Topic: Ed's SLR Saga

[Ed Wenn]

Hi Team, I need some sage advice.

I came to the conclusion years ago that there's definitely a place in my life for a 35mm SLR. I love toy cameras, rangefinders, instant snappers and MR SLRs...but I will always need a 35mm SLR. Due to being given a K-mount Pentax about 20 years ago, I have stayed with that family of lenses and bought a succession of Pentaxes to fill that position on the team. I have enjoyed using all of the models I've owned, but the ME-Super is definitely my fave. Partly because it's a really cool camera, but mainly because it's so compact - as I think we've discussed here previously.

The trouble is, I haven't owned a single Pentax that has lasted very long. I must have been through 10 of them in the intervening years and they all eventually break. I never get them repaired because it's always cheaper to get another one on eBay...of course after having bought 10 for £60 each, the maths doesn't make sense anymore. I probably could have bought a reliable SLR and a couple of lenses for £600 right at the start!!  My current ME Super sort of works, but the light metering isn't functioning properly so, I'm stuck with a shutter speed of 125th/sec.

Questions:

• Shall I jump ship, leave Pentax behind and get hold of a new, reliable camera? Which brands/cameras have people here been using for years with no issues (and you're not allowed to say "Pentax" at this point!!!  )
• Does anyone make new 35mm SLRs these days and are any of them any good? Does it make sense to buy a new camera even?
• Given that my preferred option is probably to stay with Pentax, but have one that doesn't break, can I send my Pentaxes somewhere for repair? In which case...any suggestions for a good UK-based repairer?

[Francois]

The new 35mm camera market is pretty slim these days. While you can get plenty of plastic cameras, if you're looking for a combination of new and quality, the only option currently is the Leica M6... not exactly in my price range.

I know Nikons are probably the most robust cameras out there. NASA has tested other brands and the other ones can't survive their pre-launch shakedown. So if it's tough enough for NASA, it has to be tough enough for most of us. The F6 is the last model they made and it's definitely a workhorse.

If you want to buy something that has been all checked by professionals before going on sale, go to https://kamerastore.com
They're located in Finland and are really thorough with their procedures. If you want to visit, here's a tour of their facilities https://youtu.be/CQpAXLTFpAM?si=0PeIyvKEwlwuMNat
I was really impressed by the way they work. They check everything before putting things on sale, even the precision of the shutter speeds!

Recently I've fallen in love with garage sale Minoltas. They are really cheap (especially the manual focus ones), so I've begun building a full kit of those. Lets just say that I can't pass-up a 10$ SLR...

[Bryan]

I have three SLR kits, I just can't bring  myself to reduce it to one for various reasons.  I gave up my Pentax K-Mount years ago because it just didn't do anything better than any of my other kits.

M42 - Pentax Spotmatic is a great one among many other options.  So many interesting lenses to choose from and very reliable and cheap bodies.  I'm still using my Chinon SLR that I got used and abused in the 1980's.  I've never done any repairs on it.

Olympus OM - Compact reliable cameras and great lenses.  I have a OM-1 and OM-2n.  The only problems I have had is bad foam light seals and battery compartment problems.  I have been able to easily fix all these issues myself.  Just finished repairing a battery compartment and converting it to 1.5 volts. 

Minolta srT's - I have a few different bodies srTsc II and srT201.  These are the first SLR's I used and they feel very familiar to me.  Having the shutter speed, iris and meter all displayed in the viewfinder is really nice. 

[astrobeck]

I'm a life long Pentax user too and have a half closet full of bodies in various states of working...
My most reliable one was/is the K1000 I purchased new in 1985.

But, you said no to Pentax so in light of that, how about a trusty Nikon FE, or as Bryan mentioned an Olympus Om-something or other.
I have the Om1 and Om2n as Bryan does and they both are nice sleek little machines.
They work and perform great, but I don't like the business of changing aperture at the end of the lens.  I'm just not coordinated enough to utilize that in a logical field user fashion.

Oh, and another all time favorite has been a Nikon N80.

