oftheherd
Veteran
Ebay is always a chance. I have gotten a couple of stinkers, but so far, mostly nice stuff. That includes a Fujica ST 801 (with a wonderful Vivitar Series 1 35-85mm varifocal). I can't tell you much about how it is to take photos with. Very shortly after I got it, I gave it to my daughter to encourage her to try SLR shooting rather than one time use cameras. I can't pry it out of her hands now. She just likes it, and the reaction she gets from her friends about her "professional" camera really tickles her. They do tend to be expensive, and have been for years. My ST 901 keeps on plugging away, so I don't mind at all my daughter using the ST 801. In fact, that kind of tickles me.
At the risk of driving ebay prices up, anyone considering a screw mount camera might want to look at the Yashica TL Electro X. The TL Supers sometimes are OK, but I doubt you will find one with a working meter. Even the TL Electro's might be OK. I have no experience with them. I have two TL Electro X bodies and they are fine after minor repairs. Of course, other peoples mileage may vary. The Electro X's use stop down aperture metering via a plastic button on the right side of the lens mount. That plastic seems to last, and is about the only cheesy part of what otherwise is sort of a tank.
The old Pentax SV's are cute cameras too. They seem just a tad overpriced now to me. They do have two types of accessory meters that mounted over the pentaprism. Some of the meters work, some don't. Of course, that is true of the SV's also. Neither of mine work correctly. The first went through a house fire and the focal plane shutter was never the same. The second, from ebay, has a weak film advance lever spring. Some day when I get around to it I will try to fix the second from the first. (Yet one more probably never to be done project put on hold until all the honeydo projects are complete :bang: )
Anxious to hear about the Bessaflex Bill.
At the risk of driving ebay prices up, anyone considering a screw mount camera might want to look at the Yashica TL Electro X. The TL Supers sometimes are OK, but I doubt you will find one with a working meter. Even the TL Electro's might be OK. I have no experience with them. I have two TL Electro X bodies and they are fine after minor repairs. Of course, other peoples mileage may vary. The Electro X's use stop down aperture metering via a plastic button on the right side of the lens mount. That plastic seems to last, and is about the only cheesy part of what otherwise is sort of a tank.
The old Pentax SV's are cute cameras too. They seem just a tad overpriced now to me. They do have two types of accessory meters that mounted over the pentaprism. Some of the meters work, some don't. Of course, that is true of the SV's also. Neither of mine work correctly. The first went through a house fire and the focal plane shutter was never the same. The second, from ebay, has a weak film advance lever spring. Some day when I get around to it I will try to fix the second from the first. (Yet one more probably never to be done project put on hold until all the honeydo projects are complete :bang: )
Anxious to hear about the Bessaflex Bill.
