"Sandbox" Cameras

[Markok765]

My Nikon F5. It's the fastest, most reliable camera ever which I will not hesitate to take into the worst situations. It's sealed, metal, and fast. I love it.

EDIT: Oh wait, this is the RF forum :P I guess my XA then, though I generally won't use it in rain.

[desertrat]

My sandbox cameras:

Argus C-4
Fed-2

[thisismyname09]

I have a yashica GSN, but I take semi-obsessive care of my cameras. I'd rather not drop it in a sandbox.

[narsuitus]

Nikon L35AF or Nikonos III

[FilmLives!]

I'll add that my original "sandbox camera" carried on the motorcycle was a Rollei 35S (for the obvious reasons of being very small yet a great picture taker) ... until I found out it was worth twice what I paid for it! I still use it, but its treated a tad more reverently now. And I can't get myself to make my Konica S2 a "sandbox camera", I just love shooting with it too much.

jZ

[erikg]

I'm trying hard not to think about the circumstances that would lead one to drop a camera into a toilet... anyway, I keep an F-3 at the bottom of my backback and I usually have an XA in my pocket but I stay away from sandboxes after what the judge said...

[aparat]

Smena 8M - not really a toy camera. The lens is nice. It has full manual control. With the auxiliary rangefinder (Blik), it is perfect. This was my first camera at the age of seven.

[Roger Thoms]

Rollei Prego 70, actually I call it my truck camera cause I keep it in my truck. Just shot my first roll of film, but haven't developed it yet. Once I process the film I'll know if I have a truck camera or trash can camera. $10 off craigslist with marshals oil pencils and 20 sheets of Ilford 8x10 rc paper thrown in for free after the fact.

Roger

[2F/2F]

Unfortunately, most of my cameras are sandbox cameras. The Speed is not, as it is super clean, but pretty much everything else is. Even the Sinar has gone out and about quite often. It rode shotgun in my passenger seat, on a tripod, for a six-month project I recently shot. It took a lot of beating, and kept on ticking.

The cameras that I purposefully take if I seriously fear damage, theft, or loss are my AE-1 Programs, my Electro 35, or my Powershot if a point and shoot will do the job. I also view my 10D as one of these, however, I don't use it as such because my only lens for it now is the 50mm f/1.2.

The camera I take when I need the toughest camera in existence is the Nikonos V. This is my number one hiking and climbing camera...and it shows it now.

[walter23]

I don't understand why that photographer is whining. It's not like there aren't thousands of cameras out there on the used market that he could buy. I mean, what's stopping him from buying a camera and some film?

Any plastic P&S falls into this category for me.

Workflow most likely. Once you're working principally in digital, the prospect of scanning, printing, etc, from film is kind of unappealing. (Before the hordes jump on me, this is similar to how digital is unappealing to someone who's invested a lot in a traditional darkroom workflow.)