Equipment advice for student club

[photographydreams]

hi! Usually i'm on the wedding section of PN, but I'm heading up the Photo Club

of my college and I would like to buy two or three film SLRs that the club could

lend out to students who are learning about photography at our tutorials but do

not have their own SLR (yet). I would hope to buy 2 or 3 SLR bodies with two 50

mm lenses, one 20mm and one 85mm. I'd like to stick with the same brand so

lenses can be interchanged. Can you recommend what cameras to buy - i'm really

looking for something that can be bought cheaply on ebay, since the club is on a

small budget, and we probably won't insure the cameras. Thanks!

 

Sarah

[d_purdy]

The schools around here use the Pentax K1000 I think it is called. Simple

manual camera, durable with good optics and very inexpensive.

[randall ellis]

The K-1000 is the classic student camera - lots of lens options, inexpensive, durable, easy to use, and easy to find.

 

- Randy

[SteveH]

I had (and now my kids have) Canon AE 1 cameras - I just checked and saw an AE1 Program with 50mm 1.8 FD lens "buy it now" for $140. There are lots of these cameras around, the lenses are/were of good quality and plentiful (Canon FD lenses). The A-1 is also nice, but pricier. I'd still be using mine but I went to medium format for film. Also check out KEH.com

[daniel_cytron]

Minolta SRT is a good choice too. The lenses are dirt cheap. They were more expensive, better cameras back in the day than the K-1000.

[Rob_the_waste]

There's a boatload of SLR's that use the 42 mm screw mount. Prakticas can be picked up for a song, and lenses are cheap and available.

[john_robison3]

A basic mechnical SLR with standard lens can be had for $30-50, but the other two lenses you mentioned, a 20mm and 85mm usually arn't associated with inexpensive. A more reasonable WA and Tele price-wise would be a 28mm and a 135mm lens. Perhaps even consider new, a Vivitar with a 50mm f1.7 from B&H I think is $140 plus shipping.

[chuck_pere]

Also check Craigslist if you have one for your area. I've noticed some real deals on 35mm equipment. And you get to see the stuff first.

[ken_jeanette1]

I think most were on the right track when they suggested the K1000. It is the standard student gear, and the K-mount lenses are plentiful. My suggestion for a budget minded purchase would be to look for bodies that use the K-mount by lesser known (pronounced less-expensive) makers. Ricoh, Chinon, even Sears had a line of K-mount cameras. Then there are the Russian cameras with K-mount. They are built like cold war tanks, but have standard features and can be had pretty cheap.

[mfophotos]

Well, if you are looking for new cameras... this is a good deal:

http://www.ultrafineonline.com/viv3wi50lesl.html

 

for less than the price of a D200 -- you could buy 10 students cameras.

[pshinkaw]

I suggest Vivitar 220, 240 and 250's, All made by Cosina.

 

M42 lenses. They can be found on e-bay for about $10 each. For every three that you buy, one will be broken. That should be a source of spare parts and extra lenses. They use S76 batteries.

 

They are also somewhat theft resistant since few people will walk-ff with a Vivitar.

 

Stay away from the 400-450 series. They are nice cameras but they they require mrcury batteries for the exposure meters.

 

-Paul

[ben_hutcherson]

You can go onto Ebay and get Canon FTbs for around $50 each with a 50mm lens attached. These are great little cameras that handle a lot like a K1000, but are a definite step above the K1000 in both features and build quality.

 

FD lenses are plentiful, great, and really inexpensive. In addition to the 50mms, which you'll probably get more of than you know what to do with, you can pick up an 85mm 1.8 for around $100, and a 20mm 2.8 for around $150.

 

If the prices on these additional lenses sound too high, you could also go for a few other great options. A 24mm 2.8 should run around $100, a 28mm 2.8 around $50, and a 35 2.8 around $30. On the telephoto end, a 100 2.8 is around $70, a 135 3.5 around $20, a 135 2.8 around $50, a 200 2.8 for around $200, and a 200 f4 for around $40. These are all great lenses that would serve you well, and, as you can see, aren't very expensive(especially considering the quality you're getting).

[david_m]

You definitely need an M42 mount SLR: Chinon CS, GAF L-CS, Pentax Spotmatic, Vivitar 250/SL or 400/SL. Just steer clear of Praktica and Zenit. Lenses are much cheaper and more plentiful than Pentax K mount. You'll be hard pressed to find inexpensive 20mm or 85mm lenses for any camera; 24mm and 100mm are much more common and more reasonable.

[Jochen_S]

Here in Germany the cheapest lenses seem to be Minolta manual focus.

 

It's hard to get something wider than 35mm in good shape for M42.

 

Suggested focal lengths for budget orientated purchases are 35, 50 and 135mm. 3rd party ultrawides like 24mm are sometimes available. The Pentax K1000 seems overpriced at the moment because by far too many sentimentalists remember learning on one.

 

Vivitar 2000, Ricoh KR 5&10 do the same job.

 

Spotmatics are good, but their batteries aren't cheap (Mercury substitute...) Practicas take pictures too, are easy to load and what the **** should students expect as a loaner? - I mean why shouldn't they see that Soligor WAs are flareprone? - It'll teach them to buy something decent later. I'd even get cheapo zooms for a similar reason.

[rachel_sekely]

if you're still lokking for some great starter cameras, i just came across this on ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/LOT-OF-6-ASSORTED-VINTAGE-MINOLTA-CAMERAS_W0QQitemZ330042040635QQihZ014QQcategoryZ15237QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[shadowfox]

Olympus OM-2 or OM-2n, they went from $40-$60 on eBay in perfectly usable condition (mint ones are of course more expensive). The price usually includes with the "standard" but excellent 50mm/1.8 Zuiko lens. Uses two SR-44 silver-oxide batteries which are cheap and plentiful.

 

Now the tricky part is the 20mm and 85mm lenses. Olympus Zuiko lenses with these specs are most likely out of your budget range, but you may be able to score Vivitars, Sigmas, Tamrons, CPC, JC Penny, Soligor lenses with OM mount with these exact spec.

 

Of course if you follow my suggestion you'll risk your students becoming zuikoholics, which is quite a habit-forming obsession :)

 

Good luck!