A friend of mine is dumping his analog gear in favor of the pixel path.He has 3 Fujica slr's that look interesting so I am asking for advice before I commit.
Which would be the best shooter, ST605, ST701, ST801?

Thanks Much,
Mike

A friend of mine is dumping his analog gear in favor of the pixel path.He has 3 Fujica slr's that look interesting so I am asking for advice before I commit.
Which would be the best shooter, ST605, ST701, ST801?

Thanks Much,
Mike

All three are all-manual cameras. The ST701 (match-needle at shooting aperture; 1-1/1000 sec.)was introduced in 1971, the ST801 (match-needle LEd at shooting aperture; 1to 1/2000 sec.)in 1972, and the ST605n (match needle, 1/2 to 1/700 sec) in 1978. They use the single pin 42mm Practika-Pentax lens mount. I had a ST605n years ago; it was a competent camera. At the very low prices they command on the market, why not buy all three, assuming that they are in good working order? Since they are rather long in the tooth, an eventual breakdown can be anticipated.

Ed

I was under the impression that the Fuji's used a differnt pin system and that standard 42mm did not quit screw up the the camera body. Or was this a latter model?

The ST-801 is a classic. Best M42 camera ever made. The Fuji glass is pretty good also. I have an 801 I use for infrared since my more modern cameras fog it.

I was under the impression that the Fuji's used a differnt pin system and that standard 42mm did not quit screw up the the camera body. Or was this a latter model?

If there was a problem, it was with a later model. All three mount -work-dismount as normal with the Pentax 42mm single pin lenses. There was a problem when mounting the later Ricoh 42mm lenses on the Pentax or Fujica.

Ed

The ST605 was the first camera I ever bought, late 1975/early 1976. The ST605n is a later model. My ST605 never failed me in 10 years of shooting. It's a nice small, totally manual camera with the standard 1.5v button battery (357) powering only the match needle meter. I think in 10 years I used 3 sets of batteries. The ST701 is actually an older model and takes 1.35v batteries.

I have a 605 and a 701. Both are great cameras, compact and lightweight with simple controls and a bright viewfinder.

If you have to choose only one, get the 605 because it takes a standard 1.5v battery and has a split image focusing aid. As noted above the 701 uses the old 1.35 mercury cell.

My 605 and 701 both work with all of my m42 lenses (Helios 44, Pentax 135 f3.5, Vivitar 60-260 F4.5, Helios 40 -m39 with an m42 adaptor).

The 801, which I do not have, supports Open Aperture TTL metering when used with Fujica's proprietary version of the m42 mount lenses.

Here is a chart which compares the various Fujica m42 mount cameras.
http://www.pentax-manuals.com/fujica/fujica.htm

It's the 901 that had issues with some M42 lenses, but most issues are the other way around (Fujinon lenses with the open-aperture lug don't always fit on non-fujica bodies unless you remove the lug).

The 801 is generally considered to be the best classic M42 body for general use (Arguably the new Bessaflex TM is better, but lacks the build of the ST801)

I also have an ST801 which I find has great metering for colour slide film.

But I really must praise the Fujinon m42 ebc lenses - they are great. They are sharp and have a very neutral colour tone on slide film (compared to the colder super-taks and the warmer canon fd lenses I own). The open aperature metering is also really handy and unusual for m42 although as others have pointed out this makes the ebc lenses a little less easy to fit on other m42 camera. The lenses are also nicely built and feel sturdy in the hand.

I have several ebc lenses but am looking for the 85mm soft focus and would love to know how this lens is in day to day experience from someone who owns one.

And a vote for the ebc 55mm 1.8 which is one of my favourite standard lenses

Did Fuji make a 35mm M42 with a winder?

Did Fuji make a 35mm M42 with a winder?

Yes, the ST-705W (W for winder) and the AZ-1.

All these cameras are well over 20 years old now and you can be certain that the foam light seals & mirror bumper will need replacing, unless this has already been done in the last few years (probably unlikely in my experience).

You can do it yourself with kits sold for example on ebay but my understanding is that this range of cameras has a slightly more elaborate mirror bumper than most. Repairers will do it of course but it's not cheap (around £35 in the UK which I guess equates to very roughly US$ 60).