best 35mm camera??

reds_21

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I am possibly thinking of buying a new 35mm camera. i do not want to go towards digital. can anyone give me some ideas on 35mm cameras that are awesome for the price and that wont break in a month due to poor quality.

im looking maybe no more than $300. is there a lot out there in this price range?? manufacturer's/model # would be appreciated!!!! personal reviews would be great as well :D

thank you
 
I bought my N80 off of craigslist for $100 like new.

It's basically a slow, plastic F100 with a flash.
 
I bought a Canon A2 at KEH.com. It was used but it was in nearly perfect condition for under $200. I used a Pentax SLR for years but got the Canon so it would take all the EOS lenses I bought for my dSLR (thus not forcing me to take two sets of lenses everywhere if I wanted to do film and digital). So far, I'm VERY happy with the A2. The multiframe shooting is very smooth, the controls are simple, the body is light and well made (although I'm not so sure I like plastic bodies, at least they don't rust since I live near the ocean and have major corrosion problems with my equipment), and the image quality is very nice.

My only complaint about the A2 is that the light meter ONLY tells you if you're exposing "correctly," or if you're under or over exposed, but it's not quite as easy to determine when you're at a full stop above or below the "correct" exposure. This is annoying to me because it adjusts in fractions of a stop, so you have to do some math in your head to know exactly where to set it if you want to go up/down in full stop increments. That's tough for my feeble mind when I'm trying to bracket in a pinch.

If I were buying a 35mm camera (SLR or P&S) I'd definately go look at the used market, like from KEH or B&H or something, and not waste money on new stuff. The used market is an awesome way to get really nice film equipment for very cheap now, but make sure you go through a reputable online seller.

Good luck!
 
Older but still good manual cameras that come to mind:
Canon AE-1
Pentax MX
Pentax ME

Newer AF camera bodies that I can recommend:
Canon Elan II or even a 7
 
Nikon N90s (magnesium alloy body, 4.3 FPS and takes AA batteries) with a new f1.8 50mm AF-D lens and an Sb-24, 25, 26 or 28 flash. All of this should run you around $300.

After that get a 70-210mm f4-5.6 (should be under $100 used) and a 28mm f2.8 AI-S ($100-$150 used) [this is manual focus but with the DOF isn't a problem- look up hyper-focal distance].

With this rig you'll be set up for as long as they make 35mm film. An F100 is nice too but they are running around $300 by themselves and the only real difference is just a tad faster auto-focus. (the battery issue -which they use- is a concern because you can't always get the CR-123s when your camera runs dry and if you have batteries for your flash you will have them for your camera ;)- CR-123s are also a lot more expensive)
 
Did I mention a scanner that does film negs? You can develop B&W negs and scan them yourself if you like for a fraction of the cost. {color too if you can follow directions to the letter} Then send the files off to be printed as usual. ( hardly anyone actually uses a wet darkroom anymore so digital printing is all you are likely to get with out a search.)
 
thank you everyone that has responded!!!!!!

im noticing Nikon is very popular, are they the leading manufacturer's in camera's? how do they compare to canon and minolta? are there manufacturer's that i should stay away from?
 
Nikon and Canon were the leaders in Professional film cameras in the 35mm format. Which means that they had the biggest selection of lenses and 'stuff'.

Minolta, Pentax were I think next in line followed by the others in popularity.

The thing you'll want to remember is that just the camera body won't do you much good, it's all of the accessories and lenses that you get to go along with it that make an SLR desirable.

Nikon, at least the newer auto-focus ones, will give you the most selection followed by Canon (Canon switched lens mounts and not all of their lenses will fit onto all of their cameras).

I own an N90s, an N8008 (another great camera), an N70 (takes great photos and has nice "do-dads" but is a pain to shoot). I also have a Minolta that I learned on and still love along with various otherdigital and film cameras and if I were to keep just one film camera it would be the N90s for the quality of the camera and it's overall abilities.

If your budget is $300 then I wouldn't suggest spending more than $100-$125 on the camera because you will still need a lens and a flash (yes, you will ;))
 
thanks MIKE_E.

since i am not fimiliar with the camera world and the prices to go along with it, i was giving myself a budget of $300 just for the camera. i am seeing alot of options for lenses/flash's but i will look more into that later depending if i decide to stick with her Minolts x370s or whether or not i buy a new camera.

by the sounds of it, i could get a really nice camera for $300 or less (not including accessories)
 
A lot depends on what you want to do photographically. When I came back into it I bought a Nikon F301. It has full program modes, aperture priority and manual along with TTL flash and built in motorwind. You can pick them up for about $100 off e-bay and are bombproof. The only disadvantage it has is the motorwind, which being a street photographer can be a bit of a give away! Hence, I bought the F3. i still use the F301 when I have any flash stuff to do or if say I'm photographing a kid's party and need to respond quickly.

Cheers, Lol
 
1970s Nikon FE. They were unbreakable. Best camera ever! Did everything I wanted it to. Had aperture priority centre weighted metering, and a shutter button. What more could you want :)

Even with all the fancy new things the modern cameras do I still run my D200 in Aperture priority mode with the same centre weighted pattern 90% of the time.
 
1970s Nikon FE. They were unbreakable.

Not true, my good man. Try dropping one from a 19 story building sometime. I assure you, they break just fine.
 
before Nikon and Canon....
Minolta was the leader
before Minolta...
Pentax
before Pentax
Leica

My point is....ah.. you know what my point is...
 
Hey, Reds, is this for you or your wife? I just made the connection.

Look, if you are going to go with film and have a little money to spend and IF the quality of the print is your first concern, you need to be checking into Medium Format cameras.

They don't have to be big and bulky, as a matter of fact Mamiya makes -or made- a rangefinder in 120 format that is supposed to be exceptional. One of their 645s isn't too big either. You can get a 'Blad or even a Rollie system these days for under $3k. This last may not mean much to you at this point but if you keep reading it will. ;)

If you or she still want 35mm and can move up a bit the Nikon F100 (generally around $300)or even the F5 ($500-$600) will likely be all the camera you will ever need.

Some of the classics are great cameras still but remember that they have a lot of miles on them. If you are looking for a dependable everyday shooter then a newer body is your best bet!
 

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