jacobblizard

With all due respect, please watch your tone and try to be nice in your responses. I'm a musician, and people say this kind of thing to people looking to get into playing guitar without knowing a lot about gear. I do know a fair amount about music gear, and it makes me sick seeing people talk down like this to less experienced musicians. It's responses like these that make people afraid to break into new hobbies. I see people tour the world with guitar amps that gear-snob types would describe as "not really a professional amplifier, but fine for a bedroom player or to make cute little instagram videos" and most of the time, at least in my experience w/ music, there's a strong correlation between being a jerk about gear and not actually being that good at playing music. I also feel like pointing out that your condescending dismissal of the oly trip 35 isn't in line with what a lot of folks seem to think of those cameras. This, this, this, and this are all just from a very quick google search, and all extol the virtues of the trip 35, so don't insult me for mentioning it. Anyway, I think I'll probably go elsewhere for advice, because I'm a bit turned off of this forum at this point. Thanks to everyone who responded kindly.

I'm also becoming interested in the Olympus Trip 35. Has anyone dealt with this shop in the U.K. and have insight into how long delivery takes to the states/custom fees/overall service? The shop came recommended from a couple blog posts and seems reputable. The fact that he services them and offers 6 months warranty might make it worth the ~$20-30 more than they go for on ebay

Thanks for all the replies. Knowing her, I don't know how much she would actually like the gift card option. She has a lot on her plate, and doesn't get the same joy that I do out of finding the best deal on the best product online. I also found out that she has a Canon T3i from high school/college, and I think that she's actually most interested in a small, point-and-shoot/"street photography" style camera, the thinking being that having something small and easily available would by a catalyst to taking more photos again. I had come across that 10 best film cameras to buy for cheap article, and I like the look of the olympus stylus epic, but they seem to be going for more like $500 in good condition on eBay, which seems like too much. The Olympus XA looks nice too, and is a bit cheaper online. There's one on KEH for $257, but there's also a XA2 for $140 and an XA1 for $72. Are the XA1 and XA2 worth considering? Is the difference in price just due to the relative notoriety, or is the XA really that much better than the other two?

Hi everybody, Sorry if this kind of post is annoying, and please let me know if I should be posting this somewhere else. I'm looking for an anniversary gift for my girlfriend, and she's been talking recently about wanting to get back into film photography. She used to be an avid photographer, mostly w/ a dslr, but she also did some film in high school and college (she studied art in college for a couple years). I know next to nothing about photography myself, unfortunately, so I've been reading articles and lists of the best affordable vintage film cameras, and I wanted to ask for some opinions if anyone would be kind enough to help me out. What I think I want to do is get her two cameras: one pocket sized, a la the Olympic stylus epic II or a Nikon L35AF; and one slightly larger w more control and the option to swap lenses, etc. a la a Canon AE-1 or a Pentax K1000. Other considerations are: we travel a lot, so durability and size are both big factors; I wish I had the knowledge to rummage through thrift store bins, but I'd be afraid of buying her a broken camera and not realizing it. As far as budget, I'd love to keep it under ~$200 for both cameras, and I'm open to spending the whole budget on one camera if that seems like the better move. Thanks for reading and again, I hope this isn't too annoying :) tl;dr: want suggestions for good cheap vintage film camera for GF