What's your latest new old camera ? (Part 2)

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fstop

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It came along at a good price, it was on the list and it looks great on my XK AES.I don't understand that some people claim it can't be focused, it focuses fast and right on.
 

cooltouch

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I have Canon FD 1.2s -- an 85mm and a 55mm. I discovered shortly after buying the first one that it was very difficult focusing with it on my AE-1 Program, but that it was relatively easy to focus on my F-1. My reasoning for this has always been that the more amateur oriented SLRs' focusing screens are not designed to work well with f/1.2 optics, but that pro-level SLRs' focusing screens are engineered to work at that speed. I've since found they're difficult to use with an A-1, but not with an EF or T90. I note you're using your Rokkor with an XK, which proves my point. It might be that lens is getting bad reports from people using amateur-oriented cameras.
 

Theo Sulphate

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The 58/1.2 MC Rokkor focuses pretty well, too...

IMAG5453-1.jpg
 

Steve Roberts

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Olympus OM2 SP f1.8, Pentax ME Super f1.7, Canon QL19 and Olympus XA2 with flash and spectacles-type case - £15 at a car boot sale.
The Olympus OM2 SP looks hardly used, came with its box, instructions and T20 flash. Pentax and XA2 are both working. The only one that needs attention is the one that interests me most - the Canon QL19.
Steve
 

R.Gould

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I wish the car boot sales here were like that :wondering:
I did alright at a car boot recently, Agfa Ambi Sillette, 90mm telinear, and the almost unobtainable telinear 130mm, mint, looks barely used, in the outfit case, and, almost unheard of, the wonderful extra finder, with parrelax correction was in it's little compartment, and all he wanted was £10 GBP for the lot, camera is also perfect, the guy told me that it would only be an ornament as film was not made anymore, the most amusing thing was his face when, after I paid him, I loaded a roll of film in the camera to try it out
Richard
 

TheToadMen

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A very nice Nikon FT2 with 50/1.4 lens and a Nikon F70 on a car boot sale.
 

TheToadMen

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A beautiful Bronica GS-1 camera set. It comes with:
- GS-1 Body
- film back 6x7
- film back 6x6
- standard lens 100mm
- wide angle lens 50mm
- prism finder
- normal finder
- polaroid back
- speed grip
- aluminum case

The camera and all extras are like new with all the original boxes. The body functions flawlessly and was stored without the battery. The 50 mm lens is beautiful and its shutter perfect. The 100 mm lens also looks like new, but the shutter isn't working properly. It fires, but the blades are opening too slow. Probably something a simple CLA can fix. It comes with a 6x7 and a 6x6 film back too, both tested with an old roll film and working properly. And the grip fits perfectly in my hand. Comes with metered prism finder and waist level finder.

So I bought the set from the original owner (since 1988), who's gonna sail around the world. I was also given (for free) a 40" roll of Ilford MGIV photo paper, a large roll of halftone film (for making alt photo negs), two rolls with transfer film for heliography and a new roll of tissue paper for carbon printing.

I'm a happy camper!! Even without the 100 mm lens this was a good deal, since I was looking for the 50 mm lens in the first place. I already shot a roll of film and it handles beautifully. The camera is even light for its size (compared to a RB67 or Pentax 6x7). This camera has found a good home and is rapidly becoming my new best friend.
Bronica-GS1-012.jpg Bronica-GS1-013.jpg Bronica-GS1-014.jpg
 

Josh Zierten

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I have, on indefinite loan, a nikon F4, which is just great. I need to get at least one AF lens for it though, as all my other nikons, and the associated glass, are manual. Before that I was given a Nikon FE and several lenses, and I bought a Zeis Ikon Contessa 35 (super fun camera) before that for $50 at an estate sale. I have an old Nikon EM also.

Why 3 Nikon SLRs? why not have some variety? honestly they all do different things and get used differently enough that its fun to switch through them. I could use a medium format camera at some point but I need more money for that.
 

Theo Sulphate

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I consider the Nikon F4 the best camera Nikon has ever made - including the latest D-models of today.

It may not be Nikon's most rugged, nor potentially longest lived, nor most repairable, but overall it has a balance of ruggedness, survivability, and features that I think is best. It is the last professional Nikon with all-external controls where each control has a single dedicated function. Regarding lenses, Ken Rockwell is correct in calling the F4 a "Rosetta Stone of compatibility."

It's truly a great camera and underpriced in today's market.
 

Josh Zierten

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I consider the Nikon F4 the best camera Nikon has ever made - including the latest D-models of today.

It may not be Nikon's most rugged, nor potentially longest lived, nor most repairable, but overall it has a balance of ruggedness, survivability, and features that I think is best. It is the last professional Nikon with all-external controls where each control has a single dedicated function. Regarding lenses, Ken Rockwell is correct in calling the F4 a "Rosetta Stone of compatibility."

It's truly a great camera and underpriced in today's market.

I was really excited when I got it. It has all the same features as my FE, with all the added features, like auto focus, swappable prism/viewfinder, matrix metering, and all that extra weight. Well I'm not taking either the F4 or FE backpacking. That is for the EM. They are all built like tanks as far as I've seen.

The EM, despite all the bad reviews is tough. Mine is second hand, probably needs all new light seals, came with a lens that looks like it took the brunt of a decent drop onto hard ground, and has a winder with enough grit that it won't spring back on its own, but it will still snap away just fine. I get light leaks once in a while, but nothing bad. The body is fiber glass reinforced poly carbonate, not plastic. For an SLR you can get under $50 and under 2 pounds, with 50mm lens, it's pretty good.

