jean_yves_mead

BTW and just in case you didn't already know, your Spotmatic should have a top shutter speed of 1/1000s - it's just not marked on the dial.

Most cameras (including your spotmatic) will stop down the aperture automatically when you release the shutter. The body merely has to have the plate inside the lens mount (at the bottom) which pushes the lens's stop-down pin when the shutter is released. Some of the very early screw-mount bodies (Contax S, for instance) had no such mechanism, and required lenses to be stopped down manually. Some of the early lenses with apertures triggered by the body, had to be cocked manually beforehand and reset after each exposure. By and large, though, any M- 42 body you look at will activate the aperture for you.

<blockquote>I've actually found the OM-1n locally for a good price, but the issue with the batteries makes me hesitate. I couldn't find out which batteries the OM-1n uses, but the other OM models use non-existent batteries and their meter doesn't work well with modern ones. So for now I guess I'll not rely on purchasing an OM.</blockquote> <p>The OM-2 and later take standard 1.5v silver oxide batteries (SR-44 or equivalent) which are widely available.<br> A Pentax MX is another good candidate - it's also compact yet offers a large, almost 100%-coverage finder, manual metered operation, and will work (sans meter, of course) even if the battery dies.</p>

<blockquote>The only thing I'm not sure about with the OM series is that I wouldn't have control over the shutter speed.</blockquote> <p>The OM-1 is a fully-manual camera with coupled meter; the wrinkle is that they were made for mercury batteries, so you'd be looking for one that's been adjusted to take more modern batteries, or have use zinc-air batteries or Wein cells. The OM-2N avoids that problem and offers you either manual metered or aperture-priority AE mode (plus an ingenious 'Off' that isn't really). The OM-3 will cost you your first- born, and the OM-4Ti is bloody amazing (but its finder is slightly dimmer than that of the OM-1 and -2). <br> The OM-10 requires an adapter to regain manual shutter speed control, but unless funds are really tight I wouldn't pick it over one of the single-digit OMs.</p>

<blockquote>This is something that isn't great with the old film cameras, I've been told.</blockquote> <p>I wouldn't take this to heart if I were you - with any decent manually-operated 35mm camera (and there are a *lot* of them on the used market, available for peanuts), aperture and shutter-speed settings are visible at a glance, and adjusting them is a fingertip or thumb-and-forefinger operation.</p><br><p> From personal experience I can recommend an Olympus OM-2N (or any OM-1 if you have an external meter) for the quality of its viewfinder, its compact size and quick handling, and its reasonable choice of good lenses; or a Fujica ST-705 as a cheap and capable mount for the many M42 lenses out there.</p><br><p> Anyway I'm pretty sure you'll get more suggestions than you could shake a stick at, and they'll all be fine choices.</p>

In 135 format: normally (hah!) a 50mm; sometimes a 105mm; occasionally a 12mm. I like 28mm but that field of view is usually covered by my Ricoh GRD4.

The SLX/6000 series rely on in-lens leaf shutters. The Russian cameras use in-body focal-plane shutters.That's going to complicate matters somewhat.

Chances are that your adapter allows focussing past infinity, which means you can't rely on the lens's hard infinity stop.

From what you wrote, your "mates' rates" are already $200-300 per session. That gives you a starting figure to bill her. Send her a polite and friendly response and your invoice, and see where things go from there. Also, if she can view the high-res versions of the photos then she can download them, regardless of disabling of downloads or actual ownership of copyright. That's not to say that she *will* do so, but it's something to bear in mind.

Ilford FP4+ is a good fit. It's pretty forgiving and the slower speed (ISO 125) means you're less likely to keep hitting your camera's upper limit.

<p>Eh, F mount works just as well:<br> <a href=" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3301/3593921307_18ab9981d7.jpg" width="500" height="500"/></a> <br> <small>(Not really)</small></p>

<p>Hard to beat the Pentax 135mm f/3.5 SMC-M. Small, light, sharp, and usually pretty cheap. It even comes with its own built-in sliding hood.</p> <p>There are plenty of user reviews of it <a href="http://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/SMC-Pentax-M-135mm-F3.5-Lens.html">here</a>.</p>

Easy: trade your Rollei for (or partner it with) a Mamiya RB-67 with 90mm f/3.5L. The bellows focussing will give you a maximum magnification of about 1:2, and you'll get a full workout every time you take it for a walk - the savings in gym membership alone will cover its cost in no time.