Bellamy Hunt of the popular Japan Camera Hunter site is known for his love of Leica, but he has a connection with all classic film cameras. Today he takes a look at the analogue snappers that get his attention. Naturally enough, a Leica figures high on his list: The M6 because it is “a workhorse metered camera that will not cost you the earth and will keep on going as long as care for it”. He makes the important point that Leicas of any age are easy to get repaired whereas some other classics in his list are difficult to fix. If they stop working you are most likely in trouble.
There are some surprising cameras in his bag, although not the Nikon F3 which is an acknowledged star. One of my favourites in terms of design is the Canonet pictured at the top of this article. This is what Bellamy has to say.
Cannot QL17: An icon. Millions of them were built. Nothing amazing about the lens or the functions on this cmaera. There are plenty of very similar cameras out there (Konica etc) but the Canonet is accessible and cheap. Sometimes really really cheap. And for that it gets high marks from me. Yes, the black ones look sexy, but they are expensive and becoming more so. If you are wanting to learn about rangefinders, grab one of these little buggers and play with it until it dies, then buy another one and keep on going!