The F4 was on a tripod when it fell over. The person who gave it to me said it never worked after that. Then I put new batteries in and it worked just fine. The prism is chipped over the part of the LCD that displays the meter, but a new one costs as much as a new body, go figure. I asked about the chip and they think it was there to begin with, they always used an external meter anyway.

The FE is just slick. Great meter. The meter is the same or similar to the EM. Night shots over an hour, done. Need to shoot at ISO 3, done. Manual shutter speeds with out worrying about accuracy of the mechanical shutter, done. It's electronic! Battery life, decades, depending on use. Need a different focus screen? There are like 10! Want to mount any lens? Done! As long as they have an aperture ring of some sort.

Both the F4 and FE have some cool data backs but the F4 has probably one of the coolest. One feature on it makes it pretty awesome, focus priority. Set your focus and as soon as your subject crosses into it, the camera fires. You can't find that in modern cameras, maybe I'm wrong.
 

Theo Sulphate

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... Both the F4 and FE have some cool data backs but the F4 has probably one of the coolest. One feature on it makes it pretty awesome, focus priority. Set your focus and as soon as your subject crosses into it, the camera fires. You can't find that in modern cameras, maybe I'm wrong.

That's called "trap focus" on some Canon cameras (mostly digital, but I'm certain at least one of their film cameras had it).

I prefer to call it "focus triggering".

"Focus priority" (even if that's what Nikon calls it) actually implies something altogether different in contemporary terminology. Focus priority means the camera won't release the shutter when you press the release unless the AF system believes the subject is in focus. "Release priority" means the shutter will release regardless of having attained focus or not.
 

TheToadMen

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My first camera was Canon 20D, i love it! It has a special place in my heart.

Welcome to APUG.
(BTW: I think they meant new old analogue camera in this thread :smile: )
 

John_Nikon_F

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Another FM2n. Serial number is in the 7464xxx range, so it's within 1200 bodies of my first FM2n that I owned between July 1991 and June 2004.

-J
 
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My first camera was Canon 20D, i love it! It has a special place in my heart.
Oh dear!
Why do you list a digitography device in your signature?
BTW, do you really need all those big and chunky zooms?
 
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Another FM2n. Serial number is in the 7464xxx range, so it's within 1200 bodies of my first FM2n that I owned between July 1991 and June 2004.

-J
Are you chasing something in particular? ;-)
 

cooltouch

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I bought this outfit recently. Paid $250 for it. The zoom is a 70-300/4-5.6 D ED. I sold the EM, but kept the 50/1.8, just so I'd have a body cap for one of my other Nikons. I had an F3HP w/MD4 years ago and kinda missed it, so it's nice having one in my Nikon stable again.

f3outfit.jpg
 

CMoore

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You got all of that for 250.?
I paid that for (very nice condition) F3 body a year ago.
What a deal...!!
What a beast...!!
It seems that was, kind of, the tipping point for film cameras.
The cameras got Faster/More Complex.....but they never got "better".
Nice way to get a body cap.:smile:
 

John_Nikon_F

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Are you chasing something in particular? ;-)

Yes. Ideally, I'd find my original FM2n, Nikomat FTn/FT2, and F3P. But, since those items seem to be unavailable, I'm getting as close as I can to them. Current F3P is 307 bodies older than my original. The "new" FM2n is within 1200 bodies of the original, etc. My Nikkormat/Nikomat bodies, however, are a lot newer than the FTn I owned many years ago.

-J
 

Theo Sulphate

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Yes. Ideally, I'd find my original FM2n, Nikomat FTn/FT2, and F3P. But, since those items seem to be unavailable, I'm getting as close as I can to them. Current F3P is 307 bodies older than my original. ...

My interest is piqued: this has all the signs of a Quixotic adventure.

Did you buy the original cameras new? How long did you own them? Did you sell them to private parties or a shop?

Maybe an APUGer has one. We could voluntarily look for them. What are the serial numbers?

As you know, this April's PSPCS swap meet was overflowing with FTn's.
 

John_Nikon_F

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Theo,

My father bought the FTn new in Japan. At some point in time between then and when I got it, he dropped it and sent it in for repair. When it came back, it had an early FTn serial, but, the AR-1 compatible shutter release, type 2 take up spool, and meter coupling ring that went all the way to f/32. After I got my hands on it, it was bounced around some more, also received an FT2 style "Nikkormat" plate, then was sold to a guy by the name of David Biltcliffe in New Jersey through eBay.

The FT2, FM2n, and F3P were all bought used. FT2 received the "Nikomat" plate from the FTn, then eventually was sold to someone in California via the rec.photos.marketplace newsgroup. FM2n was traded in at Glazer's Camera for the F3P, so it likely is still local somewhere. F3P was sold to Camera Clinic, where it became a test body for one of their techs who retired about 5 years ago.

Serials:

3616358
5284540
7465126
9006741.

If the FTn is still around, I wouldn't be surprised if it received a top cover swap, since it truly was beat to heck when I sold it. FT2 is likely still somewhat original, same with the FM2n. The F3P, probably original, even though it had severe brassing.

To tell the truth, I'm ok with not having the exact bodies, but, that said, it'd be cool if I did. Captured quite a few memories with the FM2n, as well as all the photos done with the FTn by both my father and myself.

-J
 
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