The Cosina CT series of manual focus K mount SLR. at first glance seem to be a minor footnote but cameras from this series would end up being some the last film SLR ever made and even were the basis of the last non Leica M mount rangefinders. But these models weren’t branded Cosina. This CT1G is one of the lesser known but still a reasonable K1000 alternative.

In brief this is a simple K mount SLR with a manually controlled shutter. It’s a no frills affair based on the slightly more advance CT1 Super (more on that later.

But lets begin with the history behind Cosina

Cosina

Cosina are still in the camera business making lenses under the Zeiss and Voigtländer brands. The company ironically began as a lens maker back in 1959 under the name Nikō. In 1966 the started making 35mm compacts and moved onto SLR production. The company became Cosina in 1973

It would join a range of second tier Japanese manufactures making M42 and later K mount bodies begin with the M42 Cosina Hi-Lite in 1968. But Cosina spotted a gap and would rebadge it’s cameras. So as you’d expected you will find a shed load of compact rangefinders based of their Cosina 35 models. These were Konica C35 clones that not surprising were sold under Vivitar, Porst, Printz et al brands. But more importantly even the Minolta Hi-Matic 7sII is believed to be made by Cosina.

Cosina would move on to make parts and rebadged SLR cameras for other makes. This began with the M42 models but it would move up a gear with the CT series

The CT Series

In brief the CT series are a range of K mount SLR made by Cosina with a metal focal plane shutter that were launched in the the 1980’s . It followed on from the 1970’s CS models which had a cloth focal plane shutters. It would be joined by the C series models with more curvy styling but I suspect minimal changes beyond. The Nikon FE10 was made by Cosina for Nikon based off the C series models but with a Nikon F mount.

Broadly in the CT series you get models full manually controlled shutters or automatically controlled shutters. The C models are all automatic shutters

The CT1G is a simplified CT1Super which was a revised version of the OG, the CT-1. The CT1Super was still being sold as the Nikon FM10 well into to the 2010’s. It only formally appearing as discontinued in 2020 making it the second last film SLR proper in production after the legendary Nikon F6.

The CT & C models listed

This is a list of known CT models listed on Camera-wiki. I’ve listed a few related models but not the cloth shutter CS models

• CT-1 – The OG – Mechanical shutter 1/1000 , needle match & Timer. Uses Mercury 1.35V
• CT-1A – CT1 with LEDs
• CT1 Super – CT1A with No mercury batteries, faster shutter 1/2000
• CT1G- Cut back super with 1/1000 shutter and no self timer
• CT1EX- A CT1 Super without timer
• CT-2 – Electronic shutter & timer maxxed at 1/1000. With AP mode
• CT-3 – CT-2 that can take a winder
• CT-4 – CT-3 where you can see the aperture in finder
• CT-7 – CT-3 with push buttons
• CT-7D – Data backed CT-7
• CT9 – AP prefering model (manual do-able but hard)
• CT-10 – Budget CT2. no timer
• CT-20 – AP only CT3
• C1 – modern styled mechanical shutter up to 1/2000
• C1s – C1 with timer
• C2 – modern looking but spec of CT2 plus electronic timer
• C3 – C2 but faster 1/2000 electronic shutter
• PM-1 – Similar to CT1 but pointy pentaprism hump. ? only sold in UK
• E1 Solar – Novel solar powered metering system similar. Manual shutter 1/2000. Higher kitted with timer, DoF preview and MX button

CT a go-go – The rebrands

But Nikon weren’t alone. Here’s a short list of few cameras made by Cosina for others based on the CT and C series. Some are K mount but but specific mounts were used

• Canon T60 (FD mount)
• Olympus OM-2000 (OM Mount)
• Yashica FX-3 Super 2000 (C/Y Mount)
• Haking (Halina) HG1 & HG2
• Revue SC Models

On top of these are most late Vivitar, Exakta, Petri as well as loads of Chinon, Porst and Carena models. But some models attributed may not have been made by Cosina.

Some sites suggest the Pentax P30T was also made by Cosina but there is no hard evidence and it would be odd that they didn’t do the P30 or P30N too although it could indicate they made all 3 . It is however quite likely Cosina contributed parts and we know Pentax had already outsourced making K1000. There are a load of others in lists like this often such as the Later Yashica models but again I can’t find any evidence. And those list are not infallible. On camera listed is the Nikkorex F. But that is widely known to have been made by Mamiya (or possible designed by Mamiya and made by Aires)

Oh and the rangefinders

The CT or C model innards would also be used in the Voigtländer Bessa R series and related rangefinders of the 21st century.

