M42 mount Body recommendations

[icog]

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>Been a long time since I've posted in these forums too busy with life I guess. I've just made the switch to digital for my main gear and have begun looking at M42 lenses as a way to save some money in start up costs. It occurs to me that having a battery less back could be a happy thing. I used to shoot Canon FD and have no real idea what is available in M42 beyond a Pentax Spotmatic. I have no reservations about using Pentax but thought I'd like to see what else is available and what the people that use them think. The budget isn't huge, I'd really like to keep the body under $100. </p>

<p>Thanks to all in advance.</p>

<p>Lionel</p>

[bueh]

<p>The Fuji SLRs were really well-designed cameras. The Fujica ST901 was the top-of-line, if I recall correctly. Uses</p>

<p>Or you could get a Pentax-K body and use an M42 adapter on the body. Gives you even more modern features.</p>

[gabor_szabo3]

<p>Don't overlook the extremely affordable Ricoh TLS bodies. The copal square shutters are pretty much indesctructable, the bodies are super solid and you can hammer nails with them all week long. These cameras were sold as the <strong><a href="../classic-cameras-forum/00VlUD">Sears TLS</a></strong> as well, and these look especially cool with the "SR" atomic logo (see Louis Meluso's articles from a little while back). They have stop-down metering like the Spotties, but I almost always go meterless with most of my classic film cameras.</p>

 

[rick_drawbridge]

<blockquote>

<p>"It occurs to me that having a battery less back could be a happy thing."</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Care to expand on that? Do you want a battery-less camera?</p>

[JDMvW]

<p><strong><em>The</em></strong> cameras to use M42 lenses on are Prakticas. The best of them in terms of long-term viability and usability are the L series (e.g., Praktica L, L2, etc.). The base models without meters built in are my personal recommendation.<br>

Of course, to use the lenses manually only, you can get film EOS bodies for next to nothing and use the M42 lenses with the same adapters you use for the digital EOS bodies.</p>

<p>I just bought a new M42>EOS from China for $3.60 including shipping- it came in 10 days, and works exactly as it should. Just buy one for each lens and you won't have to screw around. The new M42>EOS adapters pretty much all have a flange to depress the auto-diaphragm pin on lenses without an A-M switch.</p>

[tom_price1]

<p>You want the Spotmatic F. This is a refined and elegant M42 camera that you can still get CLA'd. It provides open aperture metering with SMC Takumar lenses and you can get a a compatible adapter for open aperture metering with Tamron Adaptall-2 lenses. You can use silver oxide batteries with the SPF.</p>

[Mike Gammill]

Another alternative is a Minolta SRT 102 or 202 with an M42 adapter. This adapter allows infinity focus, but you will have

to stop down to meter. I have one and it works great. This way you can use great Takumars and Rokkors, both at

reasonable prices. Or get an XE-7 and gain aperture priority automation with both kinds of lenses.

[donnie_strickland]

<p>All good suggestions, to which I would add mine: the Chinon CE Memotron, aka Sears 2000ES, aka GAF L/ES. It does aperture priority autoexposure with any M42 lens (you can read more <a href="http://www.cameraquest.com/slr42ae.htm">here</a>). I've had at least one of each, with the Sears version still in my possesion. It's what I do most of my M42 shooting with, not only because of the autoexposure, but also because of the other features:</p>

<p>-Mirror lockup<br>

-1/2000 shutter speed<br>

-viewfinder blind<br>

-1/125 flash sync<br>

-exposure lock<br>

-uses a common, easy to find 28L/PX28 battery</p>

<p>Of course, if you are looking for a camera which will operate without a battery this would not be it.</p>

<p>DS</p>

[craigd]

<p>Another vote for the Spotmatic F. I love mine. But if you want a truly battery-free camera, the Spotmatic F isn't quite it. It will work without batteries, but you need a battery if you want the meter to work. For a battery-free Pentax, you'd have to go back to the SL, which is basically the original Spotmatic SP with the meter removed.</p>

