My favourite m42 body is the Fujica ST801. Fully manual, 1/2000 and also LED light meter! Also fits all of my m42 lenses!

Mr. Kobayashi, (both Cosina's founder and after 1988 his son), have manufactured many affordable cameras and lenses in their Nagano factory. I still use one of their later entries into the camera market - a Voigtländer Bessa 35mm rangefinder camera. Sometimes cool products come from smaller firms.

Interesting camera. But my favorite M42 camera is the Pentax ESII, which has aperture priority shooting. Of course the Takumar lenses are stellar.

My first SLR was an Argus/Cosina STL1000 from about 1970. It definitely has very similar look, feel, and sound! No spot meter as I recall. It’s still sitting in a box somewhere and the shutter worked last time I tried it. I considered it a solid camera that survived high school.

I just picked up one of these local to me and was a little confused on how to use it. Your video was extremely helpful, thank you! You earned a new subscriber :)

Yes, the weather has been phenomenal in New York. Sunny 80s, with low humidity. Glad you had a nice visit. Speaking of modern m42 gear, TTArtisan just released a 100mm macro with bubble bokeh in m42 mount. Interesting.

I bought that camera in 1979 as the Vivitar XC-3. It didn't have the Spot/Avg metering, but it did come with a module that slid into the hot shoe and coupled with the shutter dial to give the camera an aperture priority exposure system! It was odd and gadgety, but worked even with conventional M42 lenses. It was also nice and compact, roughly the same size as an OM-1. Sadly, I got the Vivitar at a point when I was taking fewer photos, and it didn't age well in storage. I still have it, but it will need a thorough rehab at this point.

My favourite cameras with M42 screw mount are not as electronic as the Cosina CSR presented here and are also fully operational without a battery. The only thing that is controlled by the battery on my favourite cameras is the integrated TTL light meter. The shutter is completely mechanically controlled and is a metal disc shutter. We are talking about the first camera ever built by Sigma, the Sigma Mark 1, which was created by acquiring the original construction plans from Ricoh for the Ricoh Singlex TLS in 1976, nine years after the original from Ricoh. The advantage is that no battery adapter is required for the Sigma, as it works with an LR9 (PX625A) battery. In addition, a hot shoe with centre contact is permanently installed, unlike the Ricoh. Furthermore, it is not only the very first Sigma camera, but also the only Sigma camera with an M42 screw mount. Oh yes, another special feature of these cameras is that you can switch the light meter on and off directly using a switch. My second favorite camera with an M42 screw thread connection is, how could it be otherwise, not from Japan, but a Praktica, namely the Praktica VLC2, a real alternative to the Nikon F2, the Nikon F3, the Pentax LX, the Canon F-1 series or the Minolta XK and XM. The Praktica VLC2 (there are also the Praktica VLC and VLC3) is completely mechanical, except for the TTL exposure meter, like the Nikon F2, but is also capable of this because the TTL exposure measurement is measured in the camera and not Depending on the corresponding viewfinder attachment, TTL exposure metering is possible with all viewfinder attachments. And since Praktica has also offered open aperture measurement at Praktica since Praktica LLC (you can usually recognize it by the model abbreviation LC, like LLC, PLC or VLC), this is of course also possible here and you can switch between open aperture measurement or working aperture measurement using an adjustment wheel below the rewind crank, so that you can also use all other M42 lenses. And of course, every L-series Praktica has the typical fully mechanical metal lamella lock installed. In my opinion, the cameras that allow you to continue taking photos at any time without a battery are actually much more advanced, as you don't have to depend on functioning electronics and can continue taking photos without any problems, even without spare batteries, as long as the film supply lasts. 😁 Greetings from Germany

Very clean and neat video as usual.Nice review.A pleasure to see and hear you.Keep posting.The best chanel on YT. in this subject.

I had the CSM at art college all I could afford but also a very good 50mm lens which I still have......................................

If you're not changing lenses every few shots then m42 mount cameras are still great to shoot. The Pentax's are undoubtedly the kings, my person favourite being the ESII, but plenty of other makers had good bodies. I can also vouch for the Mamiya DTL/DSX series, they offer a solid build with a similar averaging and spot metering system (activated by pushing in the advance lever). The market for these old budget SLR is incredibly crowded and people often shy away from brands like Cosina, Ricoh, Konica, etc that aren't as familiar to modern consumers.

What about Chinon CE and CE II Memotron, These are M42 SLR with aperture priority mode and with 1/2000 shutter speed :)

I have the same camera but Porst branded. It also have a double exposure mechanism :D

Am văzut-o în piețele second în UK. Imi pare rău că n-am facut achiziția,deoarece am adunat o colecție destul de numeroasă, cerea 20£ pe camera cu tot cu obiectivul ei original,era un preț rezonabil si negociabil chiar .

Interesting and good review. Thank you. I do like that camera. Perfect lens to compliment the body. Cosina when I was a young man in the 1970’s was always perceived as a poor man’s Pentax.

I know this is wouldn’t be a popular opinion and the viewfinder is certainly lacking but I’d honestly shooed a Ricoh tls401. It feels reliable, and afaik it is. Like a beautifully budget professional model with m42 spot metering

I wonder if these were also sold as Vivitars.