Exposure problems with Fujica ST 901!

Guttan · Jun 12, 2016

Hi, I got my hands on a minty fresh Fujica ST901, really good condition.
The manual shutters are all correct, no corrosion in the battery compartment, the matte screen and mirror looks clean.

But the Auto function doesn't measure correctly, at all!
Sometimes it measures 1-20 seconds in bright sunshine, sometimes 200th.

I'm using a V4034 battery.
Can this be solved?

Thanks!
/ Richard

cuthbert · Jun 12, 2016

Does the camera meter correctly in manual mode?

I have a 901, but I never used it...I got that because it had a Fujinon 50mm f1.4 but I greatly prefer the St801 and the ST705W.

Guttan · Jun 12, 2016

cuthbert said:
Does the camera meter correctly in manual mode?

I have a 901, but I never used it...I got that because it had a Fujinon 50mm f1.4 but I greatly prefer the St801 and the ST705W.

The camera doesn't meter in manual mode unfortunately... The LED indicator only turns on when it's set to AUTO.

cuthbert · Jun 12, 2016

Guttan said:
The camera doesn't meter in manual mode unfortunately... The LED indicator only turns on when it's set to AUTO.

Yes, that was the reason why I didn't like it and I never used it...silly me.

Guttan · Jun 12, 2016

cuthbert said:
Yes, that was the reason why I didn't like it and I never used it...silly me.

That's ashame.. bought a Spotmatic F now tough, hoping it will perform better!

cuthbert · Jun 12, 2016

Guttan said:
That's ashame.. bought a Spotmatic F now tough, hoping it will perform better!

If the ST901 came with a Fujinon lens with the pin I would recommend a ST705, 801 or 705W (the best model IMO), they all offer open metering...I consider the 705W marginally better than the SPF (that I love, I have three of them) because of the split screen and brighter viewfinder, more like a Pentax KX than a Spotmatic.

Mechanical Fujicas unlike the 901 are pleasant cameras.

Guttan · Jun 12, 2016

cuthbert said:
If the ST901 came with a Fujinon lens with the pin I would recommend a ST705, 801 or 705W (the best model IMO), they all offer open metering...I consider the 705W marginally better than the SPF (that I love, I have three of them) because of the split screen and brighter viewfinder, more like a Pentax KX than a Spotmatic.

Mechanical Fujicas unlike the 901 are pleasant cameras.

It did!
I got the Spotmatic for 10$ so I kind of had to.. But ill be sure to keep an eye out for another Fujica, it's not like they're huge investments!

cuthbert · Jun 12, 2016

Guttan said:
It did!
I got the Spotmatic for 10$ so I kind of had to.. But ill be sure to keep an eye out for another Fujica, it's not like they're huge investments!

I mean...a SPF is an excellent camera, and with the last SMC Tak offers open metering using a different approach than Fujica, but also interesting, as interesting is the electric solution of the problem developed by Praktica, I these these three makers made the best M42 ever.

And yes, you can afford a SPF with SMC Tak 55 f1.8 AND a ST705 with Fujinon 55mm f1.8, possibly EDB.

This was the humble Fujica ST705 set I bought at in a charity auction:

Later I added the Fujinon 50mm f1.4 (hard to find, slightly inferior to the SMC Tak but a good lens), the 35mm f2.8, the 135mm f2.5 and other stuff.

The zoom is excellent!

I've taken many good pics with these fine cameras.

Actually this is a picture of one of my SPF taken by my ST705W:

The W is my favourite but it's rare to find.

Guttan · Jun 12, 2016

Wow! That looks great!
You're really getting me pumped, haha

What makes the 'W' different? Other than the rarity.

cuthbert · Jun 12, 2016

Guttan said:
Wow! That looks great!
You're really getting me pumped, haha

What makes the 'W' different? Other than the rarity.

The W is rare because it's the last Fujica screw mount and mechanical camera of the company, it was introduced in late 1978 and after mor eor less one year they introduced their X bayonet.

