Was there ever a "Best" 35mm Film SLR? ... if so, what was it, in your opinion? (Page 24): Mamiya didn't stay in the 35mm SLR biz, long, did they, Mobius? I had one for a while ... had...

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Mobius wrote:

Another thought, my first slr was a Nikkorex F. This was the precursor to the Nikkormat cameras. While it was by no means the best slr, it was a good camera and Nikons first attempt at low to mid range slr to use their lenses. I think that it was a re-badged Mamiya/Sekor with a Nikon F mount.

Mamiya didn't stay in the 35mm SLR biz, long, did they, Mobius?

I had one for a while ... had a couple of automatic modes, if I remember, rightly ....

Next Mamiya I bought, was the RB67 ....

So the Nikkorex PRECEDED the Nikkormat, did it?

awis01

Absolutely. Balance in all things.

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

awis01 wrote:

Absolutely. Balance in all things.

Three's a good number, Awis ...

I have three Canons, three Sony alphas ... was planning on having three Nikons, and three Pentax bodies, too ....

But, I wound up with two less Pentax bodies, and two more Nikons than I'd intended ... but, I still wound up with an even dozen, regardless ....

So ... balanced (in a way) ....

wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

Chris T wrote:

2 Dfs, huh?

Then you've ALREADY gone digital, WJ ....

Pentax K-1, eh?

Not the highly-touted D850, huh?

But, of course, you could get TWO K-1s - for the same price as ONE D850, now, couldn't you? ... Dunno why I didn't think of that, before ....

nope, haven't gone digital had to use the 3 for specific assignments. sold them as soon as project was completed. couldn't get my head around the abstract. needed to have film to keep me happy - Linus and his blanket!

wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

ramarsh wrote:

Some Minolta lenses were made by Leitz & visa versa.

actually, from 1972 until minolta was sold to sony, minolta's imari glass works made and sold lenses to leica. mostly for the slr and long telephoto lenses. leica also used the minolta/imari glass in some of their rangefinder lenses, but that was never publicised and has been kept a proprietary secret to this day.

this is why minolta lenses for minolta slr bodies were always quite wonderful. also the minolta hi matic 7s rangefinder could produce gallery prints from slow black and white file with literally no grain. i still have and use that rangefinder for certain accounts.

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

wj cody wrote:

nope, haven't gone digital had to use the 3 for specific assignments. sold them as soon as project was completed. couldn't get my head around the abstract. needed to have film to keep me happy - Linus and his blanket!

Interesting, WJ ... glad you're happy with film ... Schroeder will be proud of you ....

DTran

I have an A1 and the Canon 199A flash.

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

DTran wrote:

I have an A1 and the Canon 199A flash.

Beautiful, D ... now, THAT just brought a tear to my eye!

I had forgotten what a classy-looking camera that was ....

I wish I had that time to do over again ... oh, well ....

Maybe, if I'd gotten two ... thought about it ... but never thought I'd have to face losing the first one ....

jaimeblackwell Loc: Lewiston, Maine

I had a pentax K1000 and it couldnt and still cant hold a candle to my Nikon f Made in 1966 and im still shooting with if. it's right here on the desk. Never been serviced never had to other than light cleaning. #icon

adm

The A-1 was a nice camera in some ways but I found that it lacked the durability and reliability of earlier, all-mechanical Canons, such as the FT, FTb, and F-1. Also, it lacks a mechanical back-up shutter speed. So, when the battery dies, it becomes a paperweight. I owned one for a few years in the 1990s. I bought it used and found that it had the Canon "wheeze," which required a $75 service periodically to get rid of. When Canon stopped supporting the old FD system in the late 1990s, I traded all my Canon gear for two Nikon FM2ns. The FM2s are still going strong almost 20 years later with virtually no service.

therwol Loc: USA

adm wrote:

The A-1 was a nice camera in some ways but I found... (show quote)

The Nikon FA was Nikon's answer to the Canon A-1. It had four exposure modes, 1/4000 second shutter, 1/250 second flash synch and matrix metering. The shutter worked at 1/250 if the camera's battery died. It was Nikon's most advanced manual focus camera ever. Unfortunately, it was fragile and a nightmare to fix. I gave mine (still working fine) to my son in-law. He still uses it, but if it breaks, he's out of luck. No one will be able to work on it. There are essentially no parts available.

adm

therwol wrote:

The Nikon FA was Nikon's answer to the Canon A-1. ... (show quote)

Generally speaking, electronic shutter cameras are going to be more delicate than mechanical cameras. At least the FA had a mechanical back-up. Interestingly, I have a Nikon FG, now more than 30 years old, which has had fewer issues than my Canon AE-1 or A-1. It has a 1/90 mechanical back-up speed, too.

therwol Loc: USA

adm wrote:

Generally speaking, electronic shutter cameras are going to be more delicate than mechanical cameras. At least the FA had a mechanical back-up. Interestingly, I have a Nikon FG, now more than 30 years old, which has had fewer issues than my Canon AE-1 or A-1. It has a 1/90 mechanical back-up speed, too.

Someone in another discussion mentioned that the electronics board in the FA was prone to failure. I also read that the diaphragm lever in the camera body could become sticky. I bought the camera based on features, after pondering the F3. It ended up being lightly used. (My older Nikon FTn remained my workhorse until I went digital. I believe that the F and F2 were the best all mechanical SLRs ever made.)

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

jaimeblackwell wrote:

I had a pentax K1000 and it couldnt and still cant hold a candle to my Nikon f Made in 1966 and im still shooting with if. it's right here on the desk. Never been serviced never had to other than light cleaning. #icon

That's quite a record, Jaime ... one for the record books!

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

therwol wrote:

Someone in another discussion mentioned that the electronics board in the FA was prone to failure. I also read that the diaphragm lever in the camera body could become sticky. I bought the camera based on features, after pondering the F3. It ended up being lightly used. (My older Nikon FTn remained my workhorse until I went digital. I believe that the F and F2 were the best all mechanical SLRs ever made.)

Really, Therwol ? .... I'd not heard that, before ... about the FA being prone to failure ....

Oh, I think you're right, there, Therwol ... both the F and the F2 ... were probably the very best mechanical SLRs ever made ... had 'em both ...