In the 60's and 70's the cool cameras to have for photography "enthusiasts" were rangefinders. SLR's were big, clunky and so expensive they were mostly for pro's. Canon AE-1's and OM-10's hadn't come out yet. If one could not afford a Leica, or even a Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Yashica and others came out with new model rangefinders regularly. Many amazingly good ones are now available on ebay, often for less than $50.
The Canon Canonet cameras are very well-known. Yashica Electros have an amazing, huge, f1.7 lens which takes extremely sharp photos. Many of them are as cheap as $10 on ebay.
This may sound familiar to Oly fans: Olympus, while far from the sales leader for these cameras, made some of the best ones and often was a leader in new technological features.
I have a manual exposure model, the 35LC, which I believe came out in the 60's. I loaded up a Canonet G-III QL17, a Yashica Electro GSN and the 35LC, all with f1.7 lenses and took shots for comparison. My subjective opinion: 3. Canon 2. Yashica 1. Olympus (Yashica was close, though).
These are great cameras. FAST, sharp lenses, easy to focus, some are more compact than SLR's. If you are looking for a camera to carry with you all the time or on vacations, this is something to seriously consider.
The Canon Canonet cameras are very well-known. Yashica Electros have an amazing, huge, f1.7 lens which takes extremely sharp photos. Many of them are as cheap as $10 on ebay.
This may sound familiar to Oly fans: Olympus, while far from the sales leader for these cameras, made some of the best ones and often was a leader in new technological features.
I have a manual exposure model, the 35LC, which I believe came out in the 60's. I loaded up a Canonet G-III QL17, a Yashica Electro GSN and the 35LC, all with f1.7 lenses and took shots for comparison. My subjective opinion: 3. Canon 2. Yashica 1. Olympus (Yashica was close, though).
These are great cameras. FAST, sharp lenses, easy to focus, some are more compact than SLR's. If you are looking for a camera to carry with you all the time or on vacations, this is something to seriously consider.