Looking for a film SLR...

JJP · Jul 5, 2006

I'm starting a national diploma 2 year course in photography next september, and what do you know, my film SLR has packed up. I've been meaning to get a new one for a while, and now that this one is broken i've got a good reason to hehe.

I will be using this camera for a very wide range of photos, most things you can think of (well not any weird stuff hehe :lol:

)

I would also like it to be compatable with many things, I love to accessorise hehe (e.g, lenses, flashes, etc etc) but sold my lenses, seeing as they were getting on a bit and I was never too fond of them hehe, so i'm ready to start fresh! I've had cameras in the past where I couldn't use a great deal with them and it did my nut in!
I was just wondering if anybody had any good suggestions as which camera I should buy?

I can spend around £300 ($550ish) I am prepared to go slightly above this budget, and would like at least one lense included in this price range.

Thankyou for any help, it's greatly appreciated. ;-)

terri · Jul 5, 2006

oh, gosh....prepare for the onslaught of suggestions.... :lol:

You're lucky, there are SO many great SLR's out there.

I'm on the Pentax team, myself. My MZ-S can be fully manual, or as automatic as I want to make it (not often). Pentax also makes great glass. :thumbup: Huge variety. I've not priced one lately, but surely the cost has come way down.

Next! :lol:

Torus34 · Jul 5, 2006

If you already have lenses ["I love to accessorise . . ."], it would make sense to get a compatable body.

Don Simon · Jul 5, 2006

I'm also a user and fan of Pentax. Unfortunately the MZ-S has not yet come down to your budget (if it had I would definitely have one!). If you're doing a course you might be better off with second-hand manual focus camera and lenses, in which case the options from Pentax include the MX, KX, K1000 (usually overpriced because it's so often recommended to film students), P30 (the P30t or P30n is good and sells for way less than the older cameras) or MZ-M (their latest manual focus camera, but not as well-built as many older ones). Any of these are good cameras, one big advantage of them being that they're cheap so you still have lots of money to spend on good lenses, film etc.

Minolta also made good manual focus cameras (and great lenses); options here include the SRT or XD ranges. However there seem to be less lenses available for these cameras than for the Pentaxes.

If on the other hand you're happy to spend all your budget or more on a camera and possibly one lens, you might want to look at older Nikons, for example an F3 variant, an FM2N or FM3A. Obviously Canon make very good stuff too but I know nothing about their manual focus cameras so I'll leave that to someone who does. With either Nikon or Canon you'll never have trouble finding a lens or accessory.

Finally Olympus, AFAIK the Olympus OM system has quite limited availability of lenses compared to the other brands, and often seems to cost more, but a few people believe it's worth it, and Zuiko lenses are certainly impressive. Consider the OM3Ti, OM4Ti or OM2000. Finding older Olympus SLRs in good condition is not always easy, especially because of the design of the hotshoe.

I've only really mentioned manual-focus or mechanical cameras with full user control over aperture and shutter speed, since IMO that's the best for learning photography. If you're interested in autofocus and new SLRs then there's obviously a lot more options. I also haven't really mentioned lenses yet, though the lenses are really more important than the cameras they're attached to.

Edit:

Torus34 said:
If you already have lenses ["I love to accessorise . . ."], it would make sense to get a compatable body.

Woops, I missed that. Although re-reading your post, you did mention that you sold your lenses and that you were never very happy with them. What lenses were they, and what was it about them that you didn't like? That might help us narrow down suitable options.

KevinR · Jul 5, 2006

You could get a real nice Canon Elan 7 or Nikon N90 or even maybe F100 used. Lots of options. Try some out and pick what feels good to you.

Torus34 · Jul 5, 2006

I missed that, too. Sorry.

mysteryscribe · Jul 5, 2006

When I first closed my studio I sold all my 35mm slrs (pentax). Unfortunately I didn't die on schedule, so I decided to get another on just in case I did a family member's wedding. I bought a minolta 700 and a ton of prime lense and even a winder for I think about a total of 350 bucks. It was used but not very used.

