Buying 35mm film camera?

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Question:

Hi i'm taking a photo class right now and looking in to buying a 35 mm manual film camera!.!.!.

What should i look for!?

My photo teacher told me i could buy one for VERY cheep but the only ones i've seen have been in the hundreds!.!.!.

thanks!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

I agree with rowlfe!. You can usually find a 35mm film camera on eBay in pretty good condition for fairly cheap!. But you need one with completely manual aperture and shutter speed settings!.

By the way, Jonathan was wrong!. SLR's are NOT the only cameras with manual settings!. If you don't mind using an antique camera, you can also get a rangefinder camera!. A rangefinder camera is completely manual, including the focus!. The way it works is that you look through the viewfinder and you will see another image superimposed on it!. You turn the focus knob until both images line up to form one clear image!. You'll see a distance mark shown on the dial!. Most rangefinder cameras have the rangefinder coupled to the lens, so that when you turn the dial it will also focus the lens!.

In fact, most vintage film cameras were completely manual!.

Like I said, if you don't mind using an antique camera, then you can find a 35mm rangefinder camera for very cheap!. I would recommnend an Argus camera, like the Argus C-4 or C-44!. They're all very solidly built, and take awesome pictures!. The Argus C3 is another really good camera, but it's really old!. People nickname it the "Brick" because it's boxy and kind of heavy!. But it does take really good pictures!. You can find the Argus C3 pretty much anywhere!.!.!.antique shops, thrift shops, and you'll find hundreds of them on eBay!. It was the most popular 35mm film camera ever made, and it was the camera that really made the 35mm format popular!.

The only catch with a rangefinder camera is that sometimes the rangefinder gets out of alignment and you might have to adjust it!. I had to adjust a couple of the cameras I bought on eBay!.!.!.but then they worked fine!. I only had to fix the rangefinder once!. It's not that hard to do!.

By the way, you can take MUCH better pictures with film than digital!. Most people don't know the difference because they're just taking snapshots with their point and shoot digital camera and they're just looking for the fastest and easiest way to take pictures!. They don't care about quality!. Most people aren't even interested in photography!. The pictures I've taken with my manual 35mm and 120 cameras are much better than anything I've taken with my digital camera!. Film has better resolution and color saturation!. I like taking landscape photos and I am always amazed at the detail that film can capture if it's exposed right!. I develop my own film and prints in my darkroom, and there is nothing like a real optical print from an enlarger!. Working with film is also a lot more fun and rewarding!.

Good luck and have fun!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Ditto the last answers!. You should be able to find a used one, particularly if there are any photo shops that deal in used equipment in your area!. Your biggest concern in a used camera is that everything works, of course, and that the seals are all good so no light leaks onto the film!.

also, if you currently have an interchangeable lens camera, you'll probably want to find a film version that uses the same lenses, if possible!.

Two of the all time classic all manual film cameras are the Pentax K1000 (it was, by far, the most common student camera for many years), and the Nikon FM-series (considerably more expensive and hard to find!. It was very popular with photo journalists)!. I think most electronic SLR film cameras have full manual control, too, if you want togo that route!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Used 35mm cameras are quite cheap if you look!. You are looking for a viewfinder camera, NOT a single lens reflex (SLR)!. A SLR will be much more expensive than a simple viewfinder camera!. The ONLY difference is with a viewfinder, you have to compensate for parallax, the difference in viewpoint from the viewfinder and the camera lens the closer the object is to the front of the camera!. I have a very old Argus C3 which I inherited from my father!. There is absolutely NOTHING that is automatic!. The only thing that is automatic is the light meter which does NOT require a battery since it uses a solar cell to measure ambient light!. It has a split image rangefinder to assist in focusing!. I have seen similar cameras in camera stores which carry used equipment for less than $25!. I am sure if you poke around on Ebay you can find a bazillion decent used 35mm cameras!. Look for one with interchangable lenses with a wide angle, medium and a short telephoto would be nice!. If you can find one of these with a couple of lenses, it will also have auxiliary lenses for the viewfinder so the image will match what the lens sees!. Any camera with a Zeiss lens will be a decent one!. Nikon and Zeiss make the best lenses!. While you are at it, buy a really good light meter!. Cadmium-Sulfide (CDS) is good as it can sense very low light levels so you can take long exposures in low light accurately!. My CDS light meter can accurately determine exposures as long as 15 minutes which literally means taking pictures by moon and stars as if it were bright as the noon day sun!. I use a very old (20 years or so) stopwatch with red LEDs at night for long exposures!. Do NOT rely on the lightmeter built into the camera itself and make sure if there are automatic features, that you can manually override them!. You want a camera with manual focus, shutter and aperture adjustments!. Even though I have a decent digital camera, a Sony Mavica, I prefer film!. Film NEVER forgets if there is a power glitch or a battery dies!. And, film is very forgiving on both over and under exposure!. The major problem I have with most digital cameras is no manual controls until you get into a camera as expensive as a high end SLR!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

usually in a photography class they want you to have a SLR camera, but not always!. if you are looking for a camera that has manual setting then an SLR will be the only choice!. i think your teacher is thinking in camera terms as 4-5 hundred dollars is cheap in the camera world!. most of your Nikon and canons will be expensive so i would look at the Pentax and Olympus type cameras!. and if you are lucky you might find a Minolta or some such on ebay!. i am surprised that your teacher is even making you buy a film camera as it is getting increasingly harder and more costly to use film!. look up these online retailers Ritz camera - B&H Photo - Calumet - adorama and remember if it looks to go to be true it is, say Ritz is selling for $300 and another site for half that, your gonna get ripped off!!!!Www@QuestionHome@Com

You should still be able to find them cheap at certain retailers who may have old ones left over after the digital popularity boom!. Look for a manual and automatic focus, light meter within, all the appropriate knobs that tell the camera what kind of film your putting in, etc!.and space for an attachable flash or flash unit!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

You should buy a used camera!. When I learned I had a Pentax k 1000!. It was really good for a beginner because it was completely manual!. It is a really old camera, I think from the 70s but look it up on ebay or perhaps bhphoto!.com they have a huge selection online, and if you life in NY they have a huge super store On 34th street(i think, but the address is on the website)!.

ebay - http://cgi!.ebay!.com/Pentax-K1000-35mm-Fi!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

well yes, they are going to be a few hundred dollars!.!.!.esp for a new one!.
Try looking at getting a quality used one!. Still you will need lenses and so forth as well!. Try going to a local camera shop and asking them to show you their used film cameras!.

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