Cosina CT-1 – a cheap and cheerful 35 mm SLR camera

This is a short pictorial review of a simple 35 mm SLR made by Cosina, the Cosina CT-1 fitted with a 50 mm Cosinon-s f/2.0 lens.

Pictures of the Cosina CT-1

Cosina CT-1 Description

This camera is a long distance from some of my favourite 35 mm cameras like the Topcon series I own, my Miranda Fv or the Pentax spotmatic. It is a cheap and cheerful low-end entry camera which would perhaps be the first SLR a photographer bought. It reminds me of my Petri MF-1 (which was the second SLR I bought – although the first new SLR I bought) and the spec and feature set of the camera actually matches the Petri quite closely.

This camera was also made for a variety of other camera manufacturers by Cosina. For example the Miranda MS-1 (when the real Miranda camera company had gone bust and Miranda was a badge used by Dixon’s), the Canon T60, the Ricoh KR-10 super and some others including as far as I can tell from pictures, the Petri GX-1 and Petri CT-1! In fact, if you compare the pictures above with the Ricoh KR-10 super pictures, you can see the similarity.

The unit I have has a Pentax K Mount lens mount and is fitted with a Cosinon 50 mm f/2.0 lens. The lens is also a fairly cheap entry level unit with a plastic mount and sticky aperture blades. I’ve taken it apart and got it working once, but it stopped soon after, so there is some underlying issue within the unit. I suspect that it’s probably not worth the effort to fix it, but I may simply for the experience.

My example only cost me about £5 and would need some work on the light seals as well as the lens, but it’s a classic camera which formed the basis of so many other cameras that I’m happy to have it in my collection

Cosina CT-1 Specifications

• Cosina CT-1 35 mm SLR
• 1 sec to 1/1000 sec + B
• Shutter lock when advance lever pushed into body
• 1600 – 25 ASA meter setting
• Hot show accessory socket
• 10 sec self-timer
• Match needle metering
• Centre viewfinder focusing aid
• K-Mount lens
• Manual available on-line here