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Cosina CT-1A: manual and user guide

The manual Cosina SLR with K mount and LED metering. Its original manual, then the essentials for using it.

View the manual on butkus.orgOriginal scanned manual · 23 pages · in English, also in German, French, Italian and Spanish

Manual scanned and put online free of charge by Mike Butkus, whose library runs on donations. The link opens his model page, where you can download the PDF.

Getting started

Batteries Unscrew the battery compartment cover with a coin. Insert two SR44 (G-13) or LR44 (A-76) batteries the right way round: if they’re reversed, no LED lights up in the viewfinder. Screw the cover back on.
Loading Pull the rewind knob up: the back opens. Put in the cartridge, slide the film leader into a slot in the spool, wind on with the lever while engaging the perforations on the sprocket, close the back, then take up the slack with the crank. Wind on and fire until frame 1, between 0 and 2 on the counter.
Sensitivity Turn the film speed ring to bring your film’s ASA value opposite the red index, from ISO 25 to 1600 (ASA). Dots mark the intermediate values.
Your first photo Wind on with the lever and focus with the split-image rangefinder in the centre of the viewfinder. Press halfway: one of the three LEDs lights up on the left of the viewfinder. On (+), choose a faster shutter speed or stop down, on (-) do the opposite, until the green LED lights up, then fire.
Rewinding Press the rewind release button: it stays pressed in. Unfold the crank and turn it in the direction of the arrow until it suddenly becomes lighter, then pull the knob all the way to open the back. If the lever locked halfway at the end of the roll, keep the release button pressed in with your finger throughout rewinding.

What it can do

Shutter speeds from 1 s to 1/1000 s, plus Bulb, on the click-stopped dial. Don’t stop between two clicks: the speed isn’t accurate there.
A Bulb setting: the shutter stays open as long as you press. The light meter doesn’t work on B. Use a tripod and a cable release.
A self-timer of about 10 s: turn its lever anticlockwise, then press the shutter button. Once it’s set, you can’t cancel it.
A flash slides into the X-contact hot shoe. Then set the shutter speed dial to 1/125 s or slower.
An infrared mark, a small red line near the depth-of-field scale: after focusing, move the distance you found opposite this line. The light meter can’t see infrared, follow the film’s instructions.

Good to know

The winding lever also acts as a lock: folded against the body, it locks the shutter button and switches off the light meter. Store it that way to save the batteries.
The film is advancing properly if the rewind crank turns anticlockwise when you wind on.
Below 1/30 s, the manual recommends a tripod and a cable release. Don’t turn the shutter speed dial while the shutter is firing.
The batteries last about a year in normal use. Take them out if the camera is stored for a long time.
Load and unload the film out of direct sunlight, and never open the back before rewinding is finished.

Which lenses?

K bayonet mount: the manual says all K-mount lenses fit it.
To mount a lens, line up its red dot with the one on the body and turn clockwise until it clicks. To remove it, press the release button and turn it the other way until it stops.
A lens that isn’t properly locked throws off the exposure: wait for the click before firing.

Care

Dust the lens and viewfinder with a blower, without touching them with your fingers.
After a trip to the seaside, clean the outside carefully. Never use a cloth soaked in chemicals.
Avoid the heat of a car boot or a beach, and sudden changes in temperature.
To store it: without the batteries, in a case, somewhere dry, dust-free and away from insecticides. If it goes unused for a long time, fire the shutter from time to time.

CT-1A specifications

Format: 135 film, 24 × 36 mm frames
Mount: K bayonet
Shutter: vertical-travel metal focal-plane, 1 s to 1/1000 s and bulb
Viewfinder: 93% of the image vertically and horizontally, 0.86× magnification with a 50 mm lens
Focusing: horizontal split-image rangefinder surrounded by microprisms, Fresnel screen
Metering: through the lens, at full aperture, centre-weighted, two CdS cells, three LEDs in the viewfinder
Sensitivity: ISO 25 to 1600 (ASA)
Flash: X-contact hot shoe, sync at 1/125 s or slower
Power: 2 SR44 (G-13) silver oxide batteries or 2 LR44 (A-76) alkaline batteries
Dimensions and weight: 133 × 85 × 48 mm, 450 g (body only)