OT: vintage SLR advice

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Kat

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I'm someone who has never owned an SLR or any interchangeable lens camera in my life. I'm been toying with the idea of getting an old SLR for a while now, nothing concrete yet as budget is really tight (need to find a job first!), but I've been looking around and researching so I can have an idea what to set my eyes on. I've been looking at the older Nikon F series, Olympus OM series and Minolta SRT series.

While I've heard great things about Nikon, I must admit I'm leaning away from it now because I think it's the most expensive. I think Minolta is the cheapest, but I'm not very familiar with the quality of their camera/lenses, my only experience with the brand is a digicam. My only experience of an Oly is the RC, but it gave me a very good impression.🙂

Does anyone have any input on these cameras--size & weight ("the feel"), features, common problems that I might encounter in "unknown condition" auctions, and quality/ease of finding compatible lenses?
 
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Canon FD lenses and bodies seem to be dirt cheap these days. My TX is a trusty little camera with an easy-to-use meter, the body's pretty much adaptable straight to 1.5v cells, and it's got a nice, bright finder in it.

I've heard good things about Olympus OMs, but never used one.

I would wholeheartedly reccomend an M42 SLR to you, as lenses are plentiful AND cheap. The Pentax Spotmatic is a fabulous little beast.
 
I would second the advice on Pentax. The M42 will give you the widest choice of lenses and the Takumars are some of the best lenses made. If you go for one of the K series, I wouldn't go for the K1000 as they tend to be overpriced because of their "cult" status. Go for a KM or better still the KX which have more features and are generally cheaper.
 
I like the good old Pentax spotmatics..the SMC lenses are excellent and very well built.
I just sold a Minolta Srt-102 Kit here recently, it was nice but I liked the Pentax better.
 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Spotmatic/?yguid=197689023

check out this group of M42 guys and gals I also say Pentax M42 [screw mount] the Thread lenses have a much higher regard than the K mounts, I personally use the H1a [no meter and NO batteries] but I also have a warm spot for my Black ME Super, so much so that 2 of my son's were given Black ME supers for B'day's. The youngest is using a spotmatic as he and I shoot together alot so we are compatable.

If you go for a Pentax let me know as I can hook you up with very inexpensive CLA guy who does great work and stands behind it.
 
I'd advise you to look at the OM series. I recently got back into them after a 25 year absence, and enjoy the heck out of them. Very "Leica-like" in their handling, and the optics are fantastic. The OM-1👎 and OM-2👎 viewfinders are a sight to behold. They're much quieter and lighter than my Nikons (I've been shooting F2s, F3s, an F4 and a FE since the '70s) or my old Pentaxes (I have a small collection of H2a bodies and SM Taks).

Most lenses are very reasonably priced - the well-regarded 50 f/1.8 is usually $20 or less, and I picked up two other great lenses - a 24 f/2.8 for street photography ($140 in great shape with case and hood) and the wonderfully tiny 135 f/3.5 ($50!). A clean OM-1n body is a good starting point, and will set you back around $100. Send it off to John Hermanson at Camtech for a $100 overhaul and battery conversion, and it'll be good to go for another 25 years.

I have two bodies - an OM-1n and a OM-2n, both in black. I usually dislike automatic bodies, but I have to tell you the OM-2n is proving to be both reliable and fun to shoot!
 
I picked up a Spotmatic last year, and it's really a beauty.

Mechanically, the K1000 is almost identical to the Spotmatic -- just a couple of minor differences once you take the lens mount out of the equation.
 
Just to be pedantic, the K1000 was the bayonet version of the SP1000. The bayonet version of the Spotmatic was the KM which sell for half the price. The M42's are good as are the Takumar lenses but, and it is a big but, the range at a sensible price is fairly limited and the lenses are quite slow, typically F3.5. They used to be incredibly cheap but the lenses are less so now many people have woken up to the fact that they give fantastic results on a DSLR and most can take an M42 convertor. Many of the views on the Yahoo Pentax Spotmatic group can be somewhat narrow minded and dare I say heavily biased.