I don't use it much but I have it if I ever want to shoot anything for real. The test shots I made with it and the assortment of lenses seemed to be just peachy keen.

niccig · Jul 5, 2006

I just got a Nikon F80 used, and I love it! It has basically all the features of the "pro" Nikon bodies, and it takes great pictures. It has all kinds of accessories (grips, threaded cable release, flashes, etc) and takes a pretty wide range of lenses (basically any Nikon AF lens). I ordered all my goodies from KEH.com - f80 body, nikkor 50mm f1.8D lens, nikkor 35-80mm f4-5.6D lens, cable release, polarizer, uv filter all for about $375US (excluding shipping). If your budget is $550, you could get some decent lenses with it, or other goodies. I'd recommend it to just about anyone, unless you're planning to take it white-water rafting or something (I've heard the weather sealing isn't quite up to pro standards). Also, Nikon says you can't use IR film b/c the film advance uses an IR sensor, but I've read on a couple of forums that IR usually turns out ok.

That's my .02 for recommendations

usayit · Jul 5, 2006

Building a system from scratch on your budget, I too would recommend K-mount prime lenses with either a Pentax MX or ME super. If you want to go a bit more grassroots, you can go with a nice K1000 which will have a matched needle meter instead. You should have enough left over for other accessories as well.

For autofocus, I like an older Elan or Elan II with a 50mm f1.8 and a medium zoom. Elan 7 is going to be a bit more expensive but a good used one will be a lot of bang for your buck.

LWW · Jul 5, 2006

A Nikon F4s is probably the best film body ever made IMHO.

LWW

chakalakasp · Jul 5, 2006

JJP said:
I'm starting a national diploma 2 year course in photography next september, and what do you know, my film SLR has packed up. I've been meaning to get a new one for a while, and now that this one is broken i've got a good reason to hehe.

I will be using this camera for a very wide range of photos, most things you can think of (well not any weird stuff hehe)

I would also like it to be compatable with many things, I love to accessorise hehe (e.g, lenses, flashes, etc etc) but sold my lenses, seeing as they were getting on a bit and I was never too fond of them hehe, so i'm ready to start fresh! I've had cameras in the past where I couldn't use a great deal with them and it did my nut in!
I was just wondering if anybody had any good suggestions as which camera I should buy?

I can spend around £300 ($550ish) I am prepared to go slightly above this budget, and would like at least one lense included in this price range.

Thankyou for any help, it's greatly appreciated. ;-)

The Canon EOS-3 is a pro-body camera and can be had used for quite cheap on Ebay. This camera used to sell for $1000 new and up until about 2 years ago cost at least $600 used. You can pick them up within your budget now -- heck, you can probably get the 7fps powerdrive attachment and still be in-budget. The pro-body is also weathersealed.

usayit · Jul 6, 2006

honestly... I would think that the EOS 3 and Nikon F4s are two examples of over-kill for a student camera. $500-600 on a camera body only is still expensive in my book. Both good choices if you are willing to spend the cash. I'm thinking under $200 for a camera body given a $550 budget.

stingray · Jul 6, 2006

if you're willing to go manual focus why not something like a Canon F1, Ae-1 or similar? The body is not nearly as important as the lens... all you get is features when you pay more... (plus build quality and perhaps accuracy). I'd be spending money on good solid prime lenses and not worrying too much about the body.

Don Simon · Jul 6, 2006

Agreed. Which body you get doesn't matter so much, which brand you choose matters more though, since you're buying into a particular lens mount. Lenses for some lens mounts are more widely available, or tend to be cheaper than others. However as long as you don't pick a camera with a really obscure or limited lens mount, all you really need to worry about is whether it gives you full control over aperture, shutter speed and preferably ISO, had depth-of-field preview, feels comfortable, is intuitive (hate that word but can't think of a good alternative) to use and meters well. The extra functions on high-end or modern cameras may be useful for some situations but I don't see them as being necessary for most photography, in fact if you're learning they'll probably just distract from the basics of taking a good shot. Similarly a more expensive camera is often said to be better because it's built like a tank... but then you'll be a photography student, not a photojournalist in a warzone. Obviously we'd all like to own the best cameras, but to be honest the quality of your camera body won't show through in your prints - the quality of the lenses will.

JJP · Jul 6, 2006

Thanks a lot for all of your suggestions guys, I think i'll go with the Canon EOS-3, I can pick up the body and a couple of decent lenses on eBay for exactly my budget, and it sounds a great camera, also been told this by a couple of friends. I appreciate all of your help, thankyou. ;-)