Recommend an amateur a good film camera

disintegrate

I want to get into photography. I understand that film cameras are the best place to start. Can you please recommend me a good film camera?

I was suggested Canon EOS Rebel 2000 35mm SLR Camera Kit with 28-80mm Lens. It's not manufactured anymore. So, any other recommendations?

My budget is a maximum of 10k. So, a cheap camera is most suitable for me.

mridula

I am not sure that if an SLR will come in 10K range. Also why flim why not digital?

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Mridula

Travel Tales from India

mousourik

With my very little knowledge of photography, i tend to feel in the line of Mridula. Digital cameras have the advantage of shooting as many pics as one want. So that's the ideal one for any beginner as lot of experimentation is possible. Also, for film cameras, the expenses are too much.

trooooon

Buy a good metal body SLR, second hand should be great, ask the guy to let you try it and shoot a couple of rolls, get them developed and check the results.

As for brands, its a personal thing, but Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Minolta all make good bodies. A 50mm fixed lens should be a good starting point, get one with a low f stop.

You know you're going to end up spending loads of money on film and developing right?!?!?

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Haylo

If you are totally set on the idea of a film camera, and we should remember that many of us used such a thing successfully for many many years, my recommendation is a second hand Olympus OM-1.

They stopped making them years ago, but they are an excellent camera and if you can find one second hand (eBay?) it will definitely be within your budget, even with perhaps a second lens.

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Hyderabadi

If you look for a former USSR/Russian brand 'ZENIT', you may still find SLRs for under Rs.10k!

I bought my first SLR, a ZENIT without 'through the lens metering' (TTL)- for about Rs.1200.00 at Burma Bazar in Chennai, after I came back to Hyderabad, I found a 'customs notified shop' that was selling a ZENIT 122 TTL, and they were happy to exchange my old one for around Rs.300-400. May be a whole lot more these days.

I brought it here to the US, never use these days since I have a D-SLR, but I'm keeping it! It has a 'screw' type lens mount as opposed to 'bayonet' mount on Japanese SLRs...., a cloth curtain shutter, and weighs a ton . Rugged, I cannot even describe the abuse it's suffered. Lost the game to D-SLRs, though.

Something I'd love to keep using, but may not be practical as even if you find film rolls, it may become difficult and expensive to develop and print.

Besides, scanning old pictures is cool, but scanning makes even good 'film' pictures look flat.

Couple of pictures to show-off my ZENIT:


.... and the 'screw' type mount:


More on the ZENIT, if you are looking for a really cheap SLR, but no basic photography principles compromised, you may be better off getting the Olympus OM-1 as Haylo suggests if it's around the same price.:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenit_%28camera%29

Good luck!

Haylo

I have to say though, while an exceptionally bad camera can hinder a learning photographer, a good camera won't help a thoughtless photographer.

For learning the basics, once you have a camera with a half decent lens that actually functions okay, the camera itself can be about the least important factor! When I started my first photography course, I only had my father's 1950s Kodak Retinette, but still managed to learn an awful lot!

Hyderabadi

Very true!

My first camera was a Minolta viewfinder camera with ttl metering, father had bought it in Japan in 1968/9. Later, I persuaded him to buy me a Agfa Click III, with a promise that I'll not damage his precious Minolta.

I have the Minolta, packed and safely stored in India, including it's all leather case.

There are even a couple sites you can get a virtual feel for SLRs:

Simple:
http://www.kamerasimulator.se/index_eng.php

A little more advanced (may need a faster internet connection, but not bad):
http://www.dslrsim.com/camerasim.html

More:
http://www.photonhead.com/simcam/

http://www.camerasinteractive.com/index.php# (heavily flash based)

Hal

Film will teach you well, since mistakes are quite expensive. I remember the days of spending $20 on a roll of 24 slides with developing, only to have half a dozen shots worth keeping and one really good shot per roll if you were lucky.

Hyderabadi

This mindset really upsets my kids - "Dad! It's a digital camera! "

trooooon

Thinking of going back to film, and getting a Lomograph . . . It just gets too much to sort out the 1000's of pictures you inevitably land up with shooting digital . . . The cheap point shoot russian cameras come with some of the most crazy lenses!! You also have to look so much more carefully when you know you won't see that photo till you've got it washed!!

disintegrate

Fair enough. Can anyone suggest a digital camera within 10,000 that would be perfect for me to start out with?

omtapas

Canon Powershot is very good. All my pics are made with a Canon 630 and now sx 100 (zoom 36mm to 360mm).
Much easier to use than any slr and less place in your luggage

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fsg

Digital makes you lazy.

Film is a discipline that makes you think before you take each shot.

How many times have I read that " I have taken 2,500 cracking shots".

Perhaps none are worth anything of visual merit.

I used Canon EOS system for many years, favourite lens 28-135mm except it was a f/3.5 a tad slow.

I certainly would never consider buying a s/h camera on ebay, always buy from a reputable s/h dealer who will give you a guarantee.

hal is right that film processing is costly.

May I suggest that you go down the digital route, BUT limit yourself to perhaps 20 images a day and make sure they are good ones, rather than snap at random, and edit ruthlessly.

I would suggest a minimal [35mm equivalent lens] of 28mm, an learn how to get in close to your subject.

Do your homework carefully when choosing as the market is changing daily

The trick about photogaphy is to see what the camera actally sees/ records rather than what you think it sees

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Merchant

The learning curve is much higher with digital, since you can get immediate feedback for the decisions you made. The entry-level DSLRs from all the major companies (Canon, Nikon, Olympus, etc.) are fine, and the features are practically identical. The industry has reached the point where you really don't have to worry about buying a camera from one of the major companies.

The big question after you get a digital camera is how much digital photography you want to learn (in addition to picture taking). With film, most people trusted a lab to correct color, adjust contrast, lighten or darken, and render the best possible print. With digital, you have to do this yourself. Not every image will require an overhaul once it comes out of the camera, but learning some basic skills in an editing program can make a huge difference in your photography.