Recommend me a film camera..

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SamuelHearn

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Looking for an m42 mount camera with TTL spot metering. Preferably one that is able to meter wide open instead of having to stop down to meter.. I've found it a bit of a pain to find one so far, maybe I'm not looking hard enough. Spot metering is an absolute must!

Cheers,
Sam
 
fair point

Mamiya MSX 1000, M42 with spot metering but you have to stop down to meter unless you use the mamiya/Sekor SX lenses
 
I recommend you purchase a film camera.









Ahh - sorry - you wanted specifics... :(
 
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Spot metering was not a very common feature of cameras until the late 80's apart from a few cameras so you might have a lot of trouble locating one, especially an M42 one.
 
Darn, looks like no lovely m42 lenses for me then :( Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it.
 
It might interest you to know that the Pentax Spotmatic series for M42 (pretty much the first well selling TTL metering camera, it was just pipped to the post by a Topcon camera) was originally designed with a spotmeter and the prototype presented at Photokina 1960 had a spotmeter, hence the name Spotmatic.

Fortunately (or unfortunately for you) Pentax decided to at the last minute replace it with average metering as they feared that people would be blame the camera for poorly exposed pictures as they didn't know how to use a spotmeter properly. The name stayed though as all the marketing material, product design etc used the Spotmatic name and there was no time to change it. There was talk of a spotmeter equipped professional model being released but it never came to fruition.
 
SamuelHearn said:
Looking for an m42 mount camera with TTL spot metering. Preferably one that is able to meter wide open instead of having to stop down to meter.. I've found it a bit of a pain to find one so far, maybe I'm not looking hard enough. Spot metering is an absolute must!

Cheers,
Sam
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Any Contax ST, 167MT, RTS series, Aria, or RX has TTL spot metering and meter wide -open.

You can use M42 mounts using a Contax-Yaschica adapter. Plus you can also use high quality Zeiss lenses if you decide later.

M42 mount cameras.... Praktica MTL5 spot meter versions? Some of those 1970's East German relics that double up as great bricks :)
 
Happy_medium said:
M42 mount cameras.... Praktica MTL5 spot meter versions? Some of those 1970's East German relics that double up as great bricks :)
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Never heard of one of them, nor can I find any information on an MTL5 equipped with a spotmeter. I think we've already answered the question in that no affordable M42 SLR features spot metering.
 
They were very old 1970's basic SLRs - the MTL5 didn't have spot metering, but there were different models up which did - then again, they changed to the Practica B30 bayonet when it went electronic so you are probably right.

These days, it makes sense to try a Rolleiflex SL2000F. They aren't that expensive, and have a 5% spot meter and look like a mini-video cam! And of course - you get a waistlevel finder with it. The beauty of it ...it takes cheap Rolleiflex Zeiss QBM mount lenses ...and with a M42 adapter ... M42 lenses. Hey presto!
 
Come on guys stop messing about..... the Canon T90 is the camera to get, M42 and Tamron adapters very cheap as well.
 
Agreed - get a T90 - though I'd get the M42 adaptor for any existing lenses, but for any further aqusitions get proper FD lenses to take advantage of the bodys capabilities.
 
Why not get something like a Nikon FG so you can share lenses with your D60? ...ah, just saw your spot metering comment. :(
 
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Gerraway with yer tacky t90 yack you two..

there are a million and one cameras that will spot meter and use M42 lenses with an adapter, BUT....that was not what the OP asked for.



SamuelHearn said:
Preferably one that is able to meter wide open instead of having to stop down to meter..

Cheers,
Sam
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joxby said:
Gerraway with yer tacky t90 yack you two..

there are a million and one cameras that will spot meter and use M42 lenses with an adapter, BUT....that was not what the OP asked for.
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Sour grapes cos you ain't got one :wave:
 
TheBigYin said:
Agreed - get a T90 - though I'd get the M42 adaptor for any existing lenses, but for any further aqusitions get proper FD lenses to take advantage of the bodys capabilities.
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Would rather have a camera that can meter wide open as it's a huge advantage. Tried a T90 before and it definitely wasn't for me, as far as film cameras go I prefer to have something more mechanical. Also.. It's a canon :puke:
 
SamuelHearn said:
Would rather have a camera that can meter wide open as it's a huge advantage. Tried a T90 before and it definitely wasn't for me, as far as film cameras go I prefer to have something more mechanical. Also.. It's a canon :puke:
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So Olly and Nikon fans are you enjoying your M42 lenses with an adapter? :D wish you could afford the lenses?........drum roll:- lenses for Canon FD are still reasonable, and the Canon FD mount is very versatile, no problem with M42 or Tamron adaptall lenses.
 