<p>Or, if you want to go really cheap, there are a number of M42 cameras from the old Soviet Union such as the all-manual, battery-free Zenit B (no meter) and Zenit ET (selenium meter) that you can often buy on eBay for next to nothing. I recently bought both a B and an ET on eBay from different sellers for a combined price of about $80, not because I wanted the cameras, but because I wanted the Helios lenses that came with them. From my point of view, the cameras were essentially free, and they both seem functional (I haven't put film through them, but their shutters seem to work.)</p>

[fred_c1]

<p>Get the Bessaflex TM if you can find it. Or an M42 adapter for your existing SLR.</p>

[User_4525289]

<p>I have 5 different M42 bodies. I would recommend a Spotmatic. However Yashica electro viewfinder is way brighter.</p>

[rod_larson]

<p>I second what Gabor says about the Ricoh/Sears TLS. Very affordable and doesn't need a<br>

battery to work. Don't pass up any of the AutoSears M42 lenses either.</p>

[andrewg_ny]

<p>I guess one decision is whether or not you want a lightmeter, open-aperture metering, and/or auto-stopdown. One advantage to some of the bodies others mentioned here is that some of them have brighter viewfinders than most Pentax M42 bodies.</p>

<p>I'm not sure how well the metering would work with a Minolta SRT-202 with adapted glass--the metering uses a matched needle display--but if the lens aperture ring isn't coupled to the meter, I don't know how you could match anything. If you're using an external meter or sunny-16 it might be nice though, it's pretty solid and viewfinder is bright.</p>

[robert lee]

<p>I have a couple of Spotmatics and I see them recommended here. They're fine, but personally I'm not so crazy about them. The Spotmatics, for whatever reason, has a bit of collectibility about them. This is unfortunate for somewhat looking primarily for utility.</p>

<p>More serious is the relatively dark viewfinder. Compared to my third M42 body, a Yashica Electro TL, the Spotmatics are probably a stop or more dimmer. This is serious as it makes focusing more difficult.</p>

[henrik_lauridsen]

<p>The Yashica TL Electro is a nice camera. It is built like a tank, a nice bright viewfinder, and the meter is easy to use. Compared to a Spotmatic, the Yashica is heavier and more bulky, and not as elegant IMO as the Spotmatics, but it does have a very solid feel to it, which I like. The shutter/mirror slap in the Yashica is loud, in my collection only topped by my Zenit EF.<br>

Since Spotmatics are the popular choice, you are likely to find a TL Electro cheaper than a Spotmatic.</p>

 

[gnashings]

<p>I would lean towards a spotty, I just happen to like everything about them - mind you, I have a bunch of m42 cameras, including my first "real" slr, a hand-me-down from my father Zenit with the slenium on the front of the prism... Oddly - and I understand this is unusual, only my Praktica actually fell apart - the film transport ground to a screeching (literally) halt. I know this is not really the experience of most users, please keep in mind its just how it went with mine.<br>

Still, before you buy, handle a spotmatic... at least in my case, none of the others really compare to it in terms of solid construction and classic simplicity of design.<br>

And of course, my prediction is you'll buy most of the cameras suggested in this thread over time, just because it seems to be the way the cookie crumbles:)<br>

My main 35mm system is Canon FD by the way - and I'm a big fan of the manual Canons.</p>

[capitalq]

<p>If you already have/use FD bodies, why not get a simple m42>FD adapter for $10? </p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Capital Q is right. The FD series bodies are even more a "universal recipient" than is EOS. They will easily take M42 and Nikon lenses with inexpensive adapters.</p>

<p>The FD adapters used to be harder to find, but right now they are all over eBay, though not as cheap as the EOS adapters yet.</p>

[mfophotos]

<p>I had a Singlex II, and it was a fine M42 camera. Better than the Singlex.</p>

[icog]

