Thinking of getting a new 35mm SLR. Your thoughts?

[Harry Stevens]

I like my Nikon F90 (a lot)so nice to have metering on manual lenses.

 

[cooltouch]

Well, MrBrowning, since you stated that you kinda miss the old F-1 you sold, guess what my recommendation is? Yep. Get yourself another. My favorite 35mm SLR. If your budget won't tolerate what you'd have to lay out for a clean one, get an FTb instead. You can find clean examples of FTbs easy enough for very cheap these days. The FTb shares a few of the F-1's most important features: match-needle metering, the 12% partial metering, and mirror lock-up. Yes, they both take the old 1.35v mercury battery, but it can be easily replaced with a 675 hearing aid battery -- they may only last a few months, but they are very cheap, so no worries.

The Pentax LX has been discussed a lot. There are a couple of problems with the LX. First, clean examples are expensive. Second, even clean examples are gonna require an expensive CLA. Almost all LXes that haven't had a recent CLA are gonna need one. They develop a sticky mirror syndrome that only a CLA will take care of. So, by the time you have a working example, you've sunk a fair chunk of change into that camera. If you're into the Pentax K mount and you like super long exposures, pick up a KX (for cheap, but a great camera) and a Gossen Luna Pro for cheap and use it for your metering chores. It'll meter down to minutes also.

 

[hsandler]

If you want autoexposure in a manual focus camera with bright screen, consider the Nikon FE/FE2. Much smaller than the F3 and has mirror up by using the self timer.

 

[Alan Gales]

I have XKs I'm willing to sell, but I don't sell on here for several reasons.

I joined both APUG and LFPF both with the intentions to sell. I decided to stick with Ebay and not sell on the forums. Sometimes it's best to keep business and pleasure separated.

 

[flavio81]

If you want autoexposure in a manual focus camera with bright screen, consider the Nikon FE/FE2. Much smaller than the F3 and has mirror up by using the self timer.

Excellent cameras !

 

[fstop]

I joined both APUG and LFPF both with the intentions to sell. I decided to stick with Ebay and not sell on the forums. Sometimes it's best to keep business and pleasure separated.

Exactomundo

 

[Les Sarile]

I joined both APUG and LFPF both with the intentions to sell. I decided to stick with Ebay and not sell on the forums. Sometimes it's best to keep business and pleasure separated.

I have bought from others here and see no problem with that as I believe active participants here are more trust worthy and their prices have been very realistic - oftentimes great bargains.

 

[Alan Gales]

I have bought from others here and see no problem with that as I believe active participants here are more trust worthy and their prices have been very realistic - oftentimes great bargains.

Oh, I think the for sale section is great. I just decided for myself not to sell on the forums. It's one thing to sell an item here and there on a forum and another to be a high volume dealer.

 

[Brett Rogers]

I'd like some level of automation and a manual mode. Size isn't an issue since it will mainly live in my Domke F2 bag. A choice of metering modes would be preferred as would TTL flash. Interchangeable lenses are a must.

Not being sarcastic but are there SLRs WI out interchangeable lenses that are good?

35mm SLRs without interchangeable lenses are few and far between, in general. Of the ones that were made many incorporated lens shutters and originated mostly in Germany or Japan. In terms of build quality, reliability and lens performance, without doubt the best of this class of SLRs is the original Contaflex from Zeiss Ikon and the subsequent Contaflex II model with light meter. Both have a non-interchangeable 45mm Carl Zeiss Tessar f/2.8 that is a solid performer.

There were other types made by various manufacturers (such as some of the cheaper Agfa reflexes for example) with lenses that were probably OK(ish), but these were not as reliable as the Contaflexes, which essentially employed a smaller version of the super-reliable Synchro Compur reflex shutter fitted within many Hasselblad lenses. Most others utilised cheaper Prontor reflex versions or their own shutters, or third party Japanese makes of lens shutters, which might still work decades after manufacture, but might also have failed. Not that a typical Contaflex will run well as found in 2017 either, but cleaning and lubrication alone will nearly always restore proper function—actual breakages, whilst not unheard of, are quite rare.
Cheers,
Brett

 

[Robin Guymer]

If you want autoexposure in a manual focus camera with bright screen, consider the Nikon FE/FE2. Much smaller than the F3 and has mirror up by using the self timer.