The CT1G (and CT1 Super)

The CT1G and the CT1Super are basically the same camera except the CT1G has a slower top shutter speed & no self timer.

Both have a small grip marking them different from the original CT1. Its a pretty standard looking SLR. The CT1 Super has an early version (pictured) and a later version with a slightly flatter pentaprism hump but no other differences this is marked as the CT1 Super* on the housing.

Top plate has a shutter button, shutter speed dial and on the other side ASA/ISO setting (25-1600 ISO) .

Although al lot of the skin is plastic there’s a fair amount of metal inside making the camera heftier (410g) and more solid than you would expect. That said the plastic fascia of mines has a crack on the top plate beside the film speed dial.

There’s a tripod point and battery point on base. The CT1 Super has a mechanical self timer. There is no DoF preview.

Core spec of the CT1G

This has a manually operated vertical focal plane shutter which will work without the metering batteries (2xSR44/LR44). The range is 1/1000 to 1sec (the CT1Super goes up to 1/2000) plus bulb. There is no EV compensation

Metering is TTL centre-weighted. The winder lever acts a shutter lock and turns off meter when flush in.

X-sync is 1/125 or lower for flash.

Finder

The finder is a pentaprism with a reasonable screen. It’s a mat screen with a horizontal split focus central spot surrounded by a micro prism collar.

Metering on these two models uses a 3 red LED system (+ o – as you can just about see). Note the slightly lit up o is just backlit capture on the phone.

Metering is activated when you depress the shutter. It shows the following.

I confess It rarely lit that central good exposure light up for me.

The manual (available on Butkus’s site) states the the finder has x0.86 magnification with a 93% FoV.

CT1G In Use

this feels fine. It’s a reasonable weighted camera and feels solid enough, more so than the Cosina C model derived Nikon FE10. The finder is not too bad and bright enough and works well with the split focus.

The LED work well enough but I did find I rarely got the target (o) LED forcing me to pick between slightly over or underexposing. That’s just reality with a camera like this. I personally prefer a needle indicator or a more detailer LCD display in finder. In bright light they’re just visible but in low light they will be more handy than a needle match.

There’s a standard loading/rewind system with a slotted uptake spool and pushbutton on base to release tension before rewinding.

The camera is a manual match like hundreds of cameras before it. I probably prefer something with AP auto but this does have the advantage of a fully manual controlled shutter that will carry on working if the batteries run out or the metering fails. I’ve tested it and it works with this camera.

I shot a roll of Colorpus 200 (aka Kodacolor) which was processed by Photo Hippo.

Results

Really the only result to comment on is metering. This broadly was what I’d expect from a centre-weighted camera and wasn’t helped by the LED as above, And a EV compensation dial would have been nice.

I pushed the camera with lots of more complex lighting and I was pretty happy.

As to image quality they’re down to the glass you stick on and the skills of the photog not the camera. and I stuck on a very cheap Miranda lens.

That said the Miranda did a reasonable despite feeling cheap

Final thoughts on the CT1G

Nought wrong here for a simple manual focus SLR. The CT1 Super version does offer faster shutter speeds but neither offers DoF preview but that’s pretty typical of this class. It’s a reasonable K1000 alternative if you’re happy with the LEDs.

It’s an interesting toss up between the Nikon FE10. I had that obviously had a F mount and AP. But thing were more nuanced in the finder. The FE10 has a shutter speed display strip like you have of needle matched Nikons but each speed has a small LED. It gives more Info but is harder to see.

What’s Good

• Solid and simple
• Good finder
• Fully mechanical shutter not dependant on power

What’s not so good

• The super version has faster shutter
• no DoF preview
• LED won’t suit all (aka me)
• No AP or SP

You can of course find a Cosina CT or C based model under most major camera brand names so there is no need to switch mounts except if you shoot Minolta. And of course another Cosina CT or C model might suit your needs better as this is one of the more basic models in the line up.

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Info Sources

The joint CT1G/CT1 Super Manual can be downloaded on Mike Butkus’s site. Peggy Marsh at CameraGoCamera tries her CT1G with a home made pinhole.

Alternatives to the Cosina CT1G

If you can live with DX coding the Pentax P30 series may be worth a Sniff as a budget K Mount alternative. The Ricoh KR-10 offers a needle match which I prefer and offers AP as well as metered manual. several other Ricohs are worth a sniff although some are allegedly made by Cosina (I’m not convinced). Nikon F mount fanboys might be served well by the FG or its cut down successor the FG-20. These both offer AE (the FG also offers Program AE although this and other feature like EV comp did not transfer over to the FG). I’d argue to Cosina CT based Nikon FE10 is more a successor of the FG-20 than the Nikon FE2.