<p> Thanks for all the responses. Sorry for the typo, I should know better then to try to communicate when I've just gotten up. Yes, I'm looking for something that will function without a battery. Getting away from electronic shutters is the idea here. I'm not too concerned about a meter as I've gotten pretty good at guesstimating exposure using my Retina folders. (I call them my point and shoots. Though no one else thinks they're that easy to operate.) Les thanks for the link, great resource. </p>

<p>I've sold all the FD gear to finance the move to digital so that's not an option. Good idea though. I very much want a body that doesn't require an adapter though. So something native I think. Looks like it's time for more research. I'm still open to more suggestions, especially along the lines of any Soviet made cameras. </p>

<p>Lionel</p>

[k5083]

<p>I second the vote for Praktica and also think that the Mamiya TL and DTL series merits consideration. The battery is used only for metering and better yet, it takes the 1.5v batteries available today. Also good are the Mamiya SX and DSX series which also were marketed as the Sears TLS 500 and 1000. (Other Sears TLS models are made by Ricoh and those are not bad M42 bodies either.)</p>

<p> </p>

[chuck_foreman1]

Many of the suggestions here have a battery/meter but all manual shutter. I think the Yasica Elctr is one as well and after reading how much brighter the finder is... well I might have to get one! They are bigger and heavier than the SPotmatics.

I think the ultimate M42 perhaps more collectable than usable is the the Contax D / Pentacon FM. It'S clearly the inmspiration for the Spotmatic. The Zenith which they probably built a zillion of in various forms is the only M42 soviet I know

the other famous soviet lines (Fed/Zorki) all use the Leica M39...

[jodys]

<p>I'm going to go with the suggestion of shopping for another lens, and taking whatever M42 body comes as a rear lens cap. Well, that's how I got most of mine. The lenses are almost all excellent, and worth what I paid for the gear; as a bonus I now have 20+ M42 bodies working and ready to go (very few paperweights.... maybe 2 out of 25 or so). Plus a wide range of Takumar, Zeiss Jena, Rikenon, Meyer, ..., etc., lenses. </p>

<p>If you could use another good budget (in $$$ only, they're better than modern kit lenses) f1.4 prime, best value for dollar right now on the 'bay is probably the Mamiya series with a Mamiya-Sekor 55mm f1.4 lens attached (no one seems to know who made it). Almost guaranteed to work, though they might be a little beat up. If you're willing to spend a little more, you should find a yellowed (fixable) Takumar f1.4 with a Spotmatic attached for well within your budget; the Spottie is almost always fixable with a little TLC (I have a vast collection of parts, if anyone needs something...). A Ricoh or Sears will probably come with a Tomioka lens attached; the f1.8 is an excellent lens that almost equals the Takumar f1.8... both can be had for peanuts (the f1.4 or heaven forbid the f1.2 Tomioka/Rikenon will cost you a lot more, they have a bit of a cult following). A Praktica will probably have a Tessar Zeiss Jena lens, or if it's more recent something like a Pancolar (more $$$). A Russian camera (Zenit EM or so) will probably have a Helios Biotar clone, an excellent budget portrait lens for a small-sensor dSLR. OK, it's an excellent lens, period, but plan on a disassembly to clean/relube. All of these can be bought for the same price as the lenses alone, if you're shopping on the 'bay.</p>

[allancobb]

<p>I'll second the Yashica TL-Electro. I have a Spotmatic and a Pentax Honeywell Heiland H2, all M42 screwmount cameras. The H2 is superior in balance and overall feel, but there is no internal meter; the Spotmatic is solid, but the TL-Electro in my opinion feels better in my hands and with LED metering as opposed to the Spotmatic's needle metering, the Yashica wins for me in terms of durability; it's the M42 camera I reach for the most.</p>

[cj8281]

<p>Pentax S3, no meter. The Pentax ESII can be used all day long without batteries, the slowest speed though will be 1/60. 1/60 - 1/1000 are all mechanical as are all the speeds of the Spotmatic, Spotmatic F, Spotmatic SP, Spotmatic SL just to name a few. There are also Chinon, Fuji and Mamiya cameras that used the M42 mount.</p>