Frantisek, I also went through this process a couple of years ago. I found that the Spotmatics SP, SPII, and F all were rather dim in the viewfinder. It seemed to my eye that the F was the dimmest of all. I now use the SL and the SV which to my eye are the clearest and brightest views. Hope this helps...Happy New Year! Screwy-on-occasion...Bob --- Frantisek Vlcek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi, > I ask the help of fellow screwy lovers (ehm), am > in need of some > screwy body... <VBEG> > > I am interested in finding an M42 body for some > of my screwmount CZJ > lenses**1), which I love to use but don't because > I dislike fiddling with > adapters from K to 42. > > What I *need* is bright, high-magnification > viewfinder with *bright* > focusing screen! At *least* as bright as my > Pentax K2DMD, preferably > BETTER!**2) > > What is the best M42 camera based on that > criterion? I will ask about > other criteria later on. > > (considering either Spotmatic, Asahi SV, another > pre-spotmatic > body, or a 3rd party M42 body like from Cosina or > Vivitar) > > Basic needs for the body: purely mechanical, no > batteries (except meter > if applicable), meter _not needed_, standard M42 > autoaperture plate, DOF > preview, rapid-return mirror, 1/1000 speed or > higher is minimum, > reliability, if ttl meter than it _needs_ to be > able to meter > easily with all M42 lenses **3). MLU would be a > nice boon, either > switchable or via selftimer. Quitness is a plus > of course, it > should be less noisy than a K2DMD _at minimum_. > Ability to accept > motordrive would be a nice boon too. > > > **1: > (the lenses are 1.8/80 and 2.8/20, Carl Zeiss Jena > MC both, just in > case there is some incompatibility with a body, > although I doubt it - after all > CZ/Pentacon invented the M42 mount in the first > place, although > it gets "credited" as 'Pentax screwmount' > nowadays- Phew!) > > **2: > (compared to e.g. N. FM2n, the K2DMD's screen is > almost full one stop > dimmer, as tested with FM2N + 1.8/50 vs. K2 + > 1.4/50, the FM2n was > slightly better, even with almost 1 full stop > dimmer lens), but > still the K2 is way better than M42 Prakticas wrt > screen. And the > FM2n has almost about same magnification as the > K2DMD finder, not > like the AF cameras sporting low-low > magnification but bright > finders, which still are impossible to focus > through manually > > **3: that means the Praktica MTLx series or normal > Spotmatic mode - > there is a switch separate from shutter release > which 1st: stop down > the lens to selected aperture 2nd: activates the > meter. NOT like on > the Zenit, where the switch is built-in into shutter > release - that > makes releasing the shutter cumbersome and slow, > just plain stupid. > > > Good light, > Frantisek Vlcek > > P.S.: Kelvin, I will surely ask this on Club M42, > but haven't > subscribed yet (too low on free time :( ). Could you > please FW my post > there? Thank you a lot! > - > This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. > To unsubscribe, > go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. > Don't forget to > visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at > http://pug.komkon.org . >
===== What boots up must come down. Send your FREE holiday greetings online! http://greetings.yahoo.com - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .

