My Mamiya: Here I Go Again...The 1000 DTL

mamiya/sekor 1000 DTL with its standard AUTO mamiya/sekor 55/1.8 lens

     Well...it's happened. A Mamiya 35mm SLR has finally found its way into my grubby little paws. Sitting forlornly in a local thrift store, encased in a period vinyl case upholstered in the finest of green corduroy, with the assorted detritus of Kodak lens tissues, a bag of eyecups (none of which fit the eyepiece, of course ;-)), and a fourth-party flash and bracket, it soon came home with my friend after a quick exchange of text messages. Three hours later, I opened the case to that particular aroma only decades of storage can provide. Not unpleasant at all; in fact, distinctively delightful to a vintage camera nerd ;-). The original (n)ever-ready mamiya/sekor case was doing the typical crack & crumble as is the wont of such; nevertheless, it had done its job of protecting the important bits inside: a 1000 DTL and its accompanying AUTO mamiya/sekor 55/1.8 lens. A quick visual perusal showed nary a ding or dent, just an accumulation of dirt and light surface wear on the prism housing. The lens looked clear...the viewfinder pretty dusty...and then came the letdown... ​

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