There are few bodies that are comfortable to use with M42 mount lenses.





The M42 lens, also known as Universal Mount, made countless types of lenses for each company from the 47th to the early 70s.


(The first is Contax S (1947))


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They had the same mount shape, so almost all lenses, regardless of the manufacturer's or not, were compatible with the bodies of different companies.


(Excluding a few companies such as Fuji, which had an aperture ring) As of now, there was no specific specification that allowed Nikon lenses to mount only to Nikon, Canon to Canon only, Pentax to Pentax, and Olympus to Olympus only.


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Between the 50-70 years when M42 mount lenses were released, the latter type lenses usually say AUTO on the lens part, which means that when focusing with the viewfinder, the aperture value is adjusted to the maximum opening to make the viewfinder bright and cool. , It means that the aperture is instantaneously tightened at the moment of shooting to create the exposure that I want. (I do not know if the meaning will be conveyed after writing it.)




It's a natural function if you think about it now, but it was an innovative mechanism at the time.


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Unlike the performance of the gem-like M42 lenses, the bodies usually didn't match the performance of those lenses.


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Still, if you want to pick out the bodies that are easy to get and say, PENTAX's SPOTMATIC F series and Fuji's STX01 series are the most common.


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I've tried it all, but I think Fuji's ST901 and CHINON's CM series are the most convenient M42 bodies.


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Chinon produced m42 mount cameras from 70 to 80,

Chinon M-1, 1972


Chinon CM, 1975


Chinon CX, 1974


Chinon CX II, 1976


Chinon L-CS,1976


Chinon CE Memotron, 1974


Chinon CE II Memotron, 1976


Alpa SI 2000, 1977


Chinon CE-3 Memotron, 1977


Chinon CM-1


Chinon CM-3, 1979


Chinon CS-4, 1980


Is the year of production. The CM-3 is a body produced in the second half, and from CM4 it will be released as a K mount of PENTAX.




On the back of CM-3, overexposure, fairness, and underexposure are displayed through an intuitive interface of red-green-red with LEDs. The most favorite aspect of CM-3 is that it is a body made in the second half, not a matte screen. It is a screen.


 (Of course, Fuji bodies also have quite a split screen)


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Since there is an aperture priority mode, a depth-of-field preview is performed with only half the shutter, and the exposure is measured. That is, release the shutter, focus, press the shutter halfway, adjust the aperture and shutter speed, and shoot. Many M42 bodies have no choice but to take uncomfortable shooting because such a mechanism is impossible.


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Overall, I like the sturdy build quality, the optional auto winder PW-510 (Power Winder 510) and the versatility of AAA4 grains.


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If available, it's a model I'd like to recommend over Spomatic or Fuji Bodies.


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BY / Dual 2 program / k50mm 1.2 / nikon coolscan 4ed