What's a good 35mm SLR for photography class?

[screw3d]

I'll know which digital to get in a heartbeat but I'm not sure where to go for a 35mm here...

Preferably as cheap as possible!

Edit: Maybe I should give a budget too - $200-$300 would be nice

 

[TrueBlueLS]

I didn't think cheap and SLR went together.

 

[SilentRavens]

Well if you can't spend too much money, I would go with something like the low end of the Canon EOS series or a lower end Nikon SLR, N75, etc. Or even a used version of those camera bodies.
Anyway, what is more important than the camera body, is the lenses. If you skimp on the glass no matter how the good the camera body is the images will still have a loss of resolution.

Edit: If you're going for 70's old, look for the Olympus OM series, you can still buy new glass and they were a revolutionary camera (in terms of light metering tech) at the time they were released.

 

[DrVos]

I purchased a canon rebel GII kit with the 35mm-90mm lens for my first photography class. Its a decent little SLR. I think I paid around $150-180 for it. If your budget is cheaper than that, I'd suggest checking out camera shops in your area for a used SLR.

 

[Anubis]

do you want one with automatic functions or not? teh Nikon N65, N75, N80 are great as well as the Canon Rebels in the same price range

If you want a full manual one the Nikon FM10 is a great camera and the F3HP is even better, or you can go looking for an Old Nikormat (nikon) from the 70s, they are tanks and work with all F-mount lenses in manual modes

The older canons use a different lens mount so you cant the newer lenses with them

 

[CrackRabbit]

My GF just bought a Rebel Ti Very nice, cost her a little under $300

 

[WhiteKnight]

I have a Minolta Maxxum 5 that I love.

 

[DurocShark]

Minolta x570 or x700.

 

[screw3d]

Sweet! I think I might consider a Canon.. are there any that uses G5's battery pack? It'll be cool if I can do that

 

[Anubis]

most film cameras use 3.0v photo batteries model 2013

 

[Zenmervolt]

If you're looking for something that's full-manual then just find an old used Chinon CE-II or CE-III and it'll work fine. The CE-II and CE-III bodies use standard Pentax Screwmount lenses and everything is pretty easy to find cheaply on the used market.

ZV

EDIT: This camera only uses two button batteries to drive the shutter and the light meter. Even without batteries it still operates with a fixed shutter speed of 1/100 second. It's limiting, but you can get around it by playing with the aparture if you don't need to change the shutter speed for specialty shots.

 

[screw3d]

I don't really need a full manual for the class.. so an auto or semi-auto would be fine as long as I still have the manual options available to me..

Right now the Nikon N75 is looking really good too

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: screw3d
I don't really need a full manual for the class.. so an auto or semi-auto would be fine as long as I still have the manual options available to me..

Right now the Nikon N75 is looking really good too

Yes, Nikon for 35mm SLR.

 

[FleshLight]

How much would a decent lense cost? (say 80-300mm)

 

[Anubis]

I know the Nikon 70-300G lens costs less then 200$

 

[TechnoKid]

I have an old pentax ME super, worked great, except now it sometimes takes two winds on the film winder to make me be able to take another picture; wastes a lot of film. Anyone reccomend a pentax camera repair shop in California?

I also need the lenses cleaned (and possibly recoated), can't remember what mm they are off the top of my head.

I'd prob get a canon rebel Ti and use that for now because the 20D is just around the corner, which will be a great digital to compliment the rebel film. Lenses are also interchangeable.

 

[ComputerMonkey]

Isn't the Pentax K-1000 the photography class standard? At least it was. I looked into this same thing a couple of years ago and I found a lot of people saying that the K-1000 wasn't recommended, but mandatory mainly because it's a very basic and fully manual camera. It's also built like a freakin tank. Anyways whatever you choose have fun!

 

[Gooberlx2]

I don't know which, if any, of the entry-level consumer SLRs give you full manual control over your exposure, and that'll probably be required for a photo class (was for all of mine in college). Something like a used Canon Elan II (or equivalent Nikon/Pentax/etc) would do. Definitely check your local pawn shops too. I've seen SLRs, complete with lenses and flash go for like $50. Reliability and return policies could be sketchy though.

ebay's listing for the Elan II.

 

[Anubis]

Gooberlx2: the Nikon N65 and above allow manuall controll over shutter speed, apature, film speed and focus, thats all you need, many people in my intro to photo class used it and the similar canon rebel

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: Anubis
Gooberlx2: the Nikon N65 and above allow manuall controll over shutter speed, apature, film speed and focus, thats all you need, many people in my intro to photo class used it and the similar canon rebel

gotcha....looking at the specs on Canon's website it didn't seem like that was available. But then I might have just missed it.

 

[abaez]

Bought my Canon AE-1 program for my photo class a couple years back on ebay. Has manual and auto. Great camera for 100$

 

[ElFenix]

second the AE-1 program

 

[quentinterintino]

Originally posted by: ComputerMonkey
Isn't the Pentax K-1000 the photography class standard? At least it was. I looked into this same thing a couple of years ago and I found a lot of people saying that the K-1000 wasn't recommended, but mandatory mainly because it's a very basic and fully manual camera. It's also built like a freakin tank. Anyways whatever you choose have fun!

Good call - if you want to learn, use a camera that doesn't have AI and autofocus/spot metering. This camera takes very good pics if you know how to use it.

 

[Sid59]

i love my Nikon FE2. i wanna get a Nikon N80. It's nice.

"Anyone reccomend a pentax camera repair shop in California?"
No Mom and Pop Stores around? They are usually good for that type of business. Not too many Mom and Pops pop up out of nowhere. The ones left are the more established ones.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Get a niec used one