Manual SLR Recommendations


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muse

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Sep 30, 2004
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Hi, I'm looking to get a manual SLR but i'm a little lost with all the information floating on the Net. My budget's around $300-400, i definately don't mind a 2nd hand if it's still in good condition. I'll probably be shooting people, landscapes, animals and macros...

Right now, I'm eyeing either the Nikon FM2 or FM3...what are the pros and cons of getting one? And what should I look out for when getting a 2nd hand camera?
 

muse said:
Hi, I'm looking to get a manual SLR but i'm a little lost with all the information floating on the Net. My budget's around $300-400, i definately don't mind a 2nd hand if it's still in good condition. I'll probably be shooting people, landscapes, animals and macros...

Right now, I'm eyeing either the Nikon FM2 or FM3...what are the pros and cons of getting one? And what should I look out for when getting a 2nd hand camera?


i think FM2 is better of those u mentioned...
 

Err, with ur budget, think FM3 is not possible even it a second hand one, FM2 also very tough!!!! Maybe u can get Minolta which may fit ur budget, like a X700. Or maybe a Canon A1.
 

I think u need to up ur budget by at least a hundred bucks, unless u already have a len or can borrow from ur friends.
 

muse said:
Hi, I'm looking to get a manual SLR but i'm a little lost with all the information floating on the Net. My budget's around $300-400, i definately don't mind a 2nd hand if it's still in good condition. I'll probably be shooting people, landscapes, animals and macros...

Right now, I'm eyeing either the Nikon FM2 or FM3...what are the pros and cons of getting one? And what should I look out for when getting a 2nd hand camera?

Why not buy a F80 or something similar to that. There is also Canon that you might want to consider.
 

errrr, tot he say budget around S$300-400? How to buy F80?? :bsmilie:
 

with the budget of $300-400, you can probably get a fm2 body.. but you need to think about the lenses... to begin with you could possibly acquire a nikkor prime 50mm 1.8 for about $100, this lens is fast and good but you probably have to stay off macro till you save up enough for a macro lens. you could make do with a closeup filter first but this might lower the quality of the shots but since you have a budget, this is a good way to start.

alternatively you may consider getting a cheap af body which allows manual functions like the f801s or f601qd, i sold my f801s for $200 just recently. these have a different feel, but are also good cameras, and offer you a budget to buy other lenses. or best if you can borrow from people you know..

also, for photographing animals, you might need af or to be really quick.. im assuming prographing animals in their natural environment.. manual COULD be slower assuming they move too fast .. and then again you might need a tele lens for this type of shots assuming you cant get as near to them as you would like. since you said you like to shoot a variety of subjects, you might consider getting a cheap or third party zoom considering the budget..

good luck!
 

With your budget, most likely you will only be able to get a body only... Canon A-1 or F-1, AE-1, Ftb all also good and sturdy... but still, depends on your needs and style...

For your info, second hand FD mount (Canon manual mount) lenses cost from 90 bucks to several hundreds easily... Nikon ones would cost more i believe but not sure (i'm a Canon manual film user)
 

Wah! 801s for $200! Used to own one, and some say that it is one of the best "manual focus" cameras (because the AF spedd was slow compared to the rest", which is bundled with a motr drive, automatic exposures, etc.

An FM2 with 50/1.8 AF will be a good match. Maybe slightly above budget. But the lens will allow forward upgrade, whether to an AF camera or DSLR.
 

muse said:
Hi, I'm looking to get a manual SLR but i'm a little lost with all the information floating on the Net. My budget's around $300-400, i definately don't mind a 2nd hand if it's still in good condition. I'll probably be shooting people, landscapes, animals and macros...

Right now, I'm eyeing either the Nikon FM2 or FM3...what are the pros and cons of getting one? And what should I look out for when getting a 2nd hand camera?


i've a totally new unused Ricoh KR-5 Super II that i should be able to fit into your budget. it comes with a totally new 50mm F2 lens as well as the camera carrying case. only that the lens have very slight fungus mark and i tried to clean as much as possible. but i'm sure it doesn't affect much unless you blow your pictures to A3 sizes(when you see film grains etc).

it's a fully manual camera and also you can use cheap K-mount lenses(something you might want to consider about when expanding your arsenals). and all you need is extra of a wide angle lens for landscape and 105mm and above lens for macro and portrait shooting. i'll try out an old used flash, can bundle in for you if it's working properly after i check later on.

