IM jacked

[goodluk2u]

IM jacked. Yes, I am. I had my camera, a good camera, that my dead grandfather used in his war photography, is jacked. Its finally crapped out, and from advice from here, I was told to get a CLR for it, no luck there. Now that October is rolling in, Ive seen like 10 picture perfect moments so far, and I havent been able to capture them. So, I need a camera that meets the following:

- film SLR
- no fixed lense
- lightweight
- DOF settings
- diff. shutter speeds (Ive actually seen a few that have only 1 setting, with pissed me off! :roll: )

Thanks all

 

[drlynn]

What price range are you looking at?

In the under $300 category, there are many cameras that all will perform admirably. A few are:
Canon EOS Rebel Ti (I have one and love it)
Canon EOS Rebel GII
Minolta Maxxum 5, Maxxum 4, Maxxum QTsi
Nikon N75 or N65
Pentax ZX-L, ZX-7 or new *ist(probably over $300)
Sigma SA-9 or SA-7

Which is best? You can ask 100 photographers, and get 100 different answers. The bottom line is, each will perform and each has its advantages.

The thing to do, if possible, is find a camera store where you can try them out. Pick them up, see which is most comfortable in your hand, which feels better looking through the viewfinder, which has the controls in the best placement for you, etc.

The good news is that as long as you go with a reputable manufacturer and a reputable dealer and pick out a camera you like, you should be well satisfied.

Here is a comparison chart from Popphoto.com. It will have all the cameras I listed above, plus more. It compares 51 SLR's both film and digital, manual and autofocus. It will show you which cameras have the features you want, and an approximate street price. Most prices listed are for the body only, but a few only come packaged as a kit from the manufacturer.

http://www.popphoto.com/assets/download/8212003112038.pdf

 

[ksmattfish]

What kind of camera was your Grandfather's? For dirt cheap (around $100) you can get a used Pentax K1000. Fully manual shutter and aperture control, lightweight, can use any Pentax K-mount lens. If you like the feel of "old-school" (pre-1985) mechanical SLRs I could recommend a few. If you want the modern features of a new auto-focus electronic film SLR the above recommendations are all good.

 

[TwistMyArm]

You may want to take a couple rolls of film with you. Once you narrow down a few choices you may want to take a couple photos to see how you like the picture quality. I think this is especially important if you buy used.