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The Fujica ST801 is a manual SLR 35mm film camera made by Fuji in the 1970s.

Feature summary[]

  • M42 mount
  • TTL average light meter, with silicon cells and LEDs, later models (engraved name on front in place of raised letters) being moderately centerweighted. LEDs show up to 3 stops over and 3 stops under proper exposure, and can indicate as little as 1/4 stop difference in exposure
  • open aperture metering
  • shutter speed up to 1/2000 s
  • you can use SMC Takumar with aperture lock pin without risk
  • bulb mode with self timer made an aproximative 2 secondes exposure
  • shutter release can be locked by pulling it an choose red position

Pros and Cons[]

Pros[]

  • very bright viewfinder (probably next brightest to Bessaflex)
  • LEDs of the light meter are visible in adverse light conditions
  • LED readout allows measurement of 1/4 f/stop. Each LED is 1/2 stop, so when 2 LED's are illuminated = 1/4 stop. No other film camera in it's day had this great capability for shooting chrome films
  • Silicon Blue Cell light meter had NO memory as did all other meter systems.
  • Fast silicon cell metering, at open aperture using EBC Fujinon lenses
  • Selected shutter speed visible in viewfinder
  • very compact
  • no mercury battery; uses silver oxide, lithium or alkaline battery, 6V 544/PX28 type
  • Possibly the best blackened interior of all 35mm cameras, per the glare test of one contemporary Photography magazine, that tested several competing brands against a setup of four fluorescent light tubes placed in a rectangle, just outside of the camera field of vision, which produced strong glare and ghost images in most highly valued cameras, but the Fujica ST801 won the competition by a wide margin thanks to its outstanding black coating placed on all interior walls of the lightproof box and the rear of its lens mount, while other cameras showed some internal parts without any black coating, like the edge of the mirror, the mirror rest or exposed parts of the mirror return mechanism, or some chromed ring at the lens mount that reflected stray light and reduced contrast.

Cons[]

  • open aperture makes the M42 mount non standard. The EBC lenses will not be able to mount completely on some other makes because of the open-aperture metering lug on the back of the aperture ring. Almost all M42 lenses will mount and work properly on the ST 801, with auto-diaphragm, and will meter properly in stop-down metering mode.
  • Stop-down metering must be used with non-EBC Fujinon lenses: easily accomplished by pressing and holding the depth of field preview button on the front, which can be locked if desired. The LED's mean the readout will always be easily discerned, regardless of viewfinder dimming upon stopping down to take a reading.
  • slow flash synchronisation

Links[]

Fujica st801 Manual

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