Look what came in the mail: a brand new Fujica STX-1.

[Bille]

Look what came in the mail! 😉

This is from Fujis short-lived X-mount era between around 1980 and 1990. The STX-1 was the plain entry level model missing all hot program features of the AX-1, 3 and 5. It uses two 1.5v (SR44) alkaline cells for metering (not the banned mercury cells), otherwise works mechanically.

At the time, Fujis X system did not succeed commercially and was abandoned after about ten years with Fuji leaving the consumer camera market. Still, the STX-1 was succeeded by the STX-1N (LED meter) and STX-2, which I believe wasn't even manufactured by Fuji anymore, parallel to the Cosina Canon T60.

Here is what the BJP in November 1979 had to say:
"The Fujica STX-1 is a purely manual camera with TTL metering. The aperture and shutter speed controls are cross-coupled for balancing a meter needle between markers. (...) Two final points are characteristic of the present manufacturing approach to this type of camera. First, the new X models are compact cameras: at 135 x 84.5 x 48.5mm the body is within a millimetre or two the same size as the Olympus OM bodies. But that has ceased to be remarkable.

Second, the cameras are built to compete with specific equivalents at various price levels. Thus the AX-5 should match the price of the Canon A-1 and the AX-3 the Canon AE-1 or Minolta XG 2. The AX-1 in turn is to match the Canon AV-1; finally the STX-1 competes with the Pentax K1000 or the Ricoh XR 500."

 

[Sumarongi]

Interesting, in the data sheet they tell us even details like «flange back 43.5 mm».

What a pity that the lenses are so difficult to find!

 

[Archlich]

Even the minty box itself is quite a sight!

It leaves a curious feeling that Fuji is somehow resurrecting this heritage with the current X-T line.

 

[Bille]

Interesting, in the data sheet they tell us even details like «flange back 43.5 mm».

Not sure why Fuji considered it worth mentioning, maybe because they could. 43.5 was short enough to utilize Fujis earlier M42 Fujinon lenses. The adapter was sold as Fujica mount adapter X-S.

 

[Huss]

So cool! Congrats.

 

[Bille]

Popular Science mention, January 1980

Street price was well below the MSRP of 250$.

 

[HHPhoto]

Thanks for the post!
Very interesting.

Cheers, Jan

 

[Out to Lunch]

If my memory serves me well, my first SLR! With a 1.9/50mm. I used it a lot and have hundreds of pics -alas in storage. I lost the camera while working in the Riau Archipelago when I was invited on a boat trip from Tanjung Pinang to one of the outer Islands during the monsoon season. We were caught in a storm and the Fuji ended-up on the bottom of the Strait of Malacca. RIP Fuji STX-1.

 

[sepiareverb]

Looks quite nearly identical to the Nikon FM10?

 

[arseniii]

Just some geeky stuff for entertainment.
If Fuji was 250$ in 1980 and according to google the average yearly American salary was 12,513.46$ Thus 250/12,513.46*100 = 2%

Now the current price of Fuji X-T3 is 1,899.00 and an average yearly income
is 50,321.89$ Thus 1,899/50,321.89 * 100 = 3.8%

Looks like the price we pay for the new camera is almost double to what one would pay in 1980 🙁

Considering the OP bought the camera that was produced 38 years and speculating on how many Fuji X-T3s will be in available in 2056 leaves me skeptical about investing in a new photo gear 🙂)

Popular Science mention, January 1980

Street price was well below the MSRP of 250$.

 

[bmattock]

That's pretty darned neat. Are you planning to mount a lens and shoot with it?