in short, the camera, lense and the carrying case are mint condition with their original boxes, included flash if working. trully a collector items actually but i think we can solve your problem here. see to believe.

pm me if you're interested else i'll let go to others who want them. i'll let you see them first than you decide, ok?
 

tested the flash. seems working. guess will be in the bundle then. ;)
 

y? u wanna buy? will talk to muse first. need to work things out within his budget. half selling half giving......maybe. ;)
 

photografixed said:
y? u wanna buy? will talk to muse first. need to work things out within his budget. half selling half giving......maybe. ;)

that is not a Pure Mechnical Manual Camera, right? I am looking for one Pure Mechnical Manual Camera that can work without a battery. :D .... Thinking of either a Minolta MC/MD mount (Since I am using Minolta AF now) or a Pentax K mount camera (since K Mount is the most widely supported mount for Russian Lens, minusing the M42 / M39 mount) :).
 

Ricoh KR-5 Super II is a mechanical camera and I had one too. It's light and fits the hand very nicely. It is made by Cosina, there are many other brand using the same body OM2000, FM10, Yashica FX-2000 Super. They are the same body with different mount, OM2000 has spotmetering I *think*. It uses 3 LED +/ok/-, the cocking is very nice and smooth and shutter is kinda loud.

It's a nice little camera, mine doesnt seems to have a very acurate meter compare to my EOS50e, KX or MX which I meter with grey card produce the same reading. The KR-5 Super II is sometime correct sometime off and can off for like 2-4stops. Maybe mine got some problem but since I have KX/MX for K-mount I din send for checking but also it's good enuf so I keep it.

Ricoh len I heard is not bad too. The later model are build by cosina, there are some zoom with made in korea label are made by Samyang. The len I have with the body RKN 35-70mm f3.5-4.8 is a wonderful len, it's one of my very best K-mount leh although cheap looking. Very good, sharper then some SMCs, Sigma I've got.

Weakness: Although the len mount is metal, the aperture coupling ring is plastic. This shd not be a problem but "chor-lor" ppl like me may mishandle and broke it :D

There are ppl who remove the timer as many said the gear wheel inside the timer is plastic and intime to come it will be deteeth and fail. However, the timer is also the mirror-lock prefire meaning it actually flip up the mirror before shutter fire during timer mode to reduce vibration. LED on it is bright large, it's nicer then the MX one which is alittle too small and confusing. Very hard to see in bright light too. The KR LED dont have this issues.

There are cheap, I bot mine from ebay in mint condition ard US$40+ with flash, body and zoom.

You can read about this generic body here:
http://www.vermontel.net/~wsalati/CasualCollector/cosina.htm
 

Blurblock,
Can u use Minolta AF on SRT??? :think:
 

whoelse said:
Blurblock,
Can u use Minolta AF on SRT??? :think:

Nope, I don't think so, at least not with a customised adapter, but there is already MD --> AF convertor, which incidently works like a Teleconvertor that either 2x or 1.6 the focal length on AF body (due to the extra piece of glass inside the convertor to help it focus to infinity).
 

Have you consider Seagull brand? Since it has been building newer MF body for Minolta. Why are u thinking to have a mechanical body since u already have an AF system now :)
 

Multiple reasons ..... first Astrophotography, where I open the damm shutter for hours (last track record .... 5 hours). Second for portability, I do not need to bring extra batteries along, I just need 1 for my light meter which can stay for damm long. Third, I sometime (not a lot of time though) go travelling, especially cold countries where battery drain like water.

Most importantly ...... Damm ... the Mechinical Camera has a perfect feel on my hands :). Just like my Bronica without metering ;).

Moreover, I don't think Seagull produce pure mechnical cameras :(. If they do and they are in MD / PK mount, I would not mind it, as long as their plane shutter speed are accuate :). I normally shoot at Manual, even in my AF anyway, just with the added work of manual focus ;).
 

Seagull do have pure mech. in MD mount and cheap too but where to find? I was looking at Minolta SRT too last time but the feature is really lacking behind Pentax esp. the meter cell/needle indicator/battery although Minolta will do fine too. :)

There are too many kmount lens options out there so it's gotta be plentiful from different brand that uses kmount eg. Ricoh, Chinon and many others. Also u can use modern AF on MF kmount w/o problem. But I dun mind SRT too :D

Oh, I also have Russian len on PK mount too.

Another option? -> http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/pentaxlx/index.htm
 

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