Helping out my cousin

[nealjpage]

My 15 year old cousin is taking a black and white photography class at his high school. They've got some school cameras that they all share, but he's looking for his own. The requirements are pretty standard: all manual and a light meter. I, of course, opined that he should get a K1000, but turns out his dad's got a Canon AE-1 and a bunch of good lenses. If I remember right, that camera isn't manual and I guess it doesn't have a light meter. So is there a Canon body that's similar to the K1000 that my cousin should look for? He wants to use the primes that fit on his dad's AE-1. Thanks, guys.

 

[joyride]

Wouldnt full manual just mean the ability to manipulate shutter and aperture ('m' mode)? I cant see any reason why they would require a full manual, when you can do the same and then some with todays SLR with the same modes. I would ask the instructor for some clarification.

 

[nealjpage]

I guess the AE-1 doesn't have that manual option since it's a shutter priority camera. I dunno. I don't know jack about that camera; I'm just going off what I've heard. And my uncle doesn't want to buy a brand new camera with manual settings if he can get a used one for a small amount of money.

Maybe I'll just mail him one of my K1000s.

 

[kaiy]

The Canon AE-1 has Auto-Exposure and Manual exposure. I remember looking hard at this camera when I was looking to buy my first SLR. I ended up with a Nikon FM.

B&H photo video has some of the AE-1 specs on used cameras on their website.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com

The AE-1 will do fine for your cousin.

 

[ann]

all modern 35mm cameras have built in light meters.

 

[Battou]

The Canon AE-1 has a light meter, and is manual. How ever I find the EF to be a superior camera body. It has the same meter layout as the AE-1 and a lot more versatility and reliability that the AE-1 lacks. It has far more range of shutter speeds as well as a mirror lock, It is also uses the same lens mount as the AE-1 so if dad is willing to allow him to borrow the glass all will be well.

Also The AE-1 has technological issues and flaws with first generation microprocessor that the EF does not.

EF

AE-1

I own and have shot both cameras so, if he is looking to buy one of his own have him hitup E-bay for the EF I saw a couple available the other day, if he is looking for a temporary hold over the AE-1 of dad's will suffice.

 

[maddermaxx]

My class had the same requirements and there was a couple AE-1's in the class.

If he wants another Canon, go for a EF/A-1/F-1

And for a "new" - old camera I put in a Vote for the OM system.

 

[Jeff Canes]

if i recall right some ae-1 had a small plug-in for shutter speed a friend in my highschool photography class had one, or am i misstaking

 

[Battou]

My class had the same requirements and there was a couple AE-1's in the class.

If he wants another Canon, go for a EF/A-1/F-1

And for a "new" - old camera I put in a Vote for the OM system.

I think the F-1 would not be a very good choice for a beginner, I looked hard at the F-1 a few months ago when I needed a backup SLR and opted to pass on it due to the layout of the viewfinder and meter. But I think the F-1 will be too much for him to handle at this juncture, not to mention the price tag on those is comperable to some of todays preowned entrylevel dSLRs.

The A-1 is even more technoligically advanced, but it is a part of the A series and theoredically it should be similar to the AE-1,m but never having had the opertunity to use one I could be wrong.

The strength of the AE-1 and EF is the fact his dad having owned the AE-1 can help him figure out how to read the meter (despite the fact it's actually easier than heck) and the viewing screen out side of class if need be.

 

[nealjpage]

That's the funny part--his dad (my uncle) claims that there's no light meter in his Canon. Maybe he's crazy. Is the meter in one of those like the meter in my Nikon FE? One of those meters that tells you the shutter speed to choose based on the aperture you've picked? If so, will most intro classes allow it?

 

[omtech]

Olympus OM-1 w/ 50mm f1.8 lens. All mechanical, built in center weighted meter system. John, www.zuiko.com

 

[Battou]

That's the funny part--his dad (my uncle) claims that there's no light meter in his Canon. Maybe he's crazy. Is the meter in one of those like the meter in my Nikon FE? One of those meters that tells you the shutter speed to choose based on the aperture you've picked? If so, will most intro classes allow it?

The meter in my AE-1 is going bad (in fact it does not work peiod at 1/4 and intermitant at 1/8), It's entirely possible your dads meter no longer works.

The AE-1 and EF meters tell you aprature based on shutter speed chosen

The EF viewscreen (stolen from Wikipedia), note this is based on an early view screen of the EF the latter model has a split prism focusing ring. The AE-1 is the same as the later EF only with out the shutterspeed display at the botton.

And yes they will be permitted.