Advice on film cameras

[delinkx]

hello,

quite long back i had a film camera. now i use eos 450D.

i wanna play around again with film. i need ur recommendations on which camera i can get.

since am a canon fan, i was thinking of a A-1 canon one.

which one will u guys recommend ? canon, leica maybe....

thanks in advance.

 

[dankwan]

hello,

quite long back i had a film camera. now i use eos 450D.

i wanna play around again with film. i need ur recommendations on which camera i can get.

since am a canon fan, i was thinking of a A-1 canon one.

which one will u guys recommend ? canon, leica maybe....

thanks in advance.

start with the letter "L"..... and dont look back....:bsmilie:

 

[delinkx]

start with the letter "L"..... and dont look back....:bsmilie:

but the "L" are quite costly. wats the recommendation a rangefinder or slr ? which model in "L" would u recommend. i am on a small budget also.

 

[dankwan]

but the "L" are quite costly. wats the recommendation a rangefinder or slr ? which model in "L" would u recommend. i am on a small budget also.

meter or no meter and how small is your budget....

 

[delinkx]

metered. something around the 200 or less maybe.

 

[Yoricko]

For "L", you can sell for the same price (used) as you bought if taken care of.

Fixed focal length rangefinder or some simple SLR.

 

[dankwan]

metered. something around the 200 or less maybe.

at your budget, "L" impossible, best an old film a-1 or fm, or as yoricko suggested a fixed focal RF....

 

[delinkx]

wat wouild u guys suggest as a fixed focus RF....?

 

[Yoricko]

Not fixed focus, fixed focal length.

Maybe some Yashica GSN or similar.

 

[dankwan]

Not fixed focus, fixed focal length.

Maybe some Yashica GSN or similar.

Oops yes fixed focal length, my mistake. Thanks yoricko for the correction.

 

[delinkx]

ok.. wat u guys think of a Canon AE-1 program ?

 

[mdzmr]

If you have minimal budget, but you want RF cam with interchangeable cam for a start. Then alternative is to get 'Made in Russia': zorki, FED, MIR or Kiev. Easily get below $200 depend on the condition.

 

[michy]

ok.. wat u guys think of a Canon AE-1 program ?

I just bought that camera a mth ago. From ebay with 50mm 1.8. Pretty fun to play with manual focusing. It costed me less den 200 from ebay including shipping.

 

[delinkx]

thnkx michy.. i am also gonna think of ebay i think.

 

[raytoei]

Hi. For 200 sgd, this is a good place to start.

So let me work out the thought process, which is strictly my opinion.

Now, you mentioned Rangefinder or SLR. I am going to presume RFs since this is a RF columnn. So, looking at cameras around that budget, you could get the

a Leica II copies: FED, Zorki,
b Canonet
c Minolta Hi-matic
d Olympus 35 series
e etc

If this is your first, then you'd probably want a built-in meter. But because the bulk of cameras that came with built-in meters used the dreaded px625 batteries, this eliminates most of the '70s cameras (b, c and d)

The 50s and 60s cameras had selenium meters on them which is okay but frankly, it is ugly, especially when they don't work. (a)

Of course, you could go really retro and get a Sekonic L398 meter for about <$50 usd on ebay.

I think your best bet could be the Olympus XA. This is a Aperture RF that is small, inexpensive, uses sr44 batteries (some say can use the LR44 but SR44 are more consistent in the discharge). Most are sold on ebay with a flash.

just my 2 cents worth.

raytoei

 

[glchua]

hello,

quite long back i had a film camera. now i use eos 450D.

i wanna play around again with film. i need ur recommendations on which camera i can get.

since am a canon fan, i was thinking of a A-1 canon one.

which one will u guys recommend ? canon, leica maybe....

thanks in advance.

I would recommend a Minolta X700 with a 50/2. They are going for roughly your budget. If you are willing to stretch a bit, then maybe Nikon FE with a 50. I think both are more value for money than rangefinders of comparable price that are most likely, old.

 

[delinkx]

hello all.

thnx all for the reviews. now i am confused

but can anyone give me a review of the AE-1 Program of canon. how about this one ?

 

[raytoei]

I am sure the ae-1 is a good camera. I am not the most knowledgeable person on the AE-1, what i would think is important is that with an old camera (70s- 80s), you'd want the electronics to be at the minimum. The AE-1 is electronically-controlled so you may want to test it first before buying.

 

[night86mare]

start with the letter "L"..... and dont look back....:bsmilie:

depends, not everyone wants a leica, i am sure you will get what you pay for, but whether that jump in price is justifiable is another guess altogether.

there are people who take amazing photographs with a fixed focus p&s even.

yashica t4, olympus stylus epic, these are good examples of nice compact cameras with af, shoot film, exposure well. of course, they are literally point and shoot, with limited function.

there is a huge variety of cameras available, but price wise ebay will be better than most singapore second-hand shops or what singaporeans are willing to sell for. most of the rangefinders i let go (in great condition) at on par to price i bought it for were snapped up very quickly and most people marvelled at how the condition was great and much better than they expected. just not my cup of tea, RFs.

i am sure others have already mentioned film slr...... then there is huge variety to choose from, olympus om series, pentax series, modern or older, canon budget slrs, the list goes on.

just for your heads up, entry level slrs can be bought from ebay uk for as low as 15 pounds in GREAT condition, without lens though. i do not know about shipping, however.