In exploring abandoned places (haikyo), I wanted a small & light camera to accompany me about on my sneaks. It also had to offer some level of control, be easy to use, and have a moderately fast lens. Being quiet too would be nice as I imagined me ninja-like jumping from roof-to-roof unheard and unseen...
It had to be relatively cheap too, as dropping it in the goop while crawling through some forgotten hospital in Nagasaki was a real possibility.
Hajima no Terebi. Kodak T-Max 100.SLRs were out; that noise! That weight! The small Japanese rangefinders from the 1960s and 1970s had immediate appeal. Many offered shutter or aperture priority, they were all small, and some had lenses faster than
f2. All were relatively cheap.
Battersea. Fuji Fortia.Considered were Yashica's Electro 35, Konica's C35, the Hi-Matic from Minolta, the Olympus RD, and the Canonet QL17. Some Electro 35s had a set of aux lenses, but carrying and using them appeared to be problematic. The Electro 35 was also made in a 35mm Wide Version, but I couldn't find one of these. More info on the excellent Yashica range can be found here:
The Yashica Guy. The Olympus RD was not sold in Japan, so getting one of these would have involved buying unseen from overseas.
Electro 35 Wide (with 35m lens).What was readily available, and fitted all my other needs was Canon`s aperture priority, or full manual (battery-less), Canonet QL17. At
f1.7 it was fast, the Quick Load film system is a brilliant and reliable mechanical solution to auto-loading, and best of all, they are cheap. Battery-less full manual operation also appealed.
Canonet QL17. f1.7 and 1/500.
Common silver G-III version.Loaded with some ISO400 and the
f1.7 makes a great combo for low-light photography. The single-coated lens too is as sharp-as-sharp at moderate apertures, and imparts a great period feel to color film. Except perhaps Fortia, which looks super saturated from anything half decent.
Kawaguchi-ko Ropeway. Fuji FujiPro 400 (PN400).The lever focusing took a few minutes to become familiar with using, but once mastered it works really well. Additionally, nothing can prepare you for just how quiet this camera is. There may be quieter cameras, but I've not seen or heard of anything that is as unobtrusive as the Canonet's light, single, pin-drop of a `click`. Great for photographing
yazuka (or just their cars, if they've got too many fingers missing).
Dogenzaka. Kodak T-Max 100.While I bought a 1.5V alkaline to 1.35V mercury adapter, this one metered just as well with a straight 1.5V. It might lack the snob value of German glass, but you get at least 90% of the performance for 5% of the price. Get a
black G-III if you want the pick of the street-cred pack.
Next: Ricoh's Modern Classic - The GR1. Have fun.
