Looking for another 'old-school' 35mm SLR camera [w/PICS]

[TheChort]

Looking through my dad's old belongings, I found his old ZENIT TTL SLR camera
Zenit 1
Zenit 2
Zenit 3
It looked like it was in pretty good shape, not to mention that it also looked like I could use it hammer a few nails with it.
But after just one roll of film, the shutter went bust.
Turns out fixing it is about quadruple the price of the camera.

Now, I really wanna get another camera of the same genre and time period. Any recommendations?
I'm not looking for collector's items, just a working camera. My price range tops off ~$50.

I've heard names like Zeiss, Agfa, and of course Nikon was around then too. But, I don't know much else, or what kind of quality they were. Any info would be appreciated.

 

[jadinolf]

Old school?

Try an Argus C-3.

 

[jacob0401]

pentax k1000 - i have it, was my grandfathers...passed down to my dad...now mine...

 

[xanis]

"Made in USSR". There's your problem.

 

[thehstrybean]

Originally posted by: Xanis
"Made in USSR". There's your problem.

QFT. Of course, it's not a nuke, so look on the bright side...I had an old Minolta X570 that had a thing that controls the shutter blow, and it was gonna cost $$$$ to fix, so I found a Minolta XG-A (not nearly as nice) and use that, but it needs a new battery...

 

[abaez]

I have a canon ae-1.. best camera on earth sooooo many lenses for it and cheap too.

 

[stinkycheese]

I love my Olympus OM-1n. Manual everything and only needs a battery if you want to use the light meter.

 

[ProviaFan]

A Pentax K-mount system would be a great choice; there are many options in used lenses, and the lenses are forward-compatible if you ever want a Pentax digital SLR (like Nikon, but Pentax's old lens compatibility is better in the low-end DSLRs than Nikon's, and the lenses are probably cheaper in general).

 

[Ichigo]

Steal one from a high school. Our SLR's are so cool. ^-^

 

[dennilfloss]

That Zenit was my first SLR! Built like a tank.

I had an OM-1N also. Best semiauto for astronomy pics (I sold it to an astronomy store). Still in great demand. I have one SLR left, my beat-up old Yashica FX-3.

 

[Atheus]

I had a Pentax K1000 in school, which I loved, but I sold it a few years ago to buy drugs. MDMA specifically. Oh well.

 

[IronWing]

K-1000 is a good choice. If you can snag one of the K-1000 SE models even better (diagonal split screen focus and made in Singapore).

Also, if you want to go a little fancier then the Pentax MX is worth looking at. They are difficult to find though and probably still much higher priced than the K-1000.

 

[TheChort]

Just out of curiosity, any thoughts on the German brands?
Zeiss, Agfa ...

 

[IronWing]

Originally posted by: TheChort
Just out of curiosity, any thoughts on the German brands?
Zeiss, Agfa ...

Don't know much about Agfa but you can't get a lens cap for a Zeiss for $50.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I have a Rolleiflex SLR camera made in the 1970s along with a 50mm f/1.4 lens and a 200mm lens. Both lenses are in excellent condition and I think they are worth more than the camera itself. I've owned this camera and the lenses since the early 1980s and used it as recently as a few years ago.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: abaez
I have a canon ae-1.. best camera on earth sooooo many lenses for it and cheap too.

The AE-1 is OK. It would be a great camera if it were aperture priority instead of shutter priority.

To the OP, you can find another Zenit here. They are running pretty inexpensive, and if you already have lenses that will fit it, then go for it.

If you are looking for another camera, I would recommend something like a Pentax Spotmatic or, for much less money, a Chinon CE-3. Or really any other camera that uses the M42 screwmount (also called the "Praktika" or "Pentax" screwmount). The lenses to fit those mounts are plentiful and inexpensive on the second hand market.

ZV

 

[tfinch2]

Olympus OM-4

 

[AnyMal]

That's too bad. What makes it particularly sad is judging by the logo on the front it was a limited edition camera to commemorate 1980 Moscow Olympics.

 

[conehead433]

I have a couple of Canon A-1's, a significant step up from a Canon AE-1. I doubt seriously I would ever consider selling them for such a cheap price. Too bad I can't use my 50mm f1.4 lens on a newer digital camera without having to use an adapter that doubles the f-stop.

 

[TheChort]

Originally posted by: conehead433
I have a couple of Canon A-1's, a significant step up from a Canon AE-1. I doubt seriously I would ever consider selling them for such a cheap price. Too bad I can't use my 50mm f1.4 lens on a newer digital camera without having to use an adapter that doubles the f-stop.

Text?

 

[Czar]

http://www.rugift.com/

more russian cameras there

 

[Colt45]

i have the same camera, they're like $20 on ebay.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

In Soviet Russia...

 

[NoShangriLa]

Any film SLR will be a good camera.

The cameras below have great number of lenses in the used market:
Like others has said that a Pentax K mount would be a good camera, however an older K mount body is robust & heavy enough to use as a hammer.
Canon manual bodies with newer Bayonet FD mount is more prefer than the older FL mount bodies because the shutter/meter is more accurate (FD bodies can take FL lenses)..
Nikons F series bodies are excellent bodies with great lenses to be had and the mount is compatible with the newer body mounts.
Minolta also a great contender however most bodies are not as robust as the above brands.
Leica are great bodies with relatively easy to find lenses however they are expensive as hell.


Not as easy to find use lenses:
Yashica F series are great bodies that have compatible Zeiss lens mounts of the upper scale Contax bodies.
Olympus OM bodies & Zuiko lenses are second to none, they are precision machines, small, light weight, and robust (the lenses are sharp with extremely accurate metering & shutter).

I would jump at a chance to get any OM bodies specially the OM-4/OM-4T/OM-4Ti, because it is the ultimate precision photography machine that is on par or better than the renown Leica/Contax. Yashica/Contax comes in a close second because the bodies & lenses are great. And, Nikon system is a good choice if you want to migrate to more advance bodies in the future.

Good luck!

 

[AmphibSailor]

I just bought an A1 off of Ebay. It had just been overhauled and works like a champ. The body was less than $90. I also bought a couple of accessories for next to nothing including a couple of Canon lenses, a flash and an autowinder. So far its been a great toy...