Best built mechanical SLR?

Wufharti:
It's an FTN meter for the Nikon F. The date code inside indicates that it was made 5 years after Nikon ceased making the Nikon F. As I said, Sover has never seen an FTN meter having a wire-wound resistor like the DP-11 - up to now.
 
johnf04 said:
The Chinon Memotron allowed aperture priority shooting with a standard M42 lens:

https://zorkiphoto.co.uk/2013/05/14/chinon-memotron-review/
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Same thing: the shutter release steps down the lens halfway.

Robert Lai said:
Wufharti:
It's an FTN meter for the Nikon F. The date code inside indicates that it was made 5 years after Nikon ceased making the Nikon F. As I said, Sover has never seen an FTN meter having a wire-wound resistor like the DP-11 - up to now.
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That's interesting...perhaps an old repair?
 
As a NON-pro-photographer, I have to say regarding «best built», presuming this includes ergonomy aspects:

Minolta, particularly the SRT-101 and the SR-7v — they're are really really hard to beat.

The aforementioned two Minoltas' German cousins: Leicaflex SL (and probably the Leicaflex too).

Rolleiflex SL 35 — design-wise «the most Japanese of all German cameras» so to say, I was and am still shooting many pictures with a couple of them, and I've had never any problems with them. But it's a prosumer-camera, and not a pro-camera, so IMHO they're much sturdier than many statements (of disappointed professionals I suppose) might imply.
 
Wulfthari said:
That's interesting...perhaps an old repair?
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As far as I can make out, Nikon did not date-code repairs. They supplied spare parts for one decade past end of production, though, and may have made production runs of spares they ran out of.
 
Leicaflex series. SL2 was the best, but hard to repair.

I have a minty F2 and early Nikormat, also minty. They are tough beasts.

Both have lens sets that are tough unlike my screw mount Pentaxes. I got diaphragm failure on more than one when they fell 18" onto my bed! Talk about crappy engineering. They were new at the time..
 
Leicaflex series. SL2 was the best, but hard to repair.

I have a minty F2 and early Nikormat, also minty. They are tough beasts.

Both have lens sets that are tough unlike my screw mount Pentaxes. I got diaphragm failure on more than one when they fell 18" onto my bed! Talk about crappy engineering. They were new at the time..
 
In my experience, as a user, the Nikon F2 or the Nikkormat FTN. Both are gems.

But as the original question was "best built" and not "best", I am going to throw out some love for the modest, yet nearly indestructible, Ricoh Singlex TLS. Yep, Ricoh. Takes a licking, and keeps on ticking. Use it as a hammer, and then take photos at the family reunion.
 
papaki said:
Canon F-1, period. The best all mechanical camera ever made.
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Agree !! Although i would rate the Nikon F2 a close second. I would put the Leicaflex in the same tier as the Canon F-1 if I found one that has survived 2016 without a desilvered prism or a rotten shutter curtain. My friend owns three Leicaflexes and all of them are damaged due to the passage of time.

The Nikon F should be behind those, it looks tougher than the F2 from the outside but from what I have understood the innards of the F2 are much better.

And i have not handled an Alpa, probably an alpa would top the list.

If we are not considering the Canon New F-1 as a "mechanical" camera then the Pentax LX cannot enter this category. Both are semi-mechanically controlled: The Canon allows mechanical speeds from 1/90 (flash speed) to 1/2000 plus B, the Pentax just the same but from 1/75 (flash speed).
 
Many years ago, a french magazine conducted a large scale survey of the number of repairs their readers had had per camera, cost of repairs, etc. Two cameras came well in front of all others: the Nikon F and the Pentax KX. Both at 0,69 (F) and 0,70 (KX) repair per 100,000 actuations if I remeber well. KX was the pinnacle of the development of the Spotmatic, with K mount + SPD cell + mirror lock-up.
 
I bought this one recently as a user. It has new seals.

I also have a pristine one, but I will ot use that one. Like new Nikkormats are very rare.

I've had two of these in the years 1971 - 1980, one in chrome and the other black.

Erik.

29946775011_21be730b6b_z.jpg
 
Erik van Straten said:
I bought this one recently as a user. It has new seals.

I also have a pristine one, but I will ot use that one. Like new Nikkormats are very rare.

I've had two of these in the years 1971 - 1980, one in chrome and the other black.

Erik.

29946775011_21be730b6b_z.jpg
Click to expand...

Is that a FT or a FTN Eric?

I love my chrome FT, and am now searching for a FS.
 
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