Joining the evil SLRs...

[fWord]

Initially I had joined the forums in the hope of learning more about RFs, and importantly, to hopefully find a repair solution for a non-functioning Olympus ACE that I bought from an antique camera shop. Unfortunately there was no easy 'fix'. With much remorse I returned the camera today and reached for the Aires IIIc on the shelf.

That purchase also, was not to be, with all the fungus on its rear element. With little left to pick I checked out the Mamiya MSX 500 and attached Mamiya Sekor 50mm f/2. Everything seemed good except for the slow shutter speeds.

(It's been said that firing the shutter frequently at these speeds in front of a warm heater helps...is that a myth?)

A Chinon M-1 and attached Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm f/2 lay in another shelf. This camera had an awesome viewfinder, bigger than even that of the Mamiya, but I didn't like the corrosion on the film rails and the very sticky foam seals. Ultimately I ended up cannibalizing the CZ lens and matching that to the Mamiya camera to take home.

I still regret not being able to cherrypick any RFs at this shop. A King Regula CITA III failed after a few test shots at the store...the Olympus ACE was unable to wind film...and an Aires covered in fungus. All unusual cameras I would have loved to have and be able to have the experience of using an RF. Thus far I've primarily used only SLRs.

Hope this Mamiya works this time. 😀 If anyone has more info on this camera or on this lens, I'd be interested to know. Currently I'm still hunting down an instruction manual for the camera, but in operation it generally seems quite straightforward.

 

[shadowfox]

Hi fWord, we almost become the two of maybe five Olympus ACE owners in the world 😉

As for the above combo, I'd suggest hanging on to the lens no matter if you had to switch the body yet again.

The Pancolar is the same design as the Biotar, which is the Jena version of the Zeiss Planar. I'd be very curious to compare the results from this lens with my Biotar.

The lens is M42 mount, yes? if so, look out for a used Pentax Spotmatic which I would imagine a good bit better than the Mamiya SLRs this vintage. No personal experience with both, just speculation and opinion.

 

[fWord]

Yes, I lament not being able to use that camera in the end. It is an unusual camera, considerably less popular than the Olympus ACE-E, as it seems.

In retrospect I could have kept it and attempted to get it repaired when I return to Singapore some months down the track. However I feared that it would be expensive, and that's even if I can find capable people to repair it. The camera was also not in excellent shape. The little window over the film counter seems to be missing, unless it was not meant to be there in the first place.

Sounds like the lens may be a winner, and I hope it is. After switching the original Mamiya Sekor 50mm f/2 on the camera for this CZJ lens, I went home and realized that the camera would only function in stopped-down metering mode, instead of full-aperture metering that I would have had with the Mamiya lens. No worries however, because I anticipate doing really slow photography with this camera.

I've heard that M42-EOS adapters exist on the market to allow M42 lenses to be used on Canon EOS cameras. Do you know anything about such adapters and whether there's any drawbacks to using such an adapter?

There was a Pentax camera on the shelves of some description, and it was a tempting one but that specimen needed service in order to be used. I didn't even check to see what was wrong with it and instead went straight to looking at other cameras...really should have opened my eyes a little wider and had a look at everything...closely.

PS: Also updated the image of this camera today, after playing around with some still-life shots. Here's a closeup of the CZJ Pancolar: