MC-II generation (1969-1973) versions of the 58/1.4 (left) and the 58/1.2 (right) on SRT-101s from 1970     The 58mm focal length is inextricably tied to the introduction of the 35mm SLR in the mid-1930s. This was due entirely to the physical difference in construction required by the mirror (the "reflex" part of the Single Lens Reflex designation) used for viewing the subject directly through the lens versus the then-standard rangefinder design. Because of the greater depth including the mirror in the optical path required, this entailed more distance between the rear of the moun ..read more

Nikkor 200/4 AI-s mounted on an F3 w/ MD-4 Motor Drive     Middle-of-the-road. Middle-child-syndrome. When it comes to lenses you would be hard-pressed to find another optical specification that seemingly fits either of those epithets closer than a plain ol' 200mm f/4 prime. A middling focal length, a middling maximum aperture, middling size and weight, and no optical development for almost fifty years...all of these added together must up to a middling "meh" experience. Or do they? Could it be that this valedictorian of the Class of the Overlooked is actually an overachiever and ..read more

CONTAX ST w/ P-7 AA-battery holder (1992) and the Yashica FX-D Quartz (1980)     Yes, it's been a long time in coming, but we will now resume our "Choosing a Vintage SLR System" series. Previous articles delved into the Big 5's (Canon, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, and Pentax) manual focus (MF) 35mm SLR ecosystems, breaking them down into five main sections: 1) Lenses, 2) Bodies, 3) Flash, 4) Accessories, 5) Reliability & Servicing. We will now start digging into a series of smaller Japanese manufacturers that, while perhaps not as ..read more

    Regular visitors to this site may have noticed a bit of a trend: As much as we love the classics, we also have a thing for "sleepers", those anti-Instygrammy, tacky Tik-Tok-immune cameras that do one thing: take great pictures ;-). And if you are looking to dabble in a bit of film, but don't feel like auctioning off a body part or two to look all the business, here is yet another option to consider...      Although they came late to the 35mm Auto Focus (AF) SLR party in 1987 (trailing Minolta by just over two years, and Nikon by 11 months), when Canon ..read more

Early AI Nikkor 105/2.5 w/ custom rabbit ears fashioned from a pair from a non-AI lens    If the Minolta MD Rokkor-X 100/2.5 we looked at previously is the definition of a sleeper, the subject of this post is anything but. I feel quite safe in postulating that there has been more virtual ink spilled over the Nikkor 105/2.5 (in all its guises) than any other medium (75-105mm) telephoto of the vintage 35mm era :-). Well, let's spill a little more, but hopefully we will cover some fresh territory in the process and see why Nikon kept this lens design all the way to the end of the fil ..read more

First-generation (MD-I) MD Tele Rokkor-X 100mm f/2.5     From its inception in late-1958, the Minolta SR system included at least one short telephoto of 100mm focal length, predating their first 85mm optic by over a decade. The last listing at B&H that I could find for the final New MD 100/2.5 iteration was from July 1994 (production had obviously ended back in the mid-'80s when the Alpha/Maxxum AF mount was introduced). So a successful (albeit quiet) 35-year sales run in total for the manual focus Minolta 100mms. And yet, when talk turns to short Minolta manual focus (MF) tel ..read more

The Groundbreaking FS-1. Available in your choice of black.     Konica...the original Japanese photographic company, and the first of only two full-line manufacturers (meaning both equipment and consumables such as film, paper, and chemicals), with Fujifilm being the second. Often overlooked among the Japanese 35mm SLR manufacturers due to its small slice of market share, and running a distant third to Kodak and Fujifilm when it came to consumables sales during the last four decades of the film era, Konica nevertheless was very influential in both sectors well into the 1980s ..read more

The "Greatest Beginner SLR of All Time"? "...this splendid Volkswagen Beetle of SLRs..." -- Herbert Keppler, Oct. 1989 -- ​    In a word...Possibly. Does that make it a terrible camera? Nope. Does it mean that you shouldn't buy one? Not necessarily ;-). But before getting sucked in by all of the Interweb-mongering of the K1000 as the best beginner SLR...of...all...time, it may be worth your while to investigate where it stacks up in relation to other vintage 35mm SLRs (many of which can be had nowadays for the same or considerably less in terms of monetary outlay) and how i ..read more

      ​So where does our fixation with Top Ten Lists come from, anyways? Letterman? The Ten Commandments? Well, if you can't beat 'em.....Here, for your casual perusal, is a chronological consideration of ten important Japanese SLRs that pushed the development of such cameras forward for over 30 years. This is not to say that these are the 10 "top" or "best" SLRs of all time (far be it for me to be the arbiter of such things ;-)), and some may less familiar than others, but all of them had an undeniable effect on the industry or market as a whole. Let's dive in :-).  ..read more

    1981 saw some major technological milestones: the first manned orbital mission of the Space Shuttle...the debut of IBM's Personal Computer (aka the PC)...the first flight of Boeing's second-gen wide-body, the 767...and the first Delorean DMC-12s began to roll off the line in Ireland. In step with such advancements, Pentax sought to push the technological boundaries of the 35mm SLR, much as they had a decade earlier with their Electro Spotmatic (ES) aperture priority autoexposure model. Only this time it was focus rather than exposure that they were seeking to automate. In late ..read more