New addition to my classic camera collection (perhaps))
 

Hi all,

I've been sniffing round eBay for a 35mm film compact rangefinder to add to my collection. I finally narrowed the options down to one of these three:

Canon Canonet QL17 GIII (I'm bidding on this now.) Excellent all-rounder, fairly recent.

Yashica Electro 35: this one has a good following for its robust construction, sharp lens and leaf shutter.

Kiev 4: The oldest of the trio, made in the 50s by the Russians using a design from 1930s Germany (the Zeiss/Contax III). Definitely has an 'old school' look, but the quality of 50 year old Soviet machinery remains dubious to me.

Are there any more that I should consider? I really want to actually use the camera and I don't want to spend more than £100 (No Leica M-series :( )

Whichever you chose, I'd look into the availability of spares and servicing for the camera. If you want to use it, it will almost certainly benefit from a full service beforehand. This is going to be stuff that's sat in a shoe box for a few decades, and will have suffered for it. Whatever you buy, make sure you know EXACTLY what works and doesn't work beforehand, and if there's something the buyer says needs attention, make sure you can get it fixed before you bid.

At the very least, the light seals will probably need replacing.

Yes, I get this with a lot of my older cameras. I usually shell out more and get one that's just been serviced and was used lightly all its life rather than the cheaper offerings. The Canonet I'm bidding on is from a seller who claims to have recently serviced it and just shot a roll of film with no issues.

What about the old Rollei 35mm compact? Any interest?

I did look long and hard at the Rolleis. They are indeed very nice cameras, however because of their collector value they tend to be a fair bit more expensive than the highly mass-produced offers from Canon, Yashica and Olympus. A cared-for Rollei in full working order is about 80-150 pounds, while the current bid on the Canonet is 41 pounds, 'buy it now' offers for 60 pounds.

The real bummer is that the compact size of the Rollei 35 series meant none of them could have a rangefinder, which is really what I'm looking for here. The Rollei is a super-compact scale focuser, and in that respect it gets beaten by the Minox 35 which I already own.

Hi all,

Just secured a winning bid on a beautiful Yashica Electro 35 GT. This is one of the best 70s rangefinders, with a lovely fast Yashinon 45mm lens (max aperture f1.7). It was also the first camera ever to have fully electronic automatic exposure, but offers manual control of aperture along with a fully coupled rangefinder. All this for the very very reasonable sum of £32.65, having been informed by the seller that it has been tested and that the exposure and shutter both work. I may have to do some minor surgery on the light seals though. May get round to posting a full review on the site!

I have a Swiss Made Alpa Prisma Reflex with a Delft lens. It has a built in sports finder and range finder as well as the reflex.

It was my first 35mm camera bought second hand in the fifties. I haven't put a film through it for years, but the shutter still works and the only issue I know of its that the rubber ring for the eye piece is missing.

I've not considered selling it but I would be interested to know if it is of interest to a collector.

Alpha cameras certainly in the UK were always seriously big money, and probably the same worldwide, so I guess depending on condition this is collector material. Reflex and rangefinder viewing as in this camera is something I have not seen before.

For the benefit of others here is a link with a pic of said camera.
http://www.alpareflex.com/Cameras/PrismaReflex.htm

Don

That is pretty much my camera except that the lens is a different make.

I recall paying about 80 pounds for it over 50 years ago, (I worked after school for two years to buy it) new it was as expensive or more expensive than the Leica.

Hi,

That Alpa is DEFINITELY of interest to a collector, providing it is in good condition (few/no scratches, no fungus on lens, full working order). One such example is going for £1850 on eBay. Yours would certainly fetch far more than the £50 you paid for it if you give it a little clean!