Kim

ZeissFan said:
I picked up a Spotmatic last year, and it's really a beauty.

Mechanically, the K1000 is almost identical to the Spotmatic -- just a couple of minor differences once you take the lens mount out of the equation.
Click to expand...
 
I am a Minolta SRT fan. Overall, I think the Minolta SRT and MC lenses are excellent and the least expensive of the "classic" SLR lines. An SRT 101 with 58/1.2 is a dream kit.

Overall though, all of the SLRs offered in the 1970s are generally very good, Canon, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax. You really can't go wrong, and truth is, they are all pretty comperable in function and quality.

Here is a very good ebay seller who repairs and sells cameras. I sent the two SRTs that have been in my family since the 1970s to John for repair and have bought from him. His prices are not bargain basement, but the quality is excellent.

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ50QQsassZtitterington

Oh, and here is my baby.
 
I'll second Ken Ford's advice. If I had to start all over again with manual SLR's, I'd go for the Olympus OM series. Their design philosophy truly placed compactness and functionality as priorities...as a result the OM lenses are small but still optically great, and the bodies are great to use, quiet, small and light.
 
Another vote for the Canon AE-1 or AE-1 program, you can find them everywhere cheap, the FD SC or SSC lenses for Canon are at thier best a little stopped down. You can get an FD to M42 adaptor if you want to get into some of the screw mount SLR lenes by Zeiss or Pentax.
 
Nikon F is also rather heavy. The unmetered verisons are classic and not so expensive. The metered versions are big and weird looking and usually even less expensive.

Many Pentax and Olympus bodies are both remarkably small and light. Depending on what you want to do, a bayonet mount makes the lenses change much faster.
 
I do like the F and F2 Nikons but they are heavy. I would look at the FM/FE series of Nikon cameras. They are smaller and lighter without giving anything up anything in the reliability department in normal use. More info can be found here http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonfmseries/index.htm . My most used Nikon SLRs are from this group. Very satisfying to use and comfortable to carry all day. I have little experience with other brands but most would do a good job from what I can see. It is just that Nikon is my preference from years of use. YMMV. Have fun deciding.

Nikon Bob
 
All of the above is very good advice / suggestions. Here's another thought: new (or at least current-model) low-end film SLRs are running pretty cheap these days. The advantage here is that if you decide to stay with it, your lenses will likely be useable with better bodies of the same brand, and even with digital bodies of the same brand. I feel that when you choose an SLR you should think of the system it is part of. Otherwise, why an SLR?
 
I cut my teeth on K1000 and it's just the thing for a person learning photography. Great camera!

Never used a M42 Pentax, but I've never heard a single bad thing about them.

I'll second Nikon Bob's suggestion of an FE. I own one and you'll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands to get me to give it up. They've got a great mix of features, are fairly lightweight (in comparison to a K1000 & and the F series) and are fairly cheap nowadays. KEH has some in bargain condition for at or under a $100.
 
Great point about lens mount compatibility with digiSLRs...

Nikon DSLRs will mount any of the AI or AIS lenses; only the pro bodies will actually meter with them. I use my Nikon manual focus lenses on a D1x I bought used - works a treat.

Pentax's DSLR has adapters available to mount dang near any lens mount Pentax ever used - a friend uses his Pentax DSLR to shoot a 1952 Schneider 85mm that's M42 mount.

Canon's DSLRs are not compatible with their manual focus lenses; 3rd party adapters are available that allow used of Leica R glass, Nikon lenses, and some other stuff.

Olympus' DSLRs are like Pentax in that they offer adapters - this option is so popular that it's driving up the prices of certain Zuiko manual focus lenses.

I was shooting this week with a 1959-vintage Nikon F and 5.8cm/f1.4 lens - the negs are drying right now but boy they look great. The basic mechanical goodness of that camera is still impressive...
 
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