It's a nice user and the auto focus is perfect with those of us with aging eyes...
Some are put off by the plasticky body, but I have found it to be a marvelous thing as it is lightweight and takes quite a bit of rough housing in a camera bag without much worry. It truly is an all day carry and I personally feel it is smarter than me for metering and especially focusing.
With all that, The Nikon N80 would be my first choice if I was starting fresh as a film camera user.
You can use it in manual setting too.
Nikon glass is mostly always good and with some sleuthing, you can get great glass at a reasonable price.

You can find them in good shape for under 75 USD, and when the bottom fell out of film camera prices  a few years ago, they were easy to find for a twenty.
the battery is pricey, but lasts forever.

Good luck in your search.

[Ed Wenn]

Thanks for the early replies...packed with useful info to boot. I will start my research, but if anyone else wants to chip in in the meantime then go for it.

[Bryan]

Oh, and another all time favorite has been a Nikon N80.

It's a nice user and the auto focus is perfect with those of us with aging eyes...
Some are put off by the plasticky body, but I have found it to be a marvelous thing as it is lightweight and takes quite a bit of rough housing in a camera bag without much worry. It truly is an all day carry and I personally feel it is smarter than me for metering and especially focusing.
With all that, The Nikon N80 would be my first choice if I was starting fresh as a film camera user.
You can use it in manual setting too.
Nikon glass is mostly always good and with some sleuthing, you can get great glass at a reasonable price.

You can find them in good shape for under 75 USD, and when the bottom fell out of film camera prices  a few years ago, they were easy to find for a twenty.
the battery is pricey, but lasts forever.

Good luck in your search.

I didn't mention my Nikon N60 because I consider it a fancy point and shoot, but you are right, it's light weight and takes great pictures.  I just have the one kit lens, Nikkor 28-80mm zoom.  It's primarily my snowboarding camera since I only paid $12 for it and I hardly notice it slung over my shoulder.  One of these days I'll wipe out and land on it and that will be the end of it.  I almost squashed it last time I went.  I think the N80 adds a few features over the N60.  The one thing I don't like about it is you have to use DX coded film.  I bulk roll a lot or shoot expired so I like to set my own ISO.  When I shoot in snow I have to set the exposure compensation to one stop over.

[Francois]

I have 5 Nikons that I got over the years.
-Nikon EM: This one is essentially a point&shoot, but the pancake lens that's on it is said to be very good, that's why I got it.
-Nikon FE: This is the fully electronic version of the venerable FM. It's good until the electronics fry but it'd definitely very reliable and tough as nails.
-Nikon F601/N6006: This was my first Nikon and it's a very nice camera to use. It's quite tough except for the rear door hook which I had to get fixed by Nikon. The other drawback is that it takes CR-P2 batteries. But the exposure meter on it is truly excellent and it's autofocus.
-Nikon F801/N8008: This is the semi-pro version just up the ladder from the F-601. It has many of the same features, except the built-in flash and bracketing features. It runs on AA batteries so powering it is not a problem. On mine there was crap in the electromagnet that took a while to get dislodged (exposures were way off). the s version also adds a spotmeter.
-Nikon F90x: This is my current workhorse. The camera is really built like a tank. Autofocus is blazing fast, matrix metering is spot-on, the film advance is basically so fast that you don't really need to think about it. Works on AA batteries. Only real drawback is that it's big and weighs a ton.

On the Minolta front, they are definitely more fragile as I had to repair two of them when I bought them (I got them for dirt cheap because of the malfunctions).
SRT100: This one is all mechanical and has an older type of light sensor. It's also pretty heavy as there isn't any plastic on it. I had to oil some pulleys on this one.
SRT101: It's the same as the SRT100 except that it has a mirror lock-up feature. I got it for macro and night shots almost exclusively.
XG-2: This is the cost reduced version of the XD series. It has very nice ergonomics but the meter is designed to not work in manual mode (I didn't expect that).
X-370: This one is absolutely lovely to use. It's lightweight, has very good ergonomics and takes regular button cells that I can get at the dollar store. You just have to be careful not to drop them bottom down on a hard surface when the shutter is cocked. This causes them to go into a half set position which requires the removal of the bottom plate to move the mechanics.

