Looking for the perfect mechanical SLR

[Radost]

No. There are more registered vintage Mercedes worldwide than any other.

I doubt that number is acurate. Maybe for countries which could not afford to import american cars benz was the only ok car.
Also Benz owners drove their cars only 3 miles on the weekend.
In the states I see more ford mustangs than anything else.

 

[choiliefan]

Is your name Jeremy Rundle?

 

[George Mann]

I doubt that number is acurate.

I was a Mercedes specialist for over 30 years. This is a well known fact.

 

[BradS]

Fairly early in my career, I had the very good fortune to work for a company that bought brand new vehicles and very carefully dis-assembled them, tore them apart. Sometimes even to the point of cutting open the ROMs and reading the bits stored there with a scanning electron microscope (and then re-constructing the firmware). The team that did this, laid out all the parts on tables, they cut open sheet metal of the body and wrote detailed engineering analysis of the findings. Really fascinating stuff. Anyway, I got to see many, many automobiles this way. The Mercedes were always, far, far better than any of the others. Just amazing stuff. Caveat - that was in the 1990's. No idea what the current state of things are with modern vehicles.

 

[Huss]

haha no youre your fine brad. I doubt there is enough space for duplex in your head for both me and huss to camp inside

Craig, you ok if I sublet my space this w/e? I'm going to be using a Zenit EM, and the 'friend' who gave it to me says there is something wrong with the shutter.

 

[Huss]

I was a Mercedes specialist for over 30 years. This is a well known fact.

If you say you were a Mercedes specialist for over 30 years, I believe you.

 

[George Mann]

If you say you were a Mercedes specialist for over 30 years, I believe you.

I dearly miss it.

 

[Huss]

I dearly miss it.

My Dad used to drive a 1969 280 SEL, silver with blue velour interior and manual transmission!
This was in England, so it had the cool Euro lights and small bumpers.

 

[George Mann]

My dad drove a silver '72 280SE 4.5 (same interior), which is my favorite model of all the post-war Benz.

 

[Craig75]

Craig, you ok if I sublet my space this w/e? I'm going to be using a Zenit EM, and the 'friend' who gave it to me says there is something wrong with the shutter.

thats fine but if you're popping out remember we are running low on bin bags and washing up liquid.

 

[removed account4]

But to pretend that a M3 is better designed and built, and more reliable than 21st canon, minolta or Nikon "high end" SLR is nonesense.

which models of Nikon, Canon or Minolta are considered '"high end" sorry for asking I have never seen or used one.

 

[Radost]

canon eos3 - pro
Minolta A9 - pro "arguably the best film SLR ever made"
Nikon F6 - pro

I love Elan7ne USA - 30V Europe 7s in Japan- semi pro - less FPS - less finder, no spot metering but more compact and pop up flash.
Same amazing manifacturing like modern DSLRs. Extremely durable. Great for carry around DSLR

 

[George Mann]

My Nikon F90x is a dead reliable high end camera.

 

[removed account4]

canon eos3 - pro
Minolta A9 - pro "arguably the best film SLR ever made"
Nikon F6 - pro

I love Elan7ne USA - 30V Europe 7s in Japan- semi pro - less FPS - less finder, no spot metering but more compact and pop up flash.
Same amazing manifacturing like modern DSLRs. Extremely durable. Great for carry around DSLR

as mentioned, im not familiar with those cameras and at the risk of seeming argumentative, I will apologize in advance.
there's no plastic on them, and they are all metal bodies ? and a cla on the shutter and lenses will last 18-20 years?
that's how I would compare a modern camera like you have examples of, and a m3 ... not really sure how else to compare them other than materials and reliability / how often they need to be CLA'd ..
I don't have experience with any other M3's other than the one I own. the shutter is spot on, it was CLA'd probably in 2003
and when I asked the person who did it when I needed to bring them ( the camera and lenses ) back he said when my kid graduates college ( she was 3 at the time ) ...

 

[faberryman]

My Nikon F90x is a dead reliable high end camera.

Maybe it would help to have a definition of "high end camera". What in your judgment makes the Nikon F90x (aka the N90s) a "high end camera"?

 

[choiliefan]

The Elan 7 is notorious for its Achilles-heel plastic back latch.
https://www.jdavidbuerk.com/blog/248

 

[Radost]

The Elan 7 is notorious for its Achilles-heel plastic back latch.
https://www.jdavidbuerk.com/blog/248

Elan 7Ne/v30/7s are rock solid. I believe the last SLR canon made.
Some of them have a battery leak issue when you switch them off but if you keep them on they are fine.

 

[George Mann]

Maybe it would help to have a definition of "high end camera". What in your judgment makes the Nikon F90x (aka the N90s) a "high end camera"?

The build quality and features make it one as Nikon intended it to be.

 

[faberryman]

The build quality and features make it one as Nikon intended it to be.

So no definition or list of criteria that need to be met to qualify as a "high end camera"?

 

[George Mann]

So no definition or list of criteria that need to be met to qualify as a "high end camera"?

The fact that Nikon intended it to be (successfully I may add) doesn't hold any weight with you?

 

[Radost]

 

[faberryman]

The fact that Nikon intended it to be (successfully I may add) doesn't hold any weight with you?

Not really. Besides, if Nikon intended it to be a "high end camera", they must have had a checklist of things the camera needed to have to meet their objective. If so, what was on their checklist, and what is on yours?

 

[sfphoto]

Thanks for the input, escpecially to those who happen to read my opening post. I'll be looking for a good offer on a Cosina CT-1A and then will further see. Sounds like the perfect fit for me so far. And yes, guess I should've put "perfect SLR for me" in the title.

It would seem that you can widen your search to:
CT-1G, Petri, Miranda and Exacta HS, ref:
http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Cosina_CT1_Super
http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Exakta (scroll down to Cosina)

I believe all metal shutters will be made by Copal and are LARGE, so forget small and light if you do not want cloth.
IMO a ME Super is great for small & light and PK mount.

 

[George Mann]

Not really. Besides, if Nikon intended it to be a "high end camera", they must have had a checklist of things the camera needed to have to meet their objective. If so, what was on their checklist, and what is on yours?

If you need further proof, then you need to check one out for yourself.

 

[faberryman]

If you need further proof, then you need to check one out for yourself.

The least you could do is tell me what I should be looking for so I can distinguish a high end camera from an ordinary camera or a low end camera. Is it that it has both manual and automatic exposure, spot and average metering, takes a motor drive, has auto focus, a 1/8000 top shutter speed, blah, blah, blah? What is the list of features and specifications required to be a high end camera?