Which aperture priority SLR?

[stupid leica]

There are so many great options, I would have to ask what lenses do you want to use with it? Auto or manual focus? Do you need super fast apertures?

Special standouts in the APriority scene for me are:
-Nikon FE2 prob all time favorite. I've shot more film through FE2's than any other camera.
-Nikon FM3A, adds a few modern touches like DX reading, nice AEL button on back, TTL flash, full manual backup if battery dies.
-Pentax LX. Oh this is a magical camera. One of the most sensitive meters ever crammed into a film camera. Can be pricey!
-Canon "New" F1N AE. One of the most amazingly-built Japanese cameras ever, IMO. So solid, so precise. Bulky and heavy as consequence though, and can be pricey if you don't find a deal (I think there is/was one for nice price on here).
-Canon T90. This is basically a manual-focus EOS 1N. Has some amazing features/specs, not very expensive, solid workhorse and incredibly beautiful.
-Canon 1N. These are so cheap these days, and incredibly relevant to this discussion. Throw a 50mm f1.8 STM on there, and you've got a solid and cheap setup.

I've never fallen in love with an Olympus or Minolta SLR, not for lack of trying either.
I distinctly disliked the Nikon F3, over all the other F bodies. My favorite is the F2 as a shooter, FE2 close second.
I enjoy the novelty of a Canon A1, but it's not IMO a fun shooter. GREAT meter on it though! Very point and shoot.

 

[Fraser]

If I understand Bill correctly, I think he's saying he sets the aperture where he wants it and then adjusts shutter speed to get correct exposure.... Right, Bill? 🙂

Thats called manual exposure.🙂

Aperture priority- user sets aperture camera sets shutter speed.
Shutter priority- user sets shutter speed camera sets aperture.
manual- user sets both aperture and shutter speed.

 

[ProSimex]

FE2 all day every day. I saw someone here say they've had a bad experience with them failing, but that's the first time I've ever heard of them failing. Mine is beaten to hell and it never, ever, let's me down. F3 is beautiful, but only 1/2000 shutter speed and a horribly slow flash sync turns me off.

 

[ForestCap]

Pentax ME/ ME Super
Olympus OM-2

The Pentax can be dirt cheap.

 

[Bill Clark]

Hi Philip,

There are quite a number of cameras both film and digital that have the ability to control the shutter speed or aperture or both. It's kind of your call but I'd stick to one of the major brands.

For me, I grew up with manual cameras and I still will run even my newer digital stuff in manual mode. When I use flash (always off camera) I run the camera in manual mode as I have controls on the camera to make what I want to make. I like the control and it gives me photographs I like. The primary exception would be a pj style of making photos but even then about all I use is auto focus. When I had my business I always had associate photographers and they did the pj stuff for me.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

Not necessarily. It may be what the person posting has used.

For example, I have used Nikon, Canon, Fuji, Olympus, Pentax, Minolta, Miranda, Leica, and Contax cameras.
My recommendation may be based on what I am now using or what I have used.

Of course. I'm not really sure what the point was of the comment to which you replied.

The models I mentioned are all ones I have owned as well; ones that IMO represent a good value.
In my experience they are inexpensive, reliable and easy to find lenses and other accessories for.

Chris

 

[Huss]

FE2 all day every day. I saw someone here say they've had a bad experience with them failing, but that's the first time I've ever heard of them failing. Mine is beaten to hell and it never, ever, let's me down. F3 is beautiful, but only 1/2000 shutter speed and a horribly slow flash sync turns me off.

Not only that, but the manual exposure read out in the F3 is terrible compared to the very precise one in the FE2 or FM3A.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Nikon FA with MD-15.
Nikon F4s.
Nikon N3 but the MD-4 is a little big for most tastes.

Phil Forrest

 

[Robert Lai]

Without the motor drive, the Nikon F3 is not physically very big. It is very solid feeling, as the body is cast aluminum alloy. Top and bottom seem to be brass (from what I can see from paint wear through on edges), or titanium for the special editions. I don't know why people gripe about the meter readout. It is located out of the image frame, and the aperture readout is there also. So, in one glance you see the meter output, shutter speed, and set aperture on the lens, all in one area.

If you want to get cheap and cheerful, there are the Nikon FG and EM. They have auto-exposure, and TTL flash capability. They are small, and much lighter than the F3. I used an FG for some time, until the shutter started to cap. When I brought it to the repair shop, they told me that it would cost more for them to fix the shutter than for me to get another one. I have never had an EM, but I think that one is auto-exposure only: i.e. no manual exposure option.

 

[Huss]

I don't know why people gripe about the meter readout. It is located out of the image frame, and the aperture readout is there also. So, in one glance you see the meter output, shutter speed, and set aperture on the lens, all in one area.

It is because is manual setting it does not show precise enough values. I think it shows exposure in full steps (it's been a while since I used one, but I distinctly remember that it was not a precise reading)

 

[Scrambler]

The comment about individual users is relevant to most of us, and so is the comment re choosing lenses first.

I have gone with Pentax equipment, and have a range from 1960 to about 2005, film and digital. I have sold others. I have used a few Minoltas (and I like them) but apart from the ZM/ MZ series I have had no issues with Pentaxes and can't say the same from Minolta. That includes a Pentax ME - which I would NOT recommend due to the lack of aperture lock.

I have a Z-1 (and I gather the Z-1p is a little better) and can strongly recommend that - it's a real professional camera with solid performance.

With Pentaxes, most of the plastic 90's crew are best avoided - the MZ group of which I own an inordinate number of dead bodies are good performers but have a weak mirror return part.

Fundamentally you need to make the call to either have a mechanical system i.e. manual, or an electronic system that will do the aperture priority. Once you step over the auto line, everything is less reliable though some worse than others.