The thing with Minolta is that they had a joint venture with Leica, so a lot of the technology and even some of their lenses were sold under the German brand. The Leica R4 has mostly the same internals as the Minolta XD-7/XD-11.

[Kai-san]

Let's face it, no cameras will function flawlessly forever, sooner rather than later they will need service. I have no experience with Pentax SLR's, so I will not comment on that issue. I have for many years stuck to two main SLR brands, Nikon and Contax. My philosophy is to have a full range of lenses from 20mm to 135mm and several camera bodies to use them on. I like the manual Nikons for their mechanical solidity and a selection of very good lenses. Not so with the autofocus Nikons. I've had an F4S and a F90, sold the F4S and gave the F90 together with the AF lenses to my youngest "child". I found it tiresome to put up with the poor handling of the F4S and when I tried to use focus lock and exposure lock simultaneously on the F90 I felt like a contortionist. So for Nikons I'll stick to the F3 and the FM3A, in my opinion two of the best from Nikon.
The main attraction of the Contax SLR's is the handling and the superb human interface, the Nikons cannot compete here. Not to denigrate the Contax lenses, they are outstanding. And if some of the Zeiss lenses can be pricey, don't overlook the Yashica ML range. They were developed in cooperation with Zeiss and are very close in performance at sensible prices. My faves among the Contax bodies are the RX and the Aria. If you like small SLR's the Aria will delight you. Most people are really surprised by how compact the Aria is when they see it in real life.

[Indofunk]

I've been very happy with my Pentax ME Super since I got it, I don't know, at least 10 years ago? I got it CLA'd by a fellow in Tennessee, and it's been flawless since then. It's been my only SLR for that whole time.

pentaxrepairs@aol.com
Eric Hendrickson
PO Box 1145
Loudon, TN 37774

[Francois]

I must admit that the Yashica and Contax lenses are top notch.
What I always loved about the Yashicas is that they thought of angling the focus prism by 45°. This makes it super easy to focus.

[Pete_R]

I must admit that the Yashica and Contax lenses are top notch.
What I always loved about the Yashicas is that they thought of angling the focus prism by 45°. This makes it super easy to focus.

They are a bit like Marmite. Personally I dislike the 45 degree ones. They went back to normal horizontal ones in later models.

[Pete_R]

If reliability is the prime concern and if you want to keep your PK lenses, get a Vivitar V3800N. It's actually a Yashica camera underneath but takes PK lenses. Fully mechanical and very basic but it works and very reliable in my experience. Or, if you can find one, a Kenko KF-4PK which is the same camera but with metal top and bottom plates instead of the plastic ones used on the Vivitar.

[Ed Wenn]

On the Minolta front.....
X-370: This one is absolutely lovely to use. It's lightweight, has very good ergonomics and takes regular button cells that I can get at the dollar store. You just have to be careful not to drop them bottom down on a hard surface when the shutter is cocked. This causes them to go into a half set position which requires the removal of the bottom plate to move the mechanics.

OK, decision made - for the time being - although I suspect it will just be the start of another journey with an old SLR that dies before I do. From Francois' description I liked the sound of the Minolta X370 enough to investigate further. Now don't try to 'logic' me on this one as I honestly have no idea why it appealed to me, but it did. So I read some reviews, looked at some pictures and looked some listings on evilBay and ended up buying..............a different camera  Classic stuff all round. I saw a mint condition Minolta X700 and a VGC f1,7 50mm lens that called to me.

I'll let you know in a week or so how I get on with the new set up. TBH, after a year of using the ME Super stuck at 125th/sec pretty much anything that actually works like it's supposed to will be a giant step forward.

Thanks for all of your contributions. The discussion was all about giving me some options and also the impetus to get off my rear end and get going with a new camera. So, job done.

[Ed Wenn]

If reliability is the prime concern and if you want to keep your PK lenses, get a Vivitar V3800N. It's actually a Yashica camera underneath but takes PK lenses. Fully mechanical and very basic but it works and very reliable in my experience. Or, if you can find one, a Kenko KF-4PK which is the same camera but with metal top and bottom plates instead of the plastic ones used on the Vivitar.

