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| The Chinon CS-4 features a vertical metal shutter, uses modern LR-44 cells |
A decade ago I wrote a post about a very good example of a M42 camera body, the Chinon CS-4. Like many cameras that I have owned, it was a thrift shop purchase for $10 with a couple of lenses. At the time, I already owned a Spotmatic F and didn't need a second M42 body, so I sold the CS-4. Some of you may know that I am writing a book on Pentax Spotmatics and other M42 mount cameras and lenses. I was going through back posts on this blog, and realized that the CS-4 information belonged in the book. I also decided that I needed another one to try out, now that I have a lot of M42 lenses. So, off to eBay I went, and snagged a decent example for $35 + shipping. The camera arrived today, and I spent an hour replacing the nasty old foam of the mirror bumper as well as the rear door seal. I cleaned the battery cover contact, and the meter sprang to life. As you can see, the camera is in great condition. The aperture blades on the Chinon 50mm 1.9 lens are oily and slow to operate, but I have many other lenses to use with this excellent compact SLR from the early 1980s.
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| Standard layout - the meter switch is next to the lens mount on the left. |
I'll note here that the eBay seller did not use the eBay option of letting AI write the description. For those people that use the eBay AI for the description, I say piss-off. I'll not be buying your shit if you cannot write the description yourself.
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| The Yashinon-DX lens has "character" |
As you can see in this photo, I have attached a Yashinon-DX 50mm/1.4, which is a wonderful nifty-fifty with the promise of making art. It's one of those lenses you should own if you want to explore what you can do with different lenses of the same focal length. It's not as weird as a Helios-44 lens, but it has a distinct aura, if you want to call it that.
Anyhow, I'm in the stage of assembling the images and text for the book, and I realize now that I will have to learn Affinity Publisher to put it all together, since it's more complex than what I can do with Open Office. I'll keep you posted as to my progress on the Spotmatic Book.
Now, to also get some decent weather to go out and shoot with my newly-acquired Chinon CS-4!
