slrs from mid 70s maybe

Silvertree · Dec 31, 2009

My grandfather this christmas gave me my late grandmothers cameras from what i can only guess was the mid 1970s. These are a Nikon EM and a Minolta SRT101

Now my grandmother was a neurotic saver of things, and took amazing care of everything she owned. The Ziploc family went to college on her dime. So here is what i have learned so far about these cameras.

The Nikon is lighter and smaller so im probably gonna use it more simply for that fact. It does not have a shutter speed dial, which is weird to me. It seems to do its own automatic timing, and i dont know if i like this.

The minolta is heavyer but it has teh shutter speed control. It has a different focusing crosshairs. I dont know what you call it, but the nikon has a sorta circle with the top and bottom halves divided until the target comes in focus. Im hoping camera people will have a word for this, because it is hard to describe.

Both seem to work perfectly from what i can tell, though i havent developed a roll from either. My question is: are either of these cameras particularly rare? Also what should i expect to pay for a camera tuneup?

icassell · Dec 31, 2009

Neither are rare, but both are good bodies. The SRT101 was the camera that many many many 35mm'ers of my generation cut their teeth on. Nikon was too rich for my blood. Minolta glass was excellent -- what lens(es) did you get with it?

Oh and you're describing the split-screen focusing system on the Nikon.

PatrickHMS · Dec 31, 2009

Nikon EM came from around 1979 at the earliest, don't know the history of Minolta, but my guess is that SRT-101 could be older than that.

Both cameras are common, neither one worth very much at all, but both are still fun to shoot film with. The range in level of IQ between the worst and best 35mm film SLR's from that era isn't as great as what you might think it would be.

As now, lenses made more of a difference than did the camera body, and your lenses, depending on what specs, are usually worth more than the camera body in terms of any resale nowadays.

Happy shooting!

icassell · Dec 31, 2009

PatrickHMS said:
Nikon EM came from around 1979 at the earliest, don't know the history of Minolta, but my guess is that SRT-101 could be older than that.

Both cameras are common, neither one worth very much at all, but both are still fun to shoot film with. The range in level of IQ between the worst and best 35mm film SLR's from that era isn't as great as what you might think it would be.

As now, lenses made more of a difference than did the camera body, and your lenses, depending on what specs, are usually worth more than the camera body in terms of any resale nowadays.

Happy shooting!
IQ