What do you consider to be the most important 35mm still photography camera in history, and why?

It's a toss-up between two cameras that I can think of.

The Leica I made 35mm a reality and the Argus C3 made it hugely popular.

From a scholarly point of view I think many consider the Leica I the most important.

This is a tough question.

Its difficult to argue with either the Argus C3 or the Leica l since they did make 35mm photography mainstream.

However, a case could be made for the 1949 Contax S which was the first pentaprism SLR.

One could also rate the 1963 Topcon RE Super, with the first production TTL metering system, as an extremely important camera in 35mm history.

You can also make a legitimate argument for the Minolta Maxxum 7000 of 1985 which was the world's first full-featured SLR with auto focus.

Realistically, I think you'd almost have to break it down into decades and decide which 35mm camera of that particular decade had the greatest impact.

I think most people agree that it was the Argus C3. It wasn't the first 35mm camera, but it made the 35mm format popular and truly mainstream. I think it was first manufactured in the mid-1930s. There were so many Argus C3's manufactured that to this day they're EVERYWHERE...if you go to an antique shop or thrift shop, or look on eBay, you'll trip over them.

But it really is a neat little rangefinder camera. I have a couple of them and they take great pictures.

Edit: Looks like we have another troll...someone just came in and voted ALL the answers thumbs-down. I think that if you're on YA long enough, eventually every TC gets a "stalker" that will follow you around for a while and randomly click thumbs-down on your answers because they think it's funny. Probably some Myspacer who hates film. Oh well.

Good question, and so far there have been some great answers.