Got Miranda?

[StanMac]

My first SLR was a Miranda Sensomat, bought after graduating college in 1970. The camera served me well for many years. I sold it as my photography interest was pushed aside due to career demands. I won a bid on a Sensomat RE last year while in a fit of nostalgic GAS. The camera and its case looked like it had been in a hermetically sealed container since new. Everything still works fine. The first thing I noticed was how heavy the camera was. I guess when I was younger the weight around my neck didn’t bother me like it would now.

Stan

 

[choiliefan]

I had a fairly late model Sensorex RE with a sticker adjacent to the pressure plate boasting a 3-year warranty.
Perhaps, too little too late?
This particular example was a solid working brick of a camera.

 

[ronnies]

I have an EE-2 that is a paperweight. Shutter seems jammed and one of the shutter curtains has become detached. Not had the courage to really open it up to see whats wrong.

Ronnie

 

[dynachrome]

I have to admit that I like collecting Miranda equipment more than using it. I have Sensorex, Sensorex II, Sensomet RE, Sensomat RE II and Autosensores EE cameras as well as lenses for all of them. In 1971 I looked at an EE and thought about buying it. The removable prism seemed interesting. I bought a Konica Autoreflex T2 instead. A relative had a Miranda and his work with it was good so I knew Miranda equipment was capable of quality results. My collection has many different camera brands now and I still use the Konicas. They have worked well over the years and Greg Weber is there to keep them going. What Miranda items would I still like to add? An EE2 and a Macron.

 

[Paul Howell]

Just the opposite, like using not so much collecting. Thought I would like collecting it, but not so much. As far as Konica, some of the best lens, the 50 1.7 was used by the Japaneses Government as the bench mark for sharpness in 35mm for years. I started with Pentax Spotmatic, while in college wanted a camera with auto exposure so got a Konica T and a 58 1.2, the 57 1.7 , 28 3.5 and the 100 2.8 really missed the 58 1.2. Sold it to get a Nikon F with motor drive and battery pack. Over the years I got an T3 and 4 with the winder and a few lens, still sharp as a tack, Konica may not have made the widest range of lens, but I dont of any that are dogs.

I have a bunch of EEs only one is working, dont have an an EEII. The most reliable for me has been the RE. I also use Miranda lens on a Sony 3000 with an adapter.

 

[KN4SMF]

A Miranda Sensorex was the second camera I bought while vacationing in Vietnam in 1969 and my very first SLR. The first camera was a Minolta 7 or 7s I can't remember. I went to the little 12'x12' PX at 1st. Marines on Hill 55 with a good friend and we both picked out our cameras. He knew much more than I did about 35mm cameras since he had worked for a newspaper in his home town. I was looking at all the cameras and drooling. Yup, all five of them looked nice, but I spotted the one for me. He tried to persuade me to buy a Nikon F with metered head, but that sexy camera with the sexy name is the one that caught my eye. I can't remember exactly what I paid, but I know his shiny new unsexy Nikon F with Photomic head was only about $20.00 more. I told you I didn't know much about cameras then! If I did we would have both walk out with Nikons. That said, the Sensorex served me very well and that 50mm F1.4 lens was first rate. I even used it to shoot my first wedding, which was my best friends after I got back home. That said, I think Miranda was going down already in 1971-72 since it was getting a little hard to get lenses for the Senorex compared to the newer model EE. I think their worst mistake was not being able to make all lenses completely compatible with all models. Unlike Minolta, Pentax, Canon and Nikon of the time. Also, after the take over by AIC (Applied Impex Corporation) all then newer glass was stamped Soligor, which in my opinion was the handwriting on the wall for Mirandal. I don't know if this is true or not, but an old camera buff told me that Miranda at its peak had more accessories for their cameras than any other camera manufacture of the time. Minolta, Pentax and Canon were my other choices in that case at the Post Exchange and anyone of those would probably have severed me better. Oh well, live and learn I guess. I still think that Senorex is one of the sexiest cameras ever made and it's bottom weighted, in the mirror metering system worked perfect for me. Think sexy, think Miranda!. JohnW

... "while vacationing in Viet Nam in 1969"... I'm glad you made it home from your "vacation". Thank you for your service.

 

[John Wiegerink]

... "while vacationing in Viet Nam in 1969"... I'm glad you made it home from your "vacation". Thank you for your service.

I'm glad I made it home from there too. It was a much longer vacation than I wanted, but hey, when you're young and foolish that's what you do. My father was very upset when he found out I enlisted in the Marines and even more so when I told him I was going on vacation. And he was a WWII Marine. Go figure? Yes, I salute all military personnel. I can not imagine being married with children and sent off to who knows where. God bless them.
Of course I'm sure I would have never owned a Miranda if it hadn't been for that vacation. Ha-ha!

 

[KN4SMF]

I'm glad I made it home from there too. It was a much longer vacation than I wanted, but hey, when you're young and foolish that's what you do. My father was very upset when he found out I enlisted in the Marines and even more so when I told him I was going on vacation. And he was a WWII Marine. Go figure? Yes, I salute all military personnel. I can not imagine being married with children and sent off to who knows where. God bless them.
Of course I'm sure I would have never owned a Miranda if it hadn't been for that vacation. Ha-ha!

Hard as it was you got something that can't be taken away from you till your last breath, and beyond. The honor and distinction of having been a Marine.