Tech magnet
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
Though I haven’t had much time to do hardly any kind of non-programming task the last several months, my propensity for attracting vintage technology has not waned. One of my friends who worked in a care facility for the elderly inherited a mid 70s Fujica SLR some time ago, and my reputation as a connoisseur of things optic opened the doorway to its acquisition.
The Fujica ST801 was the world’s first SLR camera to have LEDs in the viewfinder for exposure readings (very useful in poor lighting conditions). It’s also a solidly built M42 screw mount with a decent 55mm 1.8 lens. The camera appears to be more or less unused. None of the usual signs of wear, scratches on the body and abrasion of the indicator paint, are present. There are a few tiny spots of mold inside the lens, however these are almost unavoidable due to normal humidity fluctuations over the course of 35 years. As far as I can tell the only significant cause for concern is the complete disintegration of all foam seals around the body orifices.
I’m just about done a test roll of Centuria, and in retrospect using my precious discontinued film wasn’t probably the smartest thing to do as the metering system could be shot to hell and all the whole roll could come out ridiculously overexposed.
But like George Michael says, “you gotta have faith.”
