stephen_kruft

It all depends on whether you require TTL. It is possible to revert to older methods.

The only MF SLR I have used is Hasselblad, I do not think it is impractical if I use a 45 degree finder and hold onto it with a hand grip, but you do have to hold onto it carefully. Other than that I have used only TLRs.

This is a great thread, showing how helpful people can be.

The first quality camera was a Rollei 3.5F.

If you want to do portraits, I suggest, get and use a sturdy tripod to begin with. Perfectly good ones can be found at garage sales and flea markets for practically nothing. Then later you can get another one that suits you.

 

I agree with others about the lenses. I shot individual portraits using 35mm cameras with a 105mm lens.

I used the Metz 402 and then the 45 and 60 series. They are old technology and not ideal but still usable. The weight and bulk were not a big deal when the camera was already big and heavy.

I had various box cameras then the first quality one was a Rollei 3.5F.

<p>Isch guet.</p>

I suggest you do not get the old Sigma 39-80 which I found to be soft compared to prime lenses.

Craigslist New York

I have used all of the Takumar macros mentioned above with success. I believe that of those, only the older preset Macro-Takumar (not the automatic Super-Macro-Takumar) actually goes to a 1:1 ratio. Also I have a 60mm Macro-Yashinon, a preset, which works fine but is big and heavy because it is f2.8.

Well, the most closely related would be the line of Pentax Spotmatic cameras with screw-mount lenses that came just before the K1000.

That sounds like a lot for repair of an SP2 body that is not worth nearly that much even if fully operative. I suspect that if you shop around, you can have it repaired at lesser cost.

I do have a Hasselblad price list from February 1972. A complete 500C/M with 80mm was $880, EL/M $1130, SWC $1040. That is suggested retail though; I recall them being less in the photo magazine ads.

Use a wide neck strap with either one.

I have used this and many other Takumar lenses for quite some time but would not say any lens is magical, except maybe the superwides and macros that I use the most when I shoot 35. It is a great Takumar lens, as are some others. I think I dropped one once and it survived.

 

In focal lengths close to that, I have more experience with the 100 macro and 105. I learned portraiture with the 105 in the 70s. All those are a joy to use and the early Pentax cameras fit the hand perfectly.

 

The 85s are not especially rare and they appear often on eBay, where they sell for more than most other Takumars, so they clearly are highly regarded. Some test reports must still be available.

I suggest using the hood all the time, filter or not (the hood acts as a filter ring).

The Metz 402 takes a standard "HH" ("household" 2-prong) PC cord. Do not use it with a digital camera without an adapter because it produces high voltage.

 

This was the first Metz thyristor flash and is very good and powerful but very old. I still have some around. The battery packs fail but can be re-celled. The PC and power cables can fail. Otherwise it is quite reliable.

It is a good lens, though quite big and heavy. I have the same one for Pentax. I have not used it with a fast motor drive.

 

By using the attachment (shown) with a round hole, you cut off part of the picture and make a round image.

I also use a Spotmeter V. Before that I had a very inexpensive Soligor that was smaller and just fine except that it used batteries that became difficult to get.

In the "old days" Pentax made two automatic cameras that I believe will work with the SMC lenses without stopping down, called ES and ESII. Chinon made an automatic camera called the CE3 that will work with M42 lenses and can use an autowinder.

I have two 24mm lenses, this one and a huge Vivitar that was my first wideangle ever and I used extensively (with a much larger front element). I have found them both to be fine lenses and would recommend them.

I also thought that this lens (the 50mm Super or SMC Takumar) goes only to 1:2, but that the older preset Macro-Takumar was 1:1. I have one and it is fine, but bear in mind that it is hard to hand-hold these lenses because they have very, very little depth of field. I do not find it heavy at all.

I agree you should rent one - or there are inexpensive fisheye "adapters" for normal lenses.

Yes, more than one battery and more than one synch cord. I have also had one Metz power cord fail in many years so would say that is less important.

 

There are places that re-cell at least some Metz batteries for less than the cost of a new one, if you have the old case.