Looking for vintage nikon suggestion?

[TylerTarris]

Well, im specifically looking for an entirely manual 35mm slr Nikon thats durable and will help teach me alot about photography, im going to be using it mostly in place of my current canon for my photo class, id love to have a good camera recommendation, good lens recommendation, a good flash recommendation, and anything else you could recommend, Im probably going to buy an argus to have around but for the class i need a slr, I really like the vintage look of the fm2, etc. well, any help possible is appreciated, so far ive noticed that digitals just dont give you that "Real" feel a good old fashion 35 does, but thats just me

 

[ann]

check KEH.com

 

[compur]

I really like the vintage look of the fm2, etc. well, any help possible is appreciated, so far ive noticed that digitals just dont give you that "Real" feel a good old fashion 35 does, but thats just me

The FM2 is certainly a good choice along with most any Nikkor (AI, AIS or AF)
lens and SB-10 or SB-15 or SB-16B flash. The FM2 is an all-mechanical,
manual-exposure SLR with batteries only needed for the meter.

Other manual-exposure-mode Nikon SLRs with mechanical shutters:FM, F2, F
and the Nikkormats. All are good.

 

[TylerTarris]

Ive decided to expand from just Nikon exclusively, ive been fooling with canons, leicas, etc. how are canon ae1's?

 

[err_ok]

Quite like my Nikkormat EL, got it for about £10 on eBay.

 

[djacobox372]

I own about a dozen different nikon cameras. Of the pro-line of cameras the F2AS would be my recommendation, but it's kinda expensive ($200 or more). The other versions of the F2 have older less reliable meters, and probably aren't worth the trouble.

The FM and FE series cameras are good budget entries, the FM and FE sell for as little as $50 ebay--the FM2 and FE2 go for a little more, the only real difference being a 1/4000 max shutter speed vs. 1/1000. The FE and FM are very similar, the difference being that the FE has an aperture priority mode, and a needle meter instead of a led meter. I prefer the FE myself.

Look for something with a 50mm f1.4 ais lens. That lens is worth around $120, if you want to spend less, the 50mm f1.8 is okay and sells for $50 or less. If you have a nikon digital SLR you can also use those lenses, provided they have an aperture ring and are not "DX" lenses.

Of course, if you really want to go old-school, and can live without a in-camera light meter, go for the original nikon F. Stay away from the metered versions, as those meters rarely still work or are reliable. The non-metered versions are nearly indestructible, and will teach you a lot about photography having to rely on your eyes and brains to meter instead of electronics:

A nikon F with the standard prism can be had for less then $200.

For a flash I'd recommend the trusty old vivitar 285hv or 283--which is cheaper. The 285hv can be used on your modern cameras as well without any voltage concerns. I've used the 283 on my modern cameras without any problems, but supposedly they have a higher sync voltage and aren't recommended for modern cameras.

A few more things to remember:

1) Black nikon bodies cost a little more, especially black F series cameras
2) Try to stick with AIS or AI lenses. If the lens has solid "rabbit ears" it's likely a pre-ai lens that won't work on the newer cameras. There's an excellent serial # database for nikon lenses online, google it.

 

[djacobox372]

Ive decided to expand from just Nikon exclusively, ive been fooling with canons, leicas, etc. how are canon ae1's?

The shutter's on canon ae1's are problematic, if you hear a squealing/squeaking noise when you fire the shutter--don't buy.

 

[dxqcanada]

Canon F-1
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/canonf1/index.htm
Canon new F-1
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/canonf1n/index.htm

Pentax K1000

Olympus OM1
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/olympusom1n2/om1/index.htm

 

[New Hampshire]

You can get some great deals on Pentax K1000's on ebay and with about an extra $150 and some patience you can get three excellent prime lenses (28mm, 50mm, 135mm) with optical quality to match some of todays moderate priced glass over on ebay! Heck, when I was searching for some of said glass recently I saw some crazy deals that had both the K1000 body and either a single lens or multiples, all for under $100. One auction that was up even had both a Pentax and Nikon body and lenses for them for around $200! With so many K1000 bodies for sale on ebay you can even get picky. What is more is the K1000 is a tank.....the camera is built to be damn near bomb proof.

Brian

 

[David R]

Nikkormats or Nikomats (domestic market as I understand it) have many flavours of metering patterns. My favourite is the basic FT, average reading across the frame, or no weighting of the pattern.

A big problem with these is the shutter speed, iso film speed and aperture interlock are stacked rings that rotate around the lens. The shutter gear train wears out forcing half positions or non-functioning. Iso is very difficult to set, specially if you're becoming farsighted. The aperture/meter interlock is a circular resistor that wears out after many years of use and the contacts lift in some positions causing the meter to drop out. That said they're great cold weather cameras

Minor detail on the Nikon FM, 1 sec to 1/1000th and the FE 8 sec to 1/1000th. My FE and FE2 will lockup if they get to cold. Not enough battery power left to run the shutter circuits. We're not talking sub-zero temperatures either. That means default shutter speed of 1/90th on the FE and 1/250th on the FE2.

Very important consideration when dealing with the older Nikons and their lenses, is the metering system, which has gone through several evolutions. Non-AI, AI and AI-S, they maybe more, you'll have to check to see which lens will work on which camera. Mostly its metering problems, but I believe a couple of bodies won't accept some of the earlier lenses because of physical interference.