The beauty of Pentax (and to a fair extent Nikon) is that you can chose any camera and get a reasonable manual focus option. The measure of how good the manual option is depends on the viewfinder setup.

For modern (ish), manual focus in Pentax I would have said the P3/P30 group or a P5/P50 would be about as recent as you would get a dedicated manual focus body that you could trust. I have one coming to me now, for $10 AUD - I'm not even sure there's a small enough number for that in USD ;-)

Pentax manual focus lenses are good performers and will work on most Pentax cameras (there are a few exceptions). If you get a cheap 70's or later 50mm f1.7 manual prime, you will get good performance at a low cost, and you can then choose your body.

Despite the Nikon fanclub here if you want to minimise puchase costs, Pentax gets you very good performance and the best forward- and backward compatibility. Nikon and Pentax are close - except for cost - unless you are a professional photographer.

IMHO

 

[Robert Lai]

The Nikon F3's readouts are not as uniformative as you may think.
When I first got the F3 in 1983, I had to find out how sensitive the meter readout is. I did this by putting the camera on a tripod, and having it stare at a wall of constant illumination. (OK, make brick wall measurebator jokes here). The reason was that the instruction manual never says what range you need to be in for the "+-" symbols to show up to indicate correct exposure.

By gradually nudging the aperture ring I discovered the following.
"-" underexposure > 1/2 stop
- with + starting to show: within 1/5 stop under
- and + equal intensity: target exposure
- fading, + showing: within 1/5 stop over
Only + showing: over > 1/2 stop.

CAVEAT: This is from my dim memory. I don't have my F3 at hand to check this, as it's in Chicago, and I'm in Arkansas right now.

This is similar to the behavior of the readout of the F2AS:
http://mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonf2/prisms/dp12/index1.htm

My Fuji GS645 also has similar behavior:
http://www.cameramanuals.org/fuji_pdf/fuji_gs645s.pdf

The classic Leica M6 also has this type of indication, with the lights starting to come on at 1/2 stop tolerances.

Thus, I think this was a common method of exposure indication in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,


FWIW, I find these fading LEDs very annoying as they are rather vague depending on the scene in the VF's brightness; I was using one yesterday.

And, as I've mentioned, my P&S are good enough for slide film. And I doubt my ability to think or say with any hope of being right that less than a half stop adjustment is needed. Sometimes I get it right when the lens works in thirds but I have my doubts due to the film's latitude. I even have doubts about what we'd all call the "right" exposure.

A minor point, it's easier, imo, to see read-outs below or above the screen than beside it.

Regards, David

 

[Aristophanes]

The Pentax Super Program should be on the list. An update from the ME Super and almost as common, often less $$. I've had 2 and they have been workhorses. Pentax lenses are as good as all there and very common.

 

[dmr]

The Pentax Super Program should be on the list. An update from the ME Super and almost as common, often less $$. I've had 2 and they have been workhorses. Pentax lenses are as good as all there and very common.

I picked up a Pentax MG a while ago and I'm learning to like it. 🙂 I've never shot an aperture-priority camera before and it kinda takes some getting used to. The MG appears to be somewhat uncommon here in the States. I had never heard of the model before I saw it at a local garage sale.

 

[ProSimex]

If you want to get cheap and cheerful, there are the Nikon FG and EM. They have auto-exposure, and TTL flash capability. They are small, and much lighter than the F3. I used an FG for some time, until the shutter started to cap. When I brought it to the repair shop, they told me that it would cost more for them to fix the shutter than for me to get another one. I have never had an EM, but I think that one is auto-exposure only: i.e. no manual exposure option.

Nikon EM was my first Nikon film camera and indeed it's a sweet little shooter. The mirror slap the other hand could give the recoil on a 12 gauge a run for its money. Certainly a great shooter and on a tripod it does amazing nighttime auto exposures.

 

[raid]

Has anyone here mentioned the Canon T90? It is an awesome camera.

 

[Huss]

The Nikon F3's readouts are not as uniformative as you may think.
When I first got the F3 in 1983, I had to find out how sensitive the meter readout is. I did this by putting the camera on a tripod, and having it stare at a wall of constant illumination. (OK, make brick wall measurebator jokes here). The reason was that the instruction manual never says what range you need to be in for the "+-" symbols to show up to indicate correct exposure.

By gradually nudging the aperture ring I discovered the following.
"-" underexposure > 1/2 stop
- with + starting to show: within 1/5 stop under
- and + equal intensity: target exposure
- fading, + showing: within 1/5 stop over
Only + showing: over > 1/2 stop.

CAVEAT: This is from my dim memory. I don't have my F3 at hand to check this, as it's in Chicago, and I'm in Arkansas right now.

This is similar to the behavior of the readout of the F2AS:
http://mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonf2/prisms/dp12/index1.htm

My Fuji GS645 also has similar behavior:
http://www.cameramanuals.org/fuji_pdf/fuji_gs645s.pdf

The classic Leica M6 also has this type of indication, with the lights starting to come on at 1/2 stop tolerances.

Thus, I think this was a common method of exposure indication in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Which is exactly why the match needle method in the FE/FE2 (of the same era as the F3) and FM3A is far far superior. As well as the Leica M5, but that's not in the discussion here!
😉

 

[dfdann]

Nikon FE2 for manual focus
Nikon F100 for autofocus. Love shooting with both and both are real bargains now.
National Geographic used Nikon 100s for 5 years until F6 came out.
Cheers, Dan
Other cameras Leica M7 and M8 both of which I also love.

 

[narsuitus]

I am considering adding an aperture priority SLR to my camera bag and as I am unconstrained by brand, any suggestion is welcome.

A colleague just gave me a Nikon N2000. It is a manual focus and aperture priority camera that is impressing me. Check it out!