Favourite Japanese Brand Camera?
 

(I'm pretty sure photography belongs in the art section!)

Okay, I'm sure that many of you love taking pictures, and also many of the camera brands are Japanese (I guess the Japanese love their cameras ;D!).

So I'm just wondering what's your favourite Japanese camera brand and why? (you can even tell us about your specific camera.)

It can be any camera, whether it is film or digital.

I'm going to start this off, I love my Pentax cameras (both film and digital).

Canon.... Ever since my first one... AE-1

I use a Nikon D40 and Canon Kiss X4, both DSLRs.
I prefer Nikons in general.

I have my Nikon Coolpix S1000pj and it is really a cool one :)

how exactly electronics are related to art? :confused:

Because to some people photography is art.

So it is, but cameras are not. Posting artistic pictures is not the same as creating a poll about which camera is more beefed. I reckon you guys chose a wrong thread.

I have a pretty good collection of Japanese cameras, and some of them are quite valuable. But almost all of my cameras are film cameras. The cameras I mainly use are not Japanese, but German Leicas. I have 2 digital cameras, one is a Nikon D300, the other is a Lumix DMC LX5.

At the moment I own around 50 cameras...

Please suggest a thread that would be more appropriate other than General Discussion.

Sorry... I felt that this section fitted it the most. My secondary choice would be Games and Toys... but I use my camera for art.

So far it's interesting to see that Canon is leading followed by Nikon (the two biggest companies) then followed by some not as popular brands.

I should really also ask what do these people use their cameras for? or what style of shooting they do with it.

I don't see anything wrong with anyone's answers so far, and haha we even got a film oldie!

There is none. General discussion is the right place. You generally inquire on Japanese camera brands. It is not a question of how to use one in order to make artistic pictures, etc. If it was so, that would be closer to art (although still not Japanese one).

On a side note. It's a tough choice between SONY with Minolta glass, and NIKKON, which I reckon has the best engine. I still would go with NIKKON.

What would you say if she/he was asking about Japanese paintbrushes and ink? :)

Anyway I voted for fujifilm because I have one and although it wasn't as expensive as the cannons and nikons, it's colors are beautiful and realistic (in daylight it's better than anything) and I generally satisfied with it.

best brushes are Chinese so I would probably not ask that question :D

Pentax made some really nice products, but I recently switch to Canon, only because they have one of the best cheap full frame camera. I currently shoot with a 5D MKII, and the quality is amazing, especially at high ISO. I think i have a love/hate thing going on with Canon though. You can't get a decent lens for a good price with Canon, its either you pay an arm/leg for a L series lens or you have to stick with something that produces sub-standard quality pictures. Non L lens that is sharp and clear is very rare with Canon

Nikon on the other hand, has great lens even if you don't go with its pro line, the issue i have with Nikon is that everything cost a fortune, and the interface is definitely not user friendly (just my personal subjective view).

5D MKII and the 24-105 F4L is my current favorite travel companion. We will be going to Japan again next June, hope to bring this baby with me to take some more shots

Well, the best camera is Panavision as I know and it's American!!! :p
If you gonna say that is not for singe sots, think it over, though that's true it's not for regular customers. :)
And it's not that only Japan provide good cameras.

I'd like to ask if Japanese only use Chinese brushes(because they are the bests), but that would be a dumb question...

Your sarcasm has failed. Chinese brushes may be of the same quality, technically, but since the price is much lower, they are better. One simply needs to know where to buy. Majority of Japanese masters use Chinese supplies. But how would you know that...

Ehh. Sarcasm is for fail so I don't mind! Sorry for that.
But I also used my logic, and you haven't answered to my first question so I rephrase it. I asked if it would fit in this thread to speak about brushes and ink.
I accidentally picked the wrong example. It was unintentional, course I don't know nothing about Japanese artwork.

My camera is Panasonic, FZ38, before it, FZ28. Very good, but still a bit slow in focal speed and lacks a bit at exposure in multiple light condition.
Had before a few Fujifilm, but it was a high collector of noise even in very good light, not to speak in normal lighting in a house. At focal speed, and accuracy it was pretty good (almost same as the Panasonic), but they need better chips at they're mid range of cameras.

Majority of people all around use Chinese supplies nowadays.

lol but your point about brushes and cameras was pretty good, i must admit :D , i was only teasing. Though really, imagine that japanese ink stones can cost 17.000 USD, and brushes can go up as high as 11.000. So even though the quality is comparable, Chine is the place to get stuff. Just need to be aware of scams.

@protheus - that is correct, but it doesn:t necessary mean that everything there is better than anywhere else. Usually, it is the oposite. With brushes is different. They use them for (at lesast) 6000-7000 years. Items unearthed in Yangshao were decorated with brush woork.
I:d say thats a pretty well founded craft.

If Pentax died, I would have went with Nikon instead. Hehe, hope to see some photos from Japan :D! The closest shots I have of Japan so far is the Narita airport haha!

Thanks for the insight about Canon... I know they are popular... but I didn't know too much about them.

There are photo opportunities all over Japan. I've been to countries where I didn't bother lifting the camera, while with Japan, I can't drop the camera. I took about 600 shots in 2006 even on a short business trip, then another 12000 shots in 2007 for a 2 weeks stay, 8000 in 2009 when I had my 3 weeks honeymoon there. It just won't run out of subjects/opportunities

Pentax are great, i still have 2 pentax bodies at home, film bodies thoguh. For digital, everything is Canon now. Its expensive to build up that lens collection, but i don't regret one minute switching to Canon. It was funny how I switch to Canon. I destroyed the K10, and was in the market looking for something better. At the time, it was either the 40D or the D300, but the store I went to sold out of the D300, so I went with the 40D. Been a Canon guy ever since...

Edit: November 18th 2010, 1:09PM EST :-

If you want to see some really nice shot of Japan, you can go to the following sites

風景壁紙.com 日本全国・海外の無料写真壁紙サイト
夜景壁紙.com

Wow I'm really sorry! I've been away from JapanForums for a LONGGG time.

Thanks for sharing the info haha, makes me wanna switch now... but HOW DID YOU DESTROY a K10? I love my Pentax Film bodies. Currently on K-X. I really want the K-5 though.

Thanks for the links too ;D!

And yeah Batosai I heard Nikon had the best camera bodies, but not sure about Lenses (should be pretty up there as well).

Canon all the way... :vsign:

I've shot Canon since 1965 - starting with the Canon Demi-S, a half-frame 35mm. The best one I shot with was the venerable and indestructible Canon F-1 with motor drive and 250 shot film back. The only repair it ever needed was a mirror return spring - and that was after likely after taking nearly a million shots.

In the "old days", pros who shot mostly portraiture shot with Nikon as they were aperture priority (if you exclude the Weston hand meters which were great). Sports or action photographers mostly shot Canon as they were shutter priority - and rugged.

Easy, i dropped the thing :)

Nikon lenses are great, even the non-pro line still kick butt, unlike Canon and Sony, you really have to spend an arm and leg to get the pro lens.. but my issue with Nikon is the camera's UI, they make it too complex, and also, flaky software...