 

[Sumarongi]

Just some geeky stuff for entertainment.
If Fuji was 250$ in 1980 and according to google the average yearly American salary was 12,513.46$ Thus 250/12,513.46*100 = 2%

Now the current price of Fuji X-T3 is 1,899.00 and an average yearly income
is 50,321.89$ Thus 1,899/50,321.89 * 100 = 3.8%

Looks like the price we pay for the new camera is almost double to what one would pay in 1980
🙁

Considering the OP bought the camera that was produced 38 years and speculating on how many Fuji X-T3s will be in available in 2056 leaves me skeptical about investing in a new photo gear 🙂)

Well, OTOH, (AFAIK) the Fuji X-T3 is considered a 'pro' or a 'prosumer class' camera, while the STX-1 was a beginner's camera. Hence the Fuji X-T3's higher price can be defended, to an extent. Alas, the obsolescence of all the electronic wonders ... a basically mechanical camera simply *is* much more sustainable.

OTOH, too many consumers have some sort of Bamm-Bamm Rubble economic understanding, so it doesn't matter — devil-may-care 😉

 

[bcostin]

Very cool! I can almost smell that 1980's styrofoam from here.

The M42 adaptability should make it a pretty useful body, if you intend to shoot with it.

 

[BLKRCAT]

is that a 55mm F1.6? If so, what a weirdo lens.

 

[CMur12]

I like it!

I once had a Fujica ST 701. Wish I had kept it. It was the first camera that I knew/know of that metered with silicon blue cells.

- Murray

 

[Bille]

is that a 55mm F1.6? If so, what a weirdo lens.

The lens with the wide hood is a 19mm SW (superwide). I tried one briefly on the a7 years back and it performed so-so. It expect it to work better on film.

Reason for this is explained here for Leica M and does apply to some extent to SLR lenses too:

https://diglloyd.com/prem/s/MSI/publish/Optical-astigmatism-digital-sensor.html?dglyPT=true

 

[Swift1]

That's pretty cool!
A few years ago, I found an AX-1 with motor drive and 50/1.6 at goodwill for $20.
I shot a few rolls with the kit, but the electronics weren't right in the body. Some of the exposures worked okay, and I was really impressed with that 50/1.6.

 

[Bille]

Yes, the 50/1.6 was the "better" 50 back then. Like all manufacturers, Fuji moved to lighter materials and it becomes evident when comparing the 50/1.6 to the earlier 55/1.6.

Here is a sample (not my photo) at open aperture https://flic.kr/p/5ZVMqM

The lens feels like an early AF lens in handling but of course is fully manual. Interestingly, the 50/1.6 was Fujis answer to the f1.4 class of other manufacturers. Why Fuji did not move all the way to f1.4 I don't know.

 

[Sumarongi]

Yes, the 50/1.6 was the "better" 50 back then. Like all manufacturers, Fuji moved to lighter materials and it becomes evident when comparing the 50/1.6 to the earlier 55/1.6.

Here is a sample (not my photo) at open aperture https://flic.kr/p/5ZVMqM

The lens feels like an early AF lens in handling but of course is fully manual. Interestingly, the 50/1.6 was Fujis answer to the f1.4 class of other manufacturers. Why Fuji did not move all the way to f1.4 I dont know.

IMHO, because they had a 50mm f/1.2 alternative, offered even in «PORST»-disguise:
Porst CR-1 (=Fujica STX-1)
Porst CR-3 (=Fujica AX-1)
Porst CR-5 (=Fujica AX-3)
Porst CR-7 (=Fujica AX-5)
The f/1.2 was the standard lens on the Porst CR-7! —— And that was IMHO one of Fuji's problems, at least in Central Europe: that they made their 35mm SLR products available rebadged for a distributor/retailer which also had some really nasty cameras...

 

[Bille]

The Fuji - Porst coop is an interesting point. Porst had a history of rebranding cameras from various sources, including Praktica, Cosina, Topcon and Kowa. Fuji could have been the last in the line.

It can be assumed, Canon or Nikon had a much higher brand equity than Porst at that time. Fuji was a brand associated with film rather than cameras. Why Fuji went the way of selling their cameras to Porst is unclear today. Anyway, you could also buy Fujica back then without knowing of the connection between brands. Consider pre-internet era.