File :-(, x, )
ae-1 Anonymous
What does /po/ think of my elderly Canon AE-1.
EXIF data available. Clickhereto show/hide.
Camera-Specific Properties:Equipment MakeCanonCamera ModelCanon PowerShot A520Maximum Lens Aperturef/2.6Sensing MethodOne-Chip Color AreaImage-Specific Properties:Horizontal Resolution240 dpiVertical Resolution240 dpiImage Created2007:08:16 11:20:53Exposure Time1.6 secF-Numberf/8.0Lens Aperturef/8.0Exposure Bias0 EVMetering ModePatternFlashNo Flash, CompulsoryFocal Length5.81 mmRenderingNormalExposure ModeManualWhite BalanceAutoScene Capture TypeStandard
>> Anonymous
gb2/po/
>> ae-1 Anonymous
oh shi- how did that o get in there...
>> des
>>69348
des haet ae-1
>> Anonymous
I have one as a back-up camera. It's a nice, sturdy camera, but I prefer older manual 35mm cameras. (M42 mounts, Pentax made AWESOME lenses in the 1960s.)
>> Anonymous
Sorry for the thread hijack but let's say I wanted to buy an inexpensive manual 35mm SLR or rangefinder for occasional use. How much would I be spending?

Am I setting myself up for a world of hurt if I buy, say, an old Zenit 12?
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
~$15-$50, depending on what sort of camera it is. I got my Minolta (SR-T-SC II) for $30, and that wasn't a very good deal.
>> ae-1 Anonymous
Being the noob to this camera that I am, I was just wondering what the light sensor in the viewfinder means i should do.

If I change the shutter speed the f/spots change and if i change the aperture of the lens with the button on it changes, is there a certain f/spot # I should be trying to achieve or just wing it out on my first shoots?
>> Anonymous
>>69492
when you line up the f-spots just right you get to go on to the next spot, the g-spot
>> Anonymous
cuz chicks dig big cameras amirite
>> Anonymous
>>69439
Zenit has too few shutter speed options, and the quality of the mechanics is far from stellar, but it's usable. After all, two generations of Soviet photographers have been using it.

But I think you'll be better off getting a Pentax Spotmatic if you want to use cheap Soviet screw-mount lenses, and any other non-Soviet SLR if you don't care about them. The price difference between a Zenit and a better built, lighter, more flexible camera is often less than a dozen bucks.
>> Anonymous
>>69505
I lol'd
>> Otherwise Anonymous !R09./old82
>>69439Am I setting myself up for a world of hurt if I buy, say, an old Zenit 12?

You are. Main features of Zenit cameras:
- small and dark as devil's butthole focusing screen, covering about 65% of the actual frame. Focusing in other conditions than broad daylight and full open aperture will make you crave blood.
- times ranging between 1/30 and 1/500, and especially the faster ones being more of wishful thinking than real ones.
- faulty horizontal mechanical cloth shutter, which goes crazy once temperature goes below 10 Celsius.
- flash synch at 1/30.
- out of 5 Zenits I had in my hands, none had a properly working lightmeter (or working at all). But maybe you'll be the lucky one...

That's not to say you can't take pictures with it. I did, and I daresay that with some success. It gives you what you need to take photos and learn photography from the very basics (because it only has the very basics). It's just a pain in the ass way more often than it should, and unless you firmly know you want to do photography, it might turn you off.

One exception is Zenit 19, which is the only relatively decent model. Vertical electronic titanium shutter with 1 to 1/1000 sec times, bigger and brighter focusing screen with 95% coverage, flash synch at 1/125. The difference is huge when switching from any other model (E, ET, 12, TTL). But if you're going to take it, you might as well pay probably less than twice the price for a nice Pentax in good condition, which will still give you so much more.
>> Anonymous
>>69916
Thanks for that, I really appreciate it. In all honesty I'm only looking for a camera with an M42 mount because adapters for those are dirt cheap and I can use the lenses on my 'real' camera; plus the draw of an entirely mechanical device is quite alluring in this age of all-electronic "push butan, receive JPEG" cameras.

You're the second person to recommend Pentax though so I'll lurk eBay some more to find a clean one.

Also, thread OP: Sorry 'bout the hijack.
>> des
>>69918
the problem with most of the pentax m42 cameras is the need for mercury batteries. I'm not really a fan of the viewfinders on them either. Age is a factor, too(leaky, foam turned into glue, etc). The newest vintage ones that are really fine are the Fujicas. Bright finder, match needle, good ol' S76 batteries. They're still old and some of the models have problems with the self-timer locking the shutter. They are cheap though! I paid $10 for my S605II and it's now my usual camera.

The most sensible option, while staying M42, is probably that newish Bessaflex jobber. I haven't touched one but from the reviews I've read and the pictures, it looks like a pretty sweet modern re-imagining of the spotmatic.

I think a lot of people that are M42 enthusiasts give up and just get a K-mount body and use the official pentax adaptor. If you really want to go spotmatic, there's about a millyarn of them on KEH with broken meters. Grab one and shoe accessory meter. :)
>> Otherwise Anonymous !R09./old82
>>69926
Just for the record, of course I meant a K-mount Pentax (since>>69439didn't specify he wanted an M42 one). But there are so many neat M42 SLRs too - Cosina/Porst, Chinon, Practica, etc. Each of them better and more comfortable by an order of magnitude than your average Zenit, yet virtually within the same price range (just maybe in the upper parts of it).