Customer Reviews

Collecting and Using Classic Slrs: With 385 Photographs

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Matanle's "Collecting and Using Classic SLRs" is amust own for every SLR camera collector. His camera close ups, as wellas specs, prove he knows his material. He provides abundant information on cameras A to Z. His shots of cameras are crystal clear; however, photos from his personal collection are somewhat hazy and appear out of place. Book is still worth the money...

When I first read Ivor Matanle a few years ago I had never heard of this Englishman who writes so beautifully about cameras and lenses.
This book covers single lens cameras in several formats,rather than just 35mm. He has used the equipment he describes, and writes as well as a fine novelist. He gives the history of SLR's and tells about the rise of Asian cameras as Europe abandons innovation in design. But he plays no favorites.All cameras are treated fairly.
This is a book you will marvel at, if you are a user or a collector. Read it once; refer to it often. But above all, enjoy it and marvel at how well he writes.
With nearly 400 fine photos of equipment and pictures taken with these cameras, the book is a smorgasbord of information.
If I lost this book, I would drive 500 miles to replace it!

Matanle's book is a great survey book of 50's-through 70's SLRs. It is obvious that he likes certain makes/models and not others (but usually for good reason) an he makes no apologies for it. There is a certain old-fashioned paradigm that he has adopted that endears you to his pre-electronic worldview. I learned about the sleeper systems like the Mirandas and learned why Fujicas never caught on. Also, what rare birds could be found in the post-war East German lineups, and which models had poor shutter mechanisms, etc. His book is splendid bathroom rack material and a trusty companion to any obsessive Ebay shopper. A camera nerd's best paperback friend!

This is a very well organized and thorough book on the history of SLRs. It traces the design threads of SLR manufacturers from around the world. The hundreds of B&W photos of the cameras are very helpful identification aids. It is not an encyclopedia with exhaustive technical specs or a price guide with accurate dollar values. Instead, it is filled with the author's practical experiences in handling and using almost all of the cameras covered in the book through his decades as a professional photographer and used camera dealer.

Unfortunately, this book is really too short to be a true user's guide. Even the Nikon F is covered in only a few pages. There is very little info about lenses beyond the author's personal opinions (all Leica lenses are superb, don't buy non-manufacturer lenses, etc) and none at all about other accessories such as flashes or motor drives. The camera descriptions themselves assume you already know how each one is supposed to work and concentrates on pitfalls and repair (or nonrepair) weaknesses.

The book also suffers from the opinion of the author that any electronic automation is bad. His coverage of each company always ends abruptly when it begins to add electronics beyond a light meter - circa 1975 for most. Autodiaphram lenses are OK, but programmed autoexposure is not.

Lastly, the author has included a lot of his personal photos taken with many of the covered cameras. They make nice eye candy, but book quality reproduction does not give any real indication of lens quality.

Praise; I found the book very useful in identifying camera model and can highly recommend it. I liked the way the author discussed the camera and enjoyed his opinions.

The photographs of the cameras taken with the old cameras was, to me, an excellent idea and really showed what these cameras are still capable of.

I personally did not mind the authors personal photography and actually found them useful in comparing the variosu qualities of the cameras discussed. I think it is extremely unfair to be judgemental about someones photograph it all eye of the beholder really isn't it!

If you like using or collecting old SLR's then you can't really NOT have this book.

My only complaint; The softcover copy book that I bought the spine started to split and the cover has almost fallen off after a few days of intensive reading.

Terrific book. You won't be disappointed. The emphasis is more on the 'using' rather than collecting, which is refreshing. A bonus is Mantale's dry wit.

This book is a companion edition to Mantale's earlier "Collecting and Using Classic Cameras." As such it duplicates many of the strengths and weaknesses of the earlier volume.

The equipment discussed covers a wide range of European and Japanese cameras. As with its companion edition, it is sadly lacking in information concerning American made equipment.

Mantale offers a lot of opinion, but the opinion tends to be of superficial nature. The book is profusely illustrated with "enthusiastic amateur" quality photographs.

In summary: useful in breadth to a begining camera collector, disappointing in depth to the more serious collector. Caveat reader.

Ivor Matanle is obviously crazy about cameras. He does not, however, allow his enthusiasm to reign his pen.

There is a great deal of information about all the makes of cameras which he includes, from general history of a particular type, to its availability and reliability at the time of writing.

There tends to be an emphasis on european cameras, but what do you expect? The real Japanese invasion in the SLR market did not take place until the later model Pentax (S1a and Spotmatic) and Nikon F series hit the shelves, an event which takes place comapratively recently in the history of the SLR camera.

It is too bad that Matanle's other book "Collecting and Using Classic Cameras" is out of print, because if this title is anything to go by, then the other volume is the missing link in the most comprehensive compendium any camera fanatic could wish to have.

A comprehensive review of a great number of those old and attractive tools: classic cameras. Using a simple and plain style mr. Matanle describes his criteria for judging old cameras, always giving useful information on cameras he has actually used. But don't worry: you decide what you're going to buy!