Best M42 mount SLR

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loneranger

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To those of you who have or have had one of these M42 /screw mount cameras, which would you say is the most reliable, well constructed and compact...
I just got a mint pentax spotmatic SP that I am starting to really like. Mine came with a fujinon 35/1.9 , both for a $100 from my local camera store. It seems as solidly built at the nikon F but smaller and kind of nicer looking.
 
Nicest M42 mount camera I ever used was a Mamiya DSX1000 with a spot meter & center wieght meter plus open aperture metering with their own lenses. Very very nice.
 
One way to go would be to buy the most recently produced one. If so, then one of the two (internally identical) CV Bessaflex models might qualify. They have the same basic innards as the CV rangefinders -- and people don't seem to complain much about them.
 
Another vote for the Mamiya DSX1000.
Very nice camera. I recently shot a roll of XP2 with one, with the 55/2.8 lens. And it's a joy to use. The only problem I had, was the length of the focus-throw. With the 55 it's almost a full rotation of the lens barrel. This makes it very precise, but also very slow.
 
I had a Spotmatic F that I liked however the viewfinders all seem a bit dim by todays standards. Somewhere in my mind I recall that the Fujica ST series had the brightest viewfinders.
 
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My first 35mm camera was the Vivitar 400SL (I still have it) Very simple no frills camera that is/was well built...
Last year I started using it again but then decided I wanted the Spotmatic SP with a Takumar 50mm 1.4...the only thing I'm not that thrilled with on the Spotmatic is the switch for the meter...with the Vivitar the meter was turned on with the shutter release button...
M42 lenses in my bag...
Vivitar 28mm 2.8
Super-Takumar 35mm 3.5 (in mint cond.)
Super-Takumar 50mm 1.4
Vivitar 50mm 1.9
Vivitar 135mm 2.8
Vivitar 200mm 3.5 (a very sharp lens)

I forgot to add that the Vivitar series of M42 SLR cameras only came in black paint...Sweet!!!
 
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This is the best M42 SLR I've ever used:

icarex.jpg


Mr. Gandy has high praise for it too on his site.
 
Bob, if I ever get another M42 camera, that's the one I want. Interesting picture of it too - it's smaller than I thought it would be.
 
The Spotmatic is well-deserved as a classic. The Icarex (later the Zeiss Ikon SL 706) also is excellent.

The original Contax and Pentacon (and many variants) are fun, smaller than you would think but require a lot of compromise. I think that some of the Prakticas are very good. A bit spartan but generally well made.
 
The Fujica St-801 uses LED readout and SPD cells, last much longer than CDS cells used by most M42 mount cameras. It is small, the same size as a Nikon FG. It uses standard M42 mount lenses in stop-down metering mode, but meters wide-open with its native mount lenses. These are different from the Pentax ES and Spotmatic-F (edited) that have wide-open metering with the last generation Pentax screwmount lenses.

The St-901 adds auto-exposure mode.
 
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I have tried a few including some European models but always gravitated back to the Pentax cameras.

My favourite though, is not the Spotmatic (although its a perfectly fine series of cameras that are very functional and sturdy.) I prefer what I call the "pre Spotmatic" cameras. The S1, S1a etc (or in USA also marketed by Honywell as H1, H1a etc.)

These cameras are smaller than Spotmatics and somehow I prefer their feel in the hand. To me they have something of the form factor of a Leica screw mount (with the obvious addition of a pentaprism.) No meter of course but then thats part of the fun of using vintage cameras.

And the Takumar series of screw mount lenses are really superb. At one stage I collected them and often ended up with versions of the same lenses from very early (with pre set or semi auto aperture mechansims) through to the last versions. There are all very good, almost (many would say absolutely) without exception.

In any event both the camerras and the lenses can be had for realtively little money (except for a few rarities) and produce wonderful results.)

Check out this site for some excellent information.

http://www.taunusreiter.de/Cameras/Pentax_Main.html
 
IMHO the Spotmatic SP or the SP II are the best of the lot.

However, there is a family of chinons with very nice metal shutters and also there is the recent (~2000) Cosina made Voigtlander Bessaflex which is very desirable but expensive and hard to find these days.

The mamiyas were also very nice, but as time goes by I have not found with a good meter anymore....
 
i have been using a old-new Praktica Mtl 5b for the past few weeks.
Absolutely love this camera and the CZJ lens, though i found the viewer impossibly
dim with the Pentax Super-Takumar 28/f3.5 lens.

oo.jpg
 
Brian Sweeney said:
The Fujica St-801 uses LED readout and SPD cells, last much longer than CDS cells used by most M42 mount cameras. It is small, the same size as a Nikon FG. It uses standard M42 mount lenses in stop-down metering mode, but meters wide-open with its native mount lenses. These are different from the Pentax ES and Spotmatic-F (edited) that have wide-open metering with the last generation Pentax screwmount lenses.

The St-901 adds auto-exposure mode.
Click to expand...

Either that or the Chinon CE-2 Memotron, which offers wide open focusing and stopped down metering with ALL M42 lenses. It has AE mode as well as fully metered manual. Plus, its shutter is electronically controlled, so it exposes at any intermediate speed between 1/1 and 1/2000th of a second. Real nice when shooting slide film!

Not to mention that it is black paint over brass which is remarkably similar to that of Leica black paint.:cool:

The Fujica is considerably smaller and lighter though, the finder is a bit brighter and if I recall correctly it might have a 1:1 finder when using a 55mm 1.8 EBC-Fujinon. :eek:
 
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