New and need help purchasing an SLR

[dalyaalomar]

Hi everyone,
I would love your insight on different types of SLR I should be considering. I live in NYC, so it should not be too hard to find a good used one. I am excited about learning all about photography and visiting the dark room to see what I was able to capture.

Also, any books I should be looking in to, or any tips would be very welcome.

Thank you!

Dalya

 

[Proteus617]

Why an SLR? You already have a darkroom?

 

[thunderkyss]

Why an SLR? You already have a darkroom?

Is there a sticky here, or some resource that covers the "Why an SLR?" Question?

 

[Orrin]

Hi everyone,
I would love your insight on different types of SLR I should be considering. I live in NYC, so it should not be too hard to find a good used one. I am excited about learning all about photography and visiting the dark room to see what I was able to capture.

Also, any books I should be looking in to, or any tips would be very welcome.

Thank you!

Dalya

Since you are in NYC, you have the advantage of wandering over to Ninth Avenue
and visiting the 'Used" section of B&H Photo. There you can see many different
brands of SLR's and possibly find one that you like.

 

[Mike_E]

Welcome to the forum.

+1 on B&H. If nothing else they should be helpful talking to about what you want. The first thing to consider though is how much you can and then are willing to spend on this. It's easy to get carried away.

 

[guajero]

Get a Canon AE-1 because it is good quality and lenses are dirt cheap.

 

[christopher walrath]

Which one should I get? Well, if it says Canon, Nikon, Minolta or Pentax, weighs more than a pound and is in your budget, it's really difficult to go wrong. Just steer clear of each manufacturer's models that were completely automatic (only aperture priority). Very limited in what you can do in terms of exposure control.

 

[karengrey]

Hi Christopher,

I have a Nikon F401 SLR and is thinking of selling it, I also have two lenses = AF NIKKOR 24-50mm and 35-105mm. Would you be interested?

 

[Ryanjohnlee]

Just go to keh.com they offer better prices then anywhere I have been in NYC... And believe me I have looked... If you are going to just look I'd check out adorama or b and h, and maybe even k and m on broadway, fotocare in the post production area is also a cool establishment. id make a selection that you are comfortable with at one of these stores then just order it online from kah... Their bargain condition is often better then b and h excellent

 

[Paul Ron]

And why don't you NYC folks have a get to gether n bring some of your old SLRs sitting in the closet so he/she can see em, even make an offer on buying one from ya?

 

[djacobox372]

Get a Canon AE-1 because it is good quality and lenses are dirt cheap.

Just watch out for a slow/squeaky shutter when buying an AE-1.

My personal favorite is the nikon FE, although you'll pay a bit more for the lenses as they are still usable on modern nikon cameras and hence the market for them is better.

 

[maris]

Think about getting a roll-film SLR instead of a 35mm one.

Remember, 35mm delivers the worst technical quality of all film photography and that severe quality compromise is acceptable only because the miniature camera can pursue quick moving subject matter. Remember too that maybe 50 million digital shooters, even the ones with point 'n shoot cameras, might turn out nicer pictures than you and work only one tenth as hard.

Once you go to roll-film, say with a cheap Mamiya RB67 Pro S, you blow most (top pro stuff excepted) digital images into the weeds quality-wise. And roll film is no harder to process than 35mm.

 

[KenC]

If you are going to be shooting bw film there are some good books by Henry Horenstein. One is called Beyond Basic Photography and if that is too much for where you are now, he has one at a basic level too - not sure what it's called.

 

[J.Kendall]

Canon AE-1 and Pentax k1000 are what I'm used to working with. Awesome cameras both.