Nikon 35ti: anything to consider when copping?

[Odot]

Ive been wanting to get one for some time and since this camera has been out for a cool 30 years or so, I wonder if there are any pitfalls to consider, especially age-related (electronics etc)

 

[Les Sarile]

I liked the 35Ti but it was annoying that every now and then you have to reset it as the meter readings get out of sync.

35Ti_a by Les DMess, on Flickr

Otherwise it is a very good performing camera and it's resale value continues to remain high as I sold mine higher then what I got it for originally.

 

[Paul Howell]

Like all of the high end point and shoots, Konica, Contax, Rollie, Minolta, great lens, but if the electronics fail you have a expensive paper weight. I wanted a Konica Hextar for a very long time, came close to buying one, but after thinking about it, I passed.

 

[Rob Skeoch]

I had one for years. I didn't find it reliable, although I was able to get it serviced by a guy who could do repairs to manual cameras I had lost faith in it and sold it to KEH about six months ago. Overall I didn't think it lived up to the hype and although a nice small package it wasn't that much smaller than a Leica with a 35mm so I just use that in situations that I would have used the Nikon.

 

[Huss]

Not reliable at this point. Notorious shutter failures.

 

[halfaman]

I had it and I didn't really like it. The lens could be great but usability is not. An ugly brick from desing point view, limited maximum shutter speed (1/250s most of the time), and lightmeter needles have to be reset from time to time with no apparent reason as already being mentioned. I sold it after a couple of rolls.

 

[Paul Howell]

Of all the high end, the Minolta TC-1 has a top shutter speed of 1/750, 28mm 2.8 5 element lens with 2 APO elements, still selling for over a grand. But, if it dies it is dead.

 

[Odot]

The Hexar AF has higher shutter speed but the oversharped images (especially small , fine patterns) just looked unrefined. Sharpness isn’t everything. As for the 35ti, now I am really not sure if this is what I want.

 

[Paul Howell]

The Hextar has a top shutter speed of 1/250, what attracted me was the lens, 35mm 2.0 7 elements in 6 groups, very little distortion wide open to all the way stopped down. Will take a filter, down side is only AE and P modes, no manual.

 

[gijsbert]

Hexar AF does have manual modes, but with somewhat fiddly buttons not nice dials.
The P mode is kinda cool in that it tries to use the aperture set on the dial, so if you set it to F/2 it will try to shoot wide open until it runs out of shutter speeds. And if you set it to F/22 it will favour smaller apertures but it will lower it if the shutter speed gets too low (you can set this value as well).
I always thought the top speed of 1/250 was the limiting factor.

 

[Huss]

Hexar AF does have manual modes, but with somewhat fiddly buttons not nice dials.
The P mode is kinda cool in that it tries to use the aperture set on the dial, so if you set it to F/2 it will try to shoot wide open until it runs out of shutter speeds. And if you set it to F/22 it will favour smaller apertures but it will lower it if the shutter speed gets too low (you can set this value as well).
I always thought the top speed of 1/250 was the limiting factor.

Yep, that top shutter speed of 1/250 completely ruled it out for me. Now, my Rollei QZ35W - top shutter speed 1/8000 sec. Pretty awesome shooting at 2.8 w/ iso 400 film in bright sunshine i.e. your creativity not being limited by your gear.

 

[Ben 4]

Bought mine on ebay about a dozen years ago and continue to like and use it. It is my principal small(ish) travel and carry around 35mm camera. Mine has been reliable and sharp. Downsides? The motor that extends the lens and winds the film is noisy (at least mine is), so it's not a stealth camera, and the lens, while very good, will flare if the sun is in the frame, and there's no provision for a hood. But I've generally been impressed with the lens, I've found the meter to be very good, and the viewfinder is excellent.