : Z9
I've used Z7, Z6, Zfc

In retrospect, all these Nikon's took excellent images, but the selects stood out and especially with regular usage
 
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Tiktok67 said:
Glad to see someone mention the Df. It was a “love it or hate it” camera, but one of the digital bodies I enjoyed shooting the most. I’m sure it’s because of the old-school dials and body profile—reminded me of my old film Nikons, which was obviously Nikon’s intent. I thought the sensor rendered lovely images, and I resurrected a few of the old manual focus Nikkors I still had collecting dust. They worked wonderfully with the Df.
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Yes, I find a lot of people today that are mirror less Influence-rs snub the Df as they now do most models that are not currently popular.

The Df is a D600 carcass with a retro top with dials was a cheeky venture for Nikon, the Df didn't fly out the door but over time got some traction slowly but steadily, it actually reached the hearts of many people and photographers simply never had a bad word to say about it.

At the time my main camera was my D3X that did everything for me, yep a studio camera did everything. I wanted a camera that could deliver high ISO performance and be easy to travel with but wasn't a D4 D4s etc, so i got at trade a demo model, silver DF.

It slowed me down, made me look think compose more, i shot it in JPEG Fine MONO and Raw at the same time. That said i can do this with any camera in full manual, but there was some sort of connection in the way the dials were set up.

The D4s Sensor delivered 12800 ISO genuinely super super well. Some say 6400 was its max, i tend feel differently about that.

It worked super well with the large pixel pitch and 16 mp that had little to no issue with a 2 x Tc III on a 300 F 2.8 VR II, 5.5 FPS was perfectly fine.
Most of the traveling was on a 28-300 or 24-70 F2.8 or 50mm 1.4 Zeiss especially, it was a magic combo especially for street photography. Or in Southern light of Tasmania or New Zealand.

Yes the ZF, D850 Z8 Z9 are all different but i still take the Df in my pocket and get money shots, its not worth selling as i can only get about $1500 AUD $975 USD, so i would rather just keep it and use it for street photography or travel as it with a 50mm fits in my coat pocket, the battery last for ever.

I hone my skill sets regularly and enjoy it.

The image files in mono are very very nice.

Using group, 3200 ss with floated iso to 12800, -07 ev, manual, F4 or F7.1, JPEG Fine mostly, it was just focus on composing or finding the magic subject or moment.

Love DF still have it i don't care if they have come out with computerized cameras that do everything for you.

Had the Z9 for 2 years sold it just recently while i could still get good money for it, also its out of warranty, because what i do now its to big and heavy for travel and hiking, currently i have the smaller lighter Z8 as a interim tool that fits my current needs far better.

Have the D850 as a stand by, and the Df still.

At the moment the D850 and Z8 are my go to tools, the D850 will remain on my hall of fame wire shelf next to my old freind the D3X that has so many memories we made togeather, LOL.
 
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For me it’s the Sony A7RV because it does most everything including focus bracketing which the A1 doesn’t do. I also prefer the articulating screen and image quality over the A1.
 
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In the film days it was the diminutive Rollei 35SE with it’s superb fixed focal length Sonnar lens. Truly pocketable, accompanied me on my travel for years. Sits on the shelf now and brings a smile to my face.

For digital it has to be the D700 , still have and take it out for a treat

My Fuji XT3 is rapidly earning it’s place alongside the Rollei and the D700
 
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2 years ago when this thread started, I posted my D500 was my favorite camera body. Although I now shoot a Canon mirrorless, there is still s special place in my memories for the D500. It was *and still is* a wonderful camera body. There is something pleasing to the ear with that mirror slapping up and down. Now that I have gone mirrorless, I have no true desire to go back and have sold the D500, I still like that camera. I pulled my old D7200 out for the eclipse this week. If I'm going to risk burning a hole in the sensor if I get the filters wrong, might as well be my older backup camera that can be replaced for a few hundred dollars. I did realize how much I like the mirrorless advantages but still have nostalgic feelings toward the DSLR's and the even older SLR's.
 
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I’ve never had a favorite. I have liked some more than others but none really stand out to me or would be ones (that I used to own) that I would want to own again. I enjoy my Z8 right now but I do wish it was 500g lighter :)
 
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D1X. By today’s standards it’s a dinosaur but the images it produced had a unique and special look. It was my first venture into digital photography and allowed me to learn more in one year than I had in 30 years of film cameras. A whopping 6 frame buffer made things very slow but the unique rectangular pixels produced 10mp files and was a truly unique design.
 
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DRwyoming said:
Similar curve for me with an Instamatic, a bellows type press camera (120 roll film), a dual lens reflex, an Argus C3 (still have that one) and then a Pentax Spotmatic which changed everything. Lot's of SLRs from Olympus, Canon, Pentax and Nikon followed and each had their strong and weak points.

I started digital with a D1H I purchased used from Moose Peterson and I agree the D200 was a beauty (in the capable hands of my niece now).

Really hard to pick a favorite. Sentimentally it's probably the Argus C3, Nikon FM or N90S that are still on the shelf but functionally it's either the D2X which I shot many of my favorite images with or my D5 as it's just so capable for many of my favorite subjects. That said I probably pick up my Z6 II more than any other camera for day to day uses and I expect if and when I move to a Z9, Sony A1 or similar it will likely become my new favorite but at the moment if I think I'll be shooting serious sports or wildlife I'll pick up my D5.
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I think it's cool you have one degree of separation of used gear with Moose! :)
 
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ZENIT E around 1975

The ZENIT E is the first camera I had.
It was a screw mount.
Everything was manual and it was with him that I learned about speed, diaphragm and sensitivity.
Indeed, my first film came back blank from the store that had developed it.
The guy said "I have to explain a few things"...
The next film was great.

Screenshot 2024-04-10 at 16.51.55.png
 
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