How to Evaluate and Test a Legacy Camera

In-store Seven-point Check

After you select the film body of your dreams, head to a camera store and pick it up. Hold it in your hands and decide if it fits well. What do I mean by 'fit'? You'll know when you hold it. For me, the K series and earlier bodies fit well. The M series does not -- they're too small. Once you actually get your hands on the camera, you'll want to follow this seven-point store check:

• Inspect for physical damage
• Check the operation
• Inspect the focus
• Rock the lens on the lens mount
• Check the pressure plate
• Examine the camera's innards
• Check moving parts

Inspect for Physical Damage

Damage is not necessarily a deal-breaker. If damage impairs function, the camera should be avoided. A broken lens mount, broken prism glass, or other major defect will impair functionality. Scratches, small dents, and paint rubbing are typically okay and can give a camera a lot of character.

This is true for the older, metal cameras. For the plastic cameras that marked the late-1980s until the 2000s, a drop can severely damage internal components without only a little indication, such as a minor crack, on the outside.

Check the camera's light seals and mirror bumper. The light seals are the foam in the film door channels on the camera's back. The mirror bumper is a piece of foam where the mirror contacts the top of the mirror box. Both places should have foam and it should be in good condition. Pentaxes are prone to gummy seals. When the seal material becomes gummy it becomes sticky and flakes off. Gummy seal material in a shutter can impair function. Gummy seals on a focusing screen can make image composition tricky and be distracting.

One last thing to check for is the smell. A camera should not smell musty, moldy, or like a frat house bathroom. A camera should have, ideally, no smell. If a camera has been repaired recently it may have a petroleum or chemically smell from new lubricants on the mechanism and rubber cement affixing the leather to the body.

Tip

If you're buying a legacy camera to take photos with, you'd be better off buying a mid-century body one made in the 1950s, 60s, or 70s than the 1980s and beyond because the mid-century bodies typically have more robust construction with metal components.

Check Operations

When buying a camera, it's helpful to know beforehand what you want to buy so that you can bring the proper batteries with which to test it (note that a good store will have some you can borrow.) If you don't know what you want to buy or what batteries it needs, pick up a couple of A76 batteries as they will work in most camera bodies. Some old cameras only need batteries for the light meter while others need the batteries to power the shutter.

Tip

Know beforehand if your camera needs batteries for the shutter. Many Pentax bodies use batteries only for the light meter -- a significant advantage over the competing brands. The Spotmatics, K, and MX only use batteries to power the light meter and can operate completely, in all other respects, with no battery. The MX is the only M body that does not need a battery -- the rest use battery power to activate the shutter. The 6X7 and 67 bodies also need batteries to trigger the shutter.

Test the Moving Parts

A properly working camera has a shutter that actuates at each speed setting and sounds, relative to the adjacent speed, either half or twice as fast. To test a camera's functionality, you'll want to test each shutter speed.

Make sure that the mirror returns, shutter cocks, and other mechanical functions occur as they should and smoothly. Sounds of grinding, stuck components, jamming, and other issues should be red flags.

Inspect the Focus

Check the lens' infinity focus. When the lens is focused at infinity, is something in the far distance in focus? Likewise, when it is focused at thee or ten feet are objects and three or ten feet in focus? If not, and the camera has no diopter adjustment, then the camera or the lens has a problem. A camera that does not focus correctly should be avoided.

Tip

Some lenses might focus beyond infinity, especially ultra-long telephoto and ultra-wide-angle lenses, so perform this test with a 50mm or 55mm lens, if possible.

Rock the Lens on the Lens Mount

A lens that rocks on any axis on the lens mount indicates either a problem with the lens being loose or the mount. Don't be violent when you rock the lens on the mount. The idea is to see if the lens seats firmly. If the lens comes with the camera and is loose or rocks on the mount, ask to try another. If the other lens rocks on the mount, then there's an issue with the camera's mount.

A loose or faulty lens mount, which frankly is much more common in interchangeable-lens rangefinders and is almost unheard of in Pentax film bodies, will cause image mis-focusing.

A loose lens, such as a lens that feels loose within its own housing, is a different matter. A loose lens is not necessarily a bad lens. (One of my sharpest and best 50mm lenses rocks within its own housing, but the elements alignment is fine and the lens renders dog fur and grass with great detail.) That said, a loose lens can indicate a problem with the lens or camera and is something be watch out for.

Examine the Innards

Make sure there are no missing or broken parts inside the camera's back. You research should tell you what the camera's inside looks like. If you're unsure, and you have a smart phone, you can pull up photos or videos of your camera and compare the one you're looking at to examples on the Internet.

Also, actuate the shutter a few times to make sure everything works. Keep your finger away from the shutter curtains when you do because you don't want to risk jamming the shutter and having to buy a now-broken camera for full price.

Check the Pressure Plate

The pressure plate should be dull with minimal signs of wear (some are actually shinier, but they should still show minimal wear.) The pressure plate keeps film flat on plane within the camera's body and behind the shutter curtain. It absorbs light that passes through the film. A worn pressure plate will absorb less light, allowing rogue light to bounce back into the film. This results in the image losing contrast.

Additional Tips

It's always a good idea to bring a roll of dead film with you. With your dead film, run a few shots through the camera with the back open and closed. The film should advance smoothly through the camera without resistance. Heavily used or mistreated cameras may not advance film properly or may skip sprocket holes. Some worn-out cameras work fine without film but fail when film adds tension to the system.

Bring a permanent marker with you. Mark the back of the film at the shutter opening. Take a frame and advance the film. The marker's line should advance to 2 millimeters beyond the other end of the shutter opening. You may need to feel lightly for the outline of the shutter opening when you do this, but don't jam your finger in; that could ruin the shutter.

As noted before, bring batteries for the camera you want to buy. This will allow you to test the light meter.

You may not be able to gauge the light meter's accuracy on your own, so, if you have a smart phone you can also download a light meter app. Some light meter apps are better than others so it's worth downloading a few and seeing which work the best beforehand. As a general test for a light meter (app or real,) take a reading on an object in full sun. With the ISO at 100 and the aperture at 16, the shutter speed should be approximately 1/100th of a second.

When you're in the store, the smartphone light meter app can give you an idea of whether or not the camera's light meter is accurate. An old camera may have a light meter that does not turn on inside, so ask to take the camera out front to test the meter. Also, old light meters, or the apps, may not be 100% accurate, so as long as the readings are close -- within a stop and a half -- you should be okay.