It has few improvements in comparison to the 705, namely a different tip of the advance lever (that I prefer), the shutter locking mechanism is like the one of the SPF while on previous Fujicas you had to pull the shutter release up and lock it in position, inside the lightmeter looks like the Pentax KX's one and it looks slightly more modern than the 705 but of course the most important upgrade (that I never used, to be honest, because manual winding is pleasant with these cameras) is that it accept the autowinder of the AZ1.

The only place where you can find some info on M42 is this one for the bodies:

http://www.pentax-manuals.com/fujica/fujica.htm

And here there is the list of the lenses:

http://www.pentax-manuals.com/fujica/lenses/m42_lenses.htm

As you can see Fujica never tried to "go pro" with the cameras but in my experience their lenses with EBC coating were top notch, just behind Pentax (with their SMC coating) and way ahead of Canon and Nikon (even if they will never admit that). I noticed that in their fastest lense (the 50mm f1.4 and the 135 mm f2.5) there is some vignetting and the corners aren't as sharp as the centre, but they have less barrel distortion than Nikkors, for instance. As stated the 75-150 mm zoom I have is superb, but VERY heavy.

Guttan · Jun 12, 2016

cuthbert said:
The W is rare because it's the last Fujica screw mount and mechanical camera of the company, it was introduced in late 1978 and after mor eor less one year they introduced their X bayonet.

It has few improvements in comparison to the 705, namely a different tip of the advance lever (that I prefer), the shutter locking mechanism is like the one of the SPF while on previous Fujicas you had to pull the shutter release up and lock it in position, inside the lightmeter looks like the Pentax KX's one and it looks slightly more modern than the 705 but of course the most important upgrade (that I never used, to be honest, because manual winding is pleasant with these cameras) is that it accept the autowinder of the AZ1.

The only place where you can find some info on M42 is this one for the bodies:

http://www.pentax-manuals.com/fujica/fujica.htm

And here there is the list of the lenses:

http://www.pentax-manuals.com/fujica/lenses/m42_lenses.htm

As you can see Fujica never tried to "go pro" with the cameras but in my experience their lenses with EBC coating were top notch, just behind Pentax (with their SMC coating) and way ahead of Canon and Nikon (even if they will never admit that). I noticed that in their fastest lense (the 50mm f1.4 and the 135 mm f2.5) there is some vignetting and the corners aren't as sharp as the centre, but they have less barrel distortion than Nikkors, for instance. As stated the 75-150 mm zoom I have is superb, but VERY heavy.

All right! The 705W sounds temptingt, I have to say..
Appriciate the list of compatible lenses, thanks!

cuthbert · Jun 12, 2016

Guttan said:
All right! The 705W sounds temptingt, I have to say..
Appriciate the list of compatible lenses, thanks!

Word of warning: if you get a Fujinon M42 lens without camera make sure it has the pins used by the camera to have open metering, otherwise you'll have to use stepped down and lose the advantage of these Fujicas...a lot of digital heads evirated them removing the pins to make them fit to M42 adapters.

Guttan · Jun 12, 2016

cuthbert said:
Word of warning: if you get a Fujinon M42 lens without camera make sure it has the pins used by the camera to have open metering, otherwise you'll have to use stepped down and lose the advantage of these Fujicas...a lot of digital heads evirated them removing the pins to make them fit to M42 adapters.

Ah, that's good to know!

HeavenlyPhotoz · Jun 7, 2017

Guttan said:
Ah, that's good to know!

Actually it's not the pin but the small tab on the lens aperture ring. It exist on the EBC M42 mount lenses. The tab allows the later bodies to use open aperture metering. Some users try to adapt these excellent lenses to digital using an adapter. The tab fouls the mounting on the adapter so people grinds it off. The pin, like on most m42 lenses is to stop down the lens so make sure that is there and working. Hope that helps.

Exposure problems with Fujica ST 901!

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