first olympus ? slr

<p>Was it olympus konica or someone else that introduced it s irst 35mm slr<br>

with a m42 ( screw mout)<br>

I know later the same company made bayonet mount cameras<br>

but the first one was m42.<br>

I searched but could not find it.</p>

<p>Hi Walter -</p>

<p>Perhaps the Contax S ...</p>

<p><br /> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contax</p>

<p><br /> " The Contax S can be said to be the camera that defined the configuration of the modern 35mm SLR camera. Not only did it introduce the M42 lens mount which became an industry standard, but it was also equipped with a horizontal focal-plane shutter, and also removed a major objection against the reflex camera by offering an unreversed, eye-level viewing image by employing a pentaprism. "</p>

<p><br /> Jim M</p>

<p>In 1971, Olympus introduced the FTL, their first full frame SLR, with M42 mount.<br>

In 1959, Kuribayashi introduced the Petri Penta, with M42 mount.<br>

Both later changed to bayonet mount - Petri to breechlock.</p>

 

<p>I believe Konica always had a bayonet mount, but changed it in the 1960's. </p>

<p>Yashica used the screw mount for a period, though they both began and ended with bayonets.</p>

<p>Fuji also used screw mount for a long time. </p>

<p>According to many other sources, the M42 mount was introduced with the Praktiflex in 1948. The Contax S did not appear until 1949, anyhow the M42 thread was designed by the Contax S design group in 1946. <br>

http://www.dresdner-kameras.de/contax/contax.html</p>

<p>(sorry, this is available in German only)</p>

<p>I am sorry I phrased it icorrectly.<br>

My neihbors has waist level m42 cameras with no provision for a eye level prism. and a preset lens.<br>

a HS classmate had a pentacon/ hexicon.<br>

the originaL PLATE HAD BEEN GROUND OFF AND ANOTHER NAE GLUED ON<br>

BIOTAR, PRESET LENS.<br>

NICE LOOKING CAMERA.<br>

i THINK MOST KLNOW OF THE OLYMPUS om SERIES.<br>

BUT FEW HAVE HEARD THAT THEY BEGAN WITH A M42 CAMERA.<br>

i WOULD ASSUME IT WAS A AUTO-DIAPGHAM CAMERA.<br>

I had read about it but could not find any reference to it lately.<br>

well I am old, my eyes are not as sharp and searching the www is sometimes tesious.</p>

<p>I know several japanese companies went thru various lens mount designs.<br>

the worst was Mamiya. and the m42 camewras seem to be [ricey despite not being a reallylong lasting camera.<br>

the petri, I hear, was decent when the early models were produced<br>

but later on quality was way down.<br>

Fuji played around with vriations on the m42 with lenses that were auto exposure only on some models<br>

I recall the erly pentax with a lever requirig the lens to be reset or re-opened before the next exposure.</p>

<p>MODERN referred to an auto mirnda / m42 adapter<br>

and Miranda Collectors on yahoo referred to a home brew adapter that allowed M42 lenses to be used with auto-stop-down om miranda Bayoned /m44 bodies. <br>

I do notice when I browse for less common cameras or models there is a large family of collectors that are willing to pay big bucks for them.</p>

<p>I used to buy sensorex es ( not ee) at rasonable prices but tht price had gone high as well<br>

yet a pentax me super or canon a and t series are selling at low prices.</p>

<p>I hasve adapters to use m42 lenses but I suspect thty price ifd climing as well.</p>

<p>http://www.biofos.com/cornucop/ftl.html</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I've got an Olympus FTL. A local market find a few years ago. I grabbed it because it was produced in quite low numbers and I like M42 SLRs generally. It's a very pleasant M42 SLR with open aperture metering with compatible lenses. I had to tweak the curtain tension to get the high speeds back as they were just a little out, and it could do with new light seals, but otherwise has stood the test of time well. I paid $30 for mine from memory, with its 50mm Zuiko f/1.8. I must give it a run over the next couple of months actually. I gather it was a stop gap model brought in to get Olympus into the full frame 35mm format pending the release of their M-1 SLR. There's some detail about the models conception and release on the web that's easy enough to find.</p>

<p>Hi Walter! Does it look like this one?:<br /> <br /><a href=" /> <br /> I think this is the only M42 camera with a non-removable waist level finder. The Biotar lens would go with this or a Contax/Pentacon, both East German cameras. Also, it was a common practice for US camera stores to private label East German cameras, often defacing the original name before gluing or riveting their nameplate on top. This was done with Prakticas, Praktinas, and Pentacons that I can think of offhand. Here is a Pentacon that's had that done to it:<br /> <br /><a href=" /> <br /> This was generally done in the early-mid 1950s. Pentax adopted the M42 mount in the late 50s, the Olympus FTL not until 1970 or so. It became very common on Japanese cameras in the 60s: Ricoh, Fujica, Yashica, Mamiya, Chinon, I'm sure a few others that aren't coming to mind. But this was all after the rebadging days, and I don't recall that ever having been done on a Japanese camera in any case.<br /> rick</p>