CAMERA PORN TIME: fully manual, built to last

NIKON F does not think, but it serves me well.

this camera is a crude brute: no light meter,  no autofocus,
no whistles and bells, and it was built like a tank, and just as noisy, almost!  it was the professional photographer's choice when it came out in 1959.  it was also the japanese new kid on the block that kicked out the german leica rangefinder camera out of its street corner pedestal.

well, i am just an amateur photographer who never had any formal training in photography.  my grade school teacher taught me the basics when i joined the schoolpaper as a news reporter.  the rest i learned from reading, trial and error and consulting some experts.  and the passion to shoot photos never diminished.  it even became stronger with age and humble means.

does this mean that i have given up my rangefinder cameras? my contax, my leicas, my zorki and kiev? nah!  no way!  i still prefer the classic look and the inscrutable and quiet elegance of a classic rangefinder camera.

      but my NIKON F with a waistlevel viewfinder makes you bow to your subject as you compose and focus.  unlike most SLRs, it intrudes politely even on the most unwilling subject.  it was a great gift from a friend.

and then there is the LEICA M4. this is a rangefinder camera noted to be the last well-built, no scrimp film M that leica created ... until they reissued the LEICA MP in 2005.