This suggestion makes a LOT of sense. Thanks very much, Peter. I will look into the Vivitar/Kenko option as well. I do have a couple of really nice K mount lenses that I would love to keep using.

UPDATE: I actually found a PHENIX DC 303K on evilBay in working condition which looks clean and well cared for. I have bid on it, so we'll see what happens. The Internet tells me that the PHENIX DC 303K is another Vivitar/Kenko variant.

[Ed Wenn]

Also, if anyone wants 5 Pentax SLR bodies for parts, then just let me know. They're free 

[Francois]

I just looked at the X-700 and it sure looks nice. I love the way the speed dial is made as it's a better design than on the X300's.
The Rokkor-X lenses are really nice... and the Minolta lenses are nothing to sneeze at.

Just to give you a hint of lenses to really look for, here's a list of the models which were also sold under the Leica brand:
-Rokkor 80-200mm f/4.5 (min. focus 1.8m)
-Rokkor 500mm f/8 catadioptric
-Rokkor 70-210mm f/4
-Rokkor 24mm f/2.8
-Rokkor 35-70mm f/3.5

[Ed Wenn]

Thanks, buddy. If I like the camera then I will definitely be looking for at least a wider-than-50mm lens...and maybe some others. This will come in very handy. The 24mm will be top of the list.

[Francois]

When I tried my X370 for the first time, I had only the MD 50mm f/2. Now that lens is sharp and contrasty like I've never seen before.
Just looking at the negs really blew my mind.

One thing I found handy is having a small ND filter. The cameras top-out at 1/1000, so having one in the bag is really handy.

[Pete_R]

The Internet tells me that the PHENIX DC 303K is another Vivitar/Kenko variant.

Yes it is. I've bought a few of them to use for parts to repair Yashica bodies.

[Ed Wenn]

The Minolta X-700 body just showed up. Now, the long, long wait for the lens. Ok, it will probably be here tomorrow, but I think you know what I mean 

[Francois]

I don't know if you're anything like me, I'm addicted to tracking numbers 😆
I'm currently watching some parts make their way across the Pacific for an upcoming contraption.
Hint, it's a 200 watt DC transformer and a digital relay timer....

[Ed Wenn]

That's literally no hint to me at all. If it's not a guitar, or a camera....or something to do with baking then I'm possibly not interested anyway  But I do envy your mechanical brain.

[Francois]

Oh, it is something related to cameras for sure!
I've also got a long UV LED strip of on a roll on my workbench...
If it all goes to plan, you'll all be "blue with envy" (that's the other hint 😉)

[Ed Wenn]

Update.... because I know that you're all on the edges of your seats  The Minolta and the F1,7 lens are with me. I've shot half a roll and everything feels good so far. I like the way you can see the aperture setting through the viewfinder.

I also won the Vivitar/Phenix thing for £30, so am keen to try that out with my KM lenses when it gets here later this week.

[Francois]

That is quite a beauty. For some reason I find the angular design of the prism housing of the Minoltas quite attractive.

[astrobeck]

that's a nice looking kit!
we'll see you on the weekend threads now on a regular basis I hope.
 

[Ed Wenn]

that's a nice looking kit!
we'll see you on the weekend threads now on a regular basis I hope.
 

Probably not, although I will chip in when I can. My turnaround time just isn't as quick as the rest of you so I rarely have anything to show. I haven't processed my own film for years (although I still have all the kit) and I don't get time to scan anything properly. I probably average 6 films per year and have to post them to a lab to get them devved and scanned. The exception to this is when we go on holiday and I shoot film like a maniac, but TBH I sometimes don't even look at the scans too much when I get them back as I'm into the next thing by then - i.e. normal life has caught up with me. Family, music and the day job take up most of my time. I'll try my best though and I was going to get a little photo essay together from a recent trip to Bulgaria.

[Francois]

You know Ed, things are a bit the same here...
But we're always there to talk photo stuff and to drool over gear!