[Cuthbert]

Very nice as I have also been trying to acquire one or two of these Fujicas (701, 801 or 901) with a Fujinon or two.[COLOR="Silver"]

I would recommend the top mechanical models that allow open metering: namely the 801, 705 and 705W.

I don't like the 901 because it works just aperture priority mode, it's a very limited camera IMO, I bought the one I have because it came with the expensive Fujinon 50 mm f1.4, and I could get both for 45 euros.

Among the three top models I think the 705W is the best because it's not just a 705 that can take the winder, but it has a very nice viewfinder with the a blue bar on the left that indicates the shutter speed (sort of like the KX), plues there is a different shutter lock mechanism like a Pentax (the 801 and 705 require to pull the shutter release up and turn it in a lock position) plus the winding lever is improved and requires a shorter stroke (sort of like the difference between the first series of the Canon F-1 and F-1n) plus the plastic tip has a better shape IMO.

Shutter speeds on the 705 and 70W are capped at 1/1500sec because 1/2000s was a feature of the top range, the 801, which is a nice camera but its leds (like the leds of the Nikon F2AS) and I personally think the pentaprism of the 705 looks nicer...later I'll post a picture of the "family" all together.

[jcdoss]

Gearporn: Pentax KX and silvered M85 taken with Pentax K-x, the digital one, and Pentax-M 40mm f/2.8 by Jason Doss, on Flickr

[Jean Poitiers]

Nice lens you've got there...

Gee, I wonder who did it ... nice job there !

[Cuthbert]

Apologies for the lousy pics, this is my Fujica M42 system:



Which consists in one ST901, one ST705, one ST705W, one ST801, a 50 mm f1.4, two 55mm f1.8, a 28 mm f3.5, a 135 mm f2.5, a 70-150 zoom and various trash.

This is the 705W with the 135 mm:





As written before I like the peculiar shape fo the 705 pentaprism.



Another shot of the F2A with the 85mm and correct hood.

[AldaCZ]

DPR's King of pancakes

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[Nesster]

Did I mention how a couple of months ago I got this urge to try a Zeiss Contessa 35 - the one with the rotating prism rangefinder - and as the urge wasn't going away, I started doing the ebay watch thing... and eventually a nice looking one dropped out of the ebay tree at a nice looking price. While waiting for delivery I went looking for pictures of/with... and discovered that for some reason I had a photo of a Contessa 35, and photos taken with a Contessa 35! How could that be?!?!

Anyway, the one I bought 5 years ago and completely forgot about is on the right, the new one is on the left. The meter works on the new one, not the old one.





As happens so often, I found this other camera at my door as well:

[WPRESTO]

When looking at the Contessa, I wonder about the "revolution" of compact 35mm film cameras that started in the later 70's. Equipped with well-made f2.8 Tessars, those cameras can record excellent B&W prints.

[LesDMess]

Apologies for the lousy pics, this is my Fujica M42 system:

Which consists in one ST901, one ST705, one ST705W, one ST801, a 50 mm f1.4, two 55mm f1.8, a 28 mm f3.5, a 135 mm f2.5, a 70-150 zoom and various trash.

This is the 705W with the 135 mm:

As written before I like the peculiar shape of the 705 pentaprism.

Thanks for following up.


I m not sure I see a peculiar shape on the 705 pentaprism?


The embossed FUJICA on some ST701's first caught my attention.

[Cuthbert]

Thanks for following up.


I m not sure I see a peculiar shape on the 705 pentaprism?


The embossed FUJICA on some ST701's first caught my attention.

It's very large at the base and very sloping...you can see it here:



Early 70s Fujicas have the embossed logo, also the 801 has it:



Edit:

Finally the Nikkor equivalent of the A 35-210mm has arrived:



I'm looking forward to testing it:

[Argenticien]

Cuthbert, for some reason, I had the impression that those Fujica SLRs were large, like Pentax K size or bigger, not nearly as small as Pentax MX/ME/etc., although I've never owned one. Is that true? I suppose at the time Fuji were producing Gx690xx rangefinder clown cameras simultaneously, so even a very large 35mm SLR would seem tiny and they might get careless and non-Maitani-like about trying to shrink it further...

--Dave

[Cuthbert]

Cuthbert, for some reason, I had the impression that those Fujica SLRs were large, like Pentax K size or bigger, not nearly as small as Pentax MX/ME/etc., although I've never owned one. Is that true? I suppose at the time Fuji were producing Gx690xx rangefinder clown cameras simultaneously, so even a very large 35mm SLR would seem tiny and they might get careless and non-Maitani-like about trying to shrink it further...

--Dave

Yes M42 Fujicas are pretty tiny and well made camera, they resemble Spotmatics (the first 701 suspiciously look like a Spottie Mk I clone) or K Pentaxes but they are smaller, not MX small but not too far away, perhaps later I should post a pic to compare the size.

X bayonet like the Ax-5 feels even smaller in the Super A territory, the medium format rangefinders they produced in the 60 and 70s were big for good reasons, if you read camerapedia you'll find out they were made for a peculiar "professional" use, that meant they were used to take pics of large groups of tourists (dozens at least) so they needed a medium format because at that time the quality of film wouldn't have allowed to get a sharper picture of a face in a crowd of 50 people, they were plastic because they want a light camera for its size (they were taking hundreds of pictures per day) and they had to be totally reliable.

I don't think these cameras were used for anything else at that time and they never left Japan, when I was a kid in the 80s on the other side Fujica was heavily advertised in my country and they always pointed out the small size of their cameras, so in my mind Fujica= small and Nikon, Canon= big.

[drewski]

Yes M42 Fujicas are pretty tiny and well made camera, they resemble Spotmatics (the first 701 suspiciously look like a Spottie Mk I clone) or K Pentaxes but they are smaller, not MX small but not too far away, perhaps later I should post a pic to compare the size.

Feeling a bit bored today while I'm on holiday and thought I'd help out by showing you what I have. I picked up a 701 a little while back, and actually managed to snag an 801 as well, which is almost identical in size to the 701. The three pics here are the ME (sorry don't have an MX), the 801 and the Spotmatic 500. So, it is a bit taller than the ME but almost the same height and thickness of the Spotmatic. And, yes they are very well-built cameras.

[kxjiru]

Got this in the mail, it's a lot bigger than I thought it would be, but it works.

[Cuthbert]

I know, I wouldn't be needing another Spottie, but when I saw this on ebay:







I couldn't resist and I lost control....anybody know what's that long black thing?

[rbnvrw]

Very happy with my new KX... shot of course with my K1000