Doug:
You just commented on "generalizations" and then I see this comment of
yours. I think after 1960 lots of Japanese cameras could hold their
own against German engineering and aesthetics. Compare the elegant,
simple & versatile Nikon F against the bulky Contarex for example. Or
the well-built compact Asahi Spotmatic F against the Wirgin Edixa or
even the Leicaflex SL which didn't have many more features but four
times the price.
When my family returned to Germany from Africa in 1973 I was at first
heavily prejudiced towards the superiority of Leica & Zeiss. My
grandfather who had been a die-hard Zeiss fan demonstrated to me that
the Canon Ftb (or the Minolta SRt 101) was a far more versatile camera
than his Contaflex Super, the latter having limited front element lens
exchangeability and complicated failure-prone mechanisms, which led to
extremely expensive repairs.
In high school, I shot with my Dad's old Icarex 35 S BM which was
neither more aesthetic nor reliable than my friend's cheap East German
Practika Super TL. It was very eye-opening for me in 1979 when I
switched from the Icarex first to the Canon A1 and then to the Canon F1
and EF. Same could be said for the Minolta XD 11 (XD 7) of that
period. Especially the Canon EF was a marvelous concept (if you like
shutter priority!).
The only short-lived aesthetic and technologically ingenious cameras
coming out of Germany in the 70 were the short-lived Leica M5 and the
Rolleiflex 2000/3000 cameras. For MF I would also add the overpriced
Rolleiflex SL66SE.
Jan
On Thursday, September 29, 2005, at 03:03 AM, FreeLists Mailing List
Manager wrote:
From: Douglas Nygren <dnygr@xxxxxxxxxx>
One reason that the Prakitka was great was because they essentially were Zeiss. Zeiss made the company change the name from Zeiss to Praktika, I understand. I prefer German aesthetics to Japanese. I'd rather have a Leica than a Nikon or a Canon. I'd also prefer a Rollei to a Mamiya. And any of those would be better than anything built in the good old US of A.
Doug Nygren
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