START (CTAPT in cyrillic) SLR

[mnmleung]

Does anybody here use a START SLR ( http://www.btinternet.com/~stowupland/start/index.html )? I would like to get one later in the year: time to find out more about it.

Sorry I know this is an FSU RF forum. I can't find an FSU SLR forum and I figure people are more likely to reply here than in Evil SLR...

Thanks from Ming

 

[le vrai rdu]

I may be wrong but I think it use a special mount, you will get it with it standard lense but to get another lens I may be uneasy

 

[le vrai rdu]

http://www.collection-appareils.fr/krasno/html/start.php according to this page, the the winding system is quite fragile and it is a special mount

 

[mnmleung]

http://www.collection-appareils.fr/krasno/html/start.php according to this page, the the winding system is quite fragile and it is a special mount

Thanks, le vrai rdu, I didn't know about the fragile winding system; alex-photo sells an adapter (M39 to START) for the lens mount - for old Zenit lenses.

 

[rxmd]

The system was quite limited, there's only one lens with the special aperture mechanism and it has a reputation for being somewhat capricious. It's more of a collectors' camera rather than a camera with much user value, I think.

EDIT: Here's a link to Ulrich Witte's excellent illustrated step-by-step guide how to disassemble a Start, if you get one that needs repairs. The text is in German, but the pictures are quite informative by themselves.

Philipp

 

[Nickfed]

I recall the Start is Exakta mount and therefore common with Exakta, Miranda and Topcon. This doesn't actually mean very much as none of these companies could make up their mind so they all had their own variations with auto lenses and not all of them worked the shutter button. I believe the Start has a right hand button while the original Varex had it on the left. This does not auger well for compatibility. The only claim to fame for the Start is that it had an auto lens when Zenit didn't. I think you would be far better off with a Zenit which uses M42 mount, something everybody knows, loves, and understands.

 

[mnmleung]

Here's a link to Ulrich Witte's excellent illustrated step-by-step guide how to disassemble a Start
Philipp

Philipp, thank you very much for the link; and for the Zenit suggestion, Nickfed.

 

[Harry S.]

Thanks for that link. Especially for the soviet constructivist music!

 

[Michael I.]

I use the start on ocassions,it is very nice,while cumbersome and fragile.
The mount is not an exacta and is unique.
Mine was overhauled by Oleg Khalyavin.

 

[mh2000]

the stop-down lens is fragile, mine only closes halfway down... pretty and heavy camera, not worth the effort with the lens problem though... Zenit-3M (etc. are nice and use more common M39 mount)... you mostly just lose the top speed.

 

[dll927]

The original Exaktas (meaning eveything up to the VX1000) were designed for people who 1) were left-handed and 2) had lots of time on their hands. But in 1936 or so, they were state-of-the-art, which may say something about the art. In their day, they certainly had their following, not least because the lenses focused closer than anything for RFs. And how many cameras before or since had a little knife to cut the film in mid-roll?

The guy from Paris should be informed that "uneasy" and "not easy" don't mean the same thing. To find another lens might not be easy, but I'm not so sure about the "uneasy"!! That means nervous or hesitant about something.