The FE & FE2 are exceptional for long exposures. The FE2 I think is better as it has a 250th flash sync and the meter turns off after 12 seconds so you won't flatten batteries by leaving the meter on via the winder lever cocked.
This image was around 5 minutes exposure on a moonless black night. I think the light was provided by a meterorite that came down out of frame. Nikon FE with Fuji Superia 200. https://flic.kr/p/KU8XCK

 

[cooltouch]

Brett Rogers, there is also a class of fixed lens SLRs that you're overlooking -- the ZLRs (Zoom Lens Reflex), aka Bridge cameras, that first appeared during the late 1980s, and remained popular throughout the 1990s. Models such as the Olympus IS Series, Ricoh Mirai and Chinon Genesis, even the Canon Photura (while technically not an SLR, it was a bridge camera, at least) made up this very successful market segment that sort of pre-staged its digital equivalent.

 

[Brett Rogers]

Brett Rogers, there is also a class of fixed lens SLRs that you're overlooking -- the ZLRs (Zoom Lens Reflex), aka Bridge cameras, that first appeared during the late 1980s, and remained popular throughout the 1990s. Models such as the Olympus IS Series, Ricoh Mirai and Chinon Genesis, even the Canon Photura (while technically not an SLR, it was a bridge camera, at least) made up this very successful market segment that sort of pre-staged its digital equivalent.

I'm not overlooking those as much as trying to forget them, but factually, you are quite right of course.

 

[blockend]

I had a T90, as a historically significant camera it was great. It took my FD lenses and had some advanced features but I never clicked with it. It had wheels instead of dials and an LCD screen rather than analogue control. It was the final flowering of pre-AF technology yet that alone was not enough to engage me. The OP needs to decide if he's looking for a mechanical camera or an automatic one, then narrow things down. An OM1 ticks all his boxes, not least the bright viewfinder.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Another camera to toss in the mix - a Contax RTS III or Contax RX. Best 35mm glass out there, manual focus, auto-exposure, some pretty sophisticated metering options, reasonably fast built-in motor drives, super-bright viewfinders with 98%+ coverage (especially the RTS III - I think it's a 100% finder, and the RX is a 98%).

 

[RichardJack]

MY Two cents; Skip 35mm and look at a 645 medium format. (A wiser move would be a full frame DSLR - but those are probably taboo here).

 

[fstop]

MY Two cents; Skip 35mm and look at a 645 medium format. (A wiser move would be a full frame DSLR - but those are probably taboo here).

Oh don't get that argument started... again.

 

[MrBrowning]

MY Two cents; Skip 35mm and look at a 645 medium format. (A wiser move would be a full frame DSLR - but those are probably taboo here).

I'm not a fan of the 645 format. I had a Mamiya AFD II that I recent sold and 2 of the Fuji point and shoots. While nicest cameras if I'm shooting 120 I prefer 6x6 or 6x9 (on a Speed Graphic). 35mm would be nice for small prints and for a quick grab and go.

I'm still thinking about the Pentax LX though I have been looking at the Nikon FE2 also. I won't get my return back for a few weeks so I still have time to decide.

The Contax cameras look great also.

So many choices!

Edit: As for digital I have no interest. I had a Canon 5d MK II which is now my wife's and I prefer not to be the one using it. I enjoy film and if I want a digital then I have my phone or my wife to use the 5d for me.

 

[Pioneer]

I'm not a fan of the 645 format. I had a Mamiya AFD II that I recent sold and 2 of the Fuji point and shoots. While nicest cameras if I'm shooting 120 I prefer 6x6 or 6x9 (on a Speed Graphic).

6x9 is nice if the film stays flat.

6x6 is only a way for people to shoot 645 without having to decide on portrait or landscape until later.

 

[flavio81]

6x9 is nice if the film stays flat.

6x6 is only a way for people to shoot 645 without having to decide on portrait or landscape until later.

