ah the great search

[bean]

Found out one way to blow my income tax return - my Fuji digital camera is leaving my photography aspirations very limited, so I decided to hunt for a vintage manual SLR, just to keep me learning until I can afford a digital SLR
Checked out one large pawn shop today, the first thing that caught my eye was a Pentax ME Super sitting in the back. Then I turned it around and nearly had a heart attack - $300...uhh...back to the shelf it goes! There were plenty of other cameras to choose from, a Mamiya that had a frozen shutter, and another Pentax which the viewfinder was nearly impossible to see anything through. One more caught my eye, a Nikon EM, everything was perfect on it, with a nice $135 price tag including a clean 50mm lens. Only problem was that the EM doesn't offer any manual shutter speed control. Damn.
Well, the hunt continues tomorrow at a couple more local hock shops, I'll see if I can find anything! Or should I settle for the Nikon EM?

I guess I could ask what I should inspect on used SLR's, just so I don't screw myself over But the main point of this post is just a warning that I'm going to make a lot of work for you guys and gals when I finally get the camera :twisted:

 

[oriecat]

Good luck finding a manual, bean!! And good on ya for it!

Umm things to inspect... make sure the shutter works, of course. Check the smoothness of the aperture changes, test out all of the shutter speeds to make sure they are working... check the light meter...