More to the point, although the T90 was seen as a massive, possibly revolutionary camera, many of them are prone to electrical failure nowadays and constantly trying to keep up against that is getting tougher as we roll on further into the 21st century. Camera engineers can keep a 40+ year old Spotmatic going just fine, but when a circuitboard is kaput, it's time to start digging the T90 grave. Some are pushing 25 years now, electrical failure, LCD bleed and eventual failure, and after all of those - there's still the distinct possibly of mechanical failure, especially if you pick up one that has had a hard working life.

This wasn't trying to stoke anything, it's all valid concerns (and IMO why a T90 shouldn't be recommended).
 
freecom2 said:
More to the point, although the T90 was seen as a massive, possibly revolutionary camera, many of them are prone to electrical failure nowadays and constantly trying to keep up against that is getting tougher as we roll on further into the 21st century. Camera engineers can keep a 40+ year old Spotmatic going just fine, but when a circuitboard is kaput, it's time to start digging the T90 grave. Some are pushing 25 years now, electrical failure, LCD bleed and eventual failure, and after all of those - there's still the distinct possibly of mechanical failure, especially if you pick up one that has had a hard working life.

This wasn't trying to stoke anything, it's all valid concerns (and IMO why a T90 shouldn't be recommended).
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Well yeah and your comments applies to anything electrical old and new...well look at it this way:- if you bought a T90 that has been looked after properly say for £80 and it lasts for three years, then £80 divided by 150 weeks and it will cost you about 53p/week (or a Walnut whip a week).
 
excalibur2 said:
Well yeah and your comments applies to anything electrical old and new...
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Yup, and there's plenty of M42 film cameras (okay, let's ignore this spot metering proviso for now, since it's not especially realistic) which aren't reliant on electrics at all. :bang:
 
freecom2 said:
Yup, and there's plenty of M42 film cameras (okay, let's ignore this spot metering proviso for now, since it's not especially realistic) which aren't reliant on electrics at all. :bang:
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A big part of why I enjoy film is the process of shooting with a mechanical camera, it's just so much more fun, it's great to get away from the digital way of doing things. It just seems so much more solid, bah humbug to electrical cameras!
 
SamuelHearn said:
A big part of why I enjoy film is the process of shooting with a mechanical camera, it's just so much more fun, it's great to get away from the digital way of doing things. It just seems so much more solid, bah humbug to electrical cameras!
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Agreed - if I wanted 25 gazillion options and an LCD screen, I know where to go! :lol: what are you going to do from here? to be honest, spot metering isn't especially necessary if you just shoot general B&W/colour negative film - it has so much latitude that even cameras with slightly ropey meters should probably still give you decent results.
 
freecom2 said:
(okay, let's ignore this spot metering proviso for now, since it's not especially realistic) :bang:
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Ok get a Canon T70 then :clap:

Anyway I assume the object of photography is to get a picture and for me I've missed/spoilt so many shots over the years fiddling with a manual camera esp with UK sun and clouds weather, so it's semi auto for me most of the time.....AV or TV.
And I do use a very old manual camera (Pentax S3) now and again, but it's been there done it (in the past) so not so much fun.
 
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Fair enough Brian - everyone has their own personal preference really, if we all liked the same thing camera manufacturers would struggle to sell more than one model!
 
freecom2 said:
Fair enough Brian - everyone has their own personal preference really, if we all liked the same thing camera manufacturers would struggle to sell more than one model!
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Well more like horses for courses:- my Centon K100 manual camera, with match up the green dot in the viewfinder, drove me up the wall at the zoo last year with changing light conditions inside cages taking shots of animals WO flash, and sun and many passing clouds outside. :thumbsdown: ...a semi auto camera would allow you to concentrate on the subject WO f*rting around with exposure readings.
 
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