In all honesty, that's a good advantage for 6x6. Not only portrait vs landscape; but portrait vs landscape vs square.

 

[blockend]

In film days editorial photography was usually shot on 6 x 6 and cropped later. Magazines were a big part of the pro and semi-pro photography market, and picture editors were unusually conservative. 35mm was out - they had to get off their backsides and find a light box whereas editors could point a medium format slide at the nearest window. 6 x 4.5 system cameras were an attempt at rationalising the cropping process, but most composed their square 'Blads, Bronicas and Mamiyas for the portrait cut. I don't recall any commercial work being printed square, that was for "artists".

 

[michaelorr]

+1 suggestion from @TheFlyingCamera . I left my pentax kit and went to RTS for two reasons. Highest priority was to have a camera body that had mirror lockup MLU. It really sucks when one can use a tripod for an image and there is no MLU. Second is that I was never satisfied with images taken with my pentax 28/2.8 lens. The 50/1.4 was amazing, the 28 was disappointing. So I had to choose to go a route that had lenses I could trust (not so hard a decision) and a body that I could trust that had MLU. I love to use my RTS. I have the RTS II. I wish I had the RTS III. This all caveated by I don't really do much small format photography due to time available. When I can go out, I like more to take one of my view cameras.

BTW, Matt - I am going to the White Mountains in June to hike Carrigan, Whiteface and Passaconaway peaks to finish the 48 over 4k. Hope to bring the 8x10 and spend a couple hours at Diana's Bath, inspired by your photos of a couple years back. >michael

 

[Toyo]

Like Michael has said - you already have Canon FD lens(es) - get yourself a Canon FTb.
Tough as nails, very reliable, selective metering and all with mirror-up function ..... for peanuts.
Can't really go wrong
T

 

[Wallendo]

I enjoy shooting the Minolta manual focus cameras. I am a little wary of the X series, however, as these were the earliest models of their electronic cameras and the capacitors have not aged well, although they can be replaced. I have an XG-7 that worked great until it stopped working, and have read many reports online about the issues. I prefer the SRT-201 which is a mechanical camera with a battery for the meter, but does not offer any automatic mode.

 

[flavio81]

I enjoy shooting the Minolta manual focus cameras. I am a little wary of the X series, however, as these were the earliest models of their electronic cameras and the capacitors have not aged well, although they can be replaced. I have an XG-7 that worked great until it stopped working, and have read many reports online about the issues. I prefer the SRT-201 which is a mechanical camera with a battery for the meter, but does not offer any automatic mode.

Minolta SRT-XXX series
Nikkormat FTN / FT2 / FTN
Canon FTb series
Pentax Spotmatic F (and then the Pentax KX)

Those four are the perfect, classic, mechanical, well-featured, amateur* cameras of the 70s, all of them excellent choices.

* except for the Pentax Spotmatic F, because there wasn't a "pro"-labeled camera available from Pentax.

 

[cooltouch]

I enjoy shooting the Minolta manual focus cameras. I am a little wary of the X series, however, as these were the earliest models of their electronic cameras and the capacitors have not aged well, although they can be replaced. I have an XG-7 that worked great until it stopped working, and have read many reports online about the issues. I prefer the SRT-201 which is a mechanical camera with a battery for the meter, but does not offer any automatic mode.

The X-570 (X-500 outside North America) is something of a sleeper. It was released a few years after the X-700 and has a couple of updates that the X-700 never had, even though the X-700 was produced for more years than the X-570 was. Most significant with the X-570 is its very nice manual mode. The LED readout is connected to both shutter speed and aperture controls. It also has that very bright viewfinder that the X-700 was well known for.I looked for one for quite a while before finding a nice copy on eBay for a reasonable sum. I think the word has gotten out regarding the X-570. Most of the ones I found were priced well above what an X-700 can be found for. Anyway, highly recommended.

Here's a link that provides all the significant details regarding the X-570:
Dead Link Removed

I prefer the SRT-101 over the 201 for one reason. Most (but not all) 101s have mirror lock up, which I prefer to have on a fully manual camera, whether it has a meter or not.