amir_vii Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 <p>Hello Guys<br> <br /> I have been mostly shooting medium format, I just want to get a 35mm so i can take out for street shooting. Something with a fast lens so i can get some decent looking night or low light shots like lets say in a Cafe or something.<br> Basically for anyone who knows about blogging and more specifically TUMBLR type of photos is what I'm looking for.<br> Tumblr is basically a blog site and it has a lot of blogs with some cool film shots.<br> <br /> A local guy is selling the following cameras, I'm not sure which one i should go with. <br /> <br /> - Canon QL 19 for $150<br /> - Yashica 35 Electro for $100<br /> - Canon AE-1 with 50mm lens for $150<br /> - Minolta Hi-Matic 11 for $100<br /> - Minox GT with 35mm F2.8 lens for $150<br /> - Ricoh 35 Electronic with 40mm F1.8 lens for $100<br /> (Canadian $)<br /> <br /> With these cameras would i be able to manually set my aperture and shutter? I saw some shots taken from these cameras on flickr and my favorites seem to be the Minolta Hi-Matic 11 and the Ricoh 35</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom_cheshire Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 <p>Those prices are pretty high. Are you limited to buying from only the sources you have? Can you not check out the auction website(s)?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luis_g Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 <p>Tom's right on the prices. My pick (and I've owned several) is the Canonet, but there are many venues (and prices) into this.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amir_vii Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 <p>My bad, i forgot to mention I really don't have to buy from this guy. There is always Ebay and other websites. I'm mostly concerned about which camera to get not the prices. So any recommendations? </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lachaine Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 <p>Any of them, and in fact, any camera at all. The only reason medium format ones aren't usually considered optimal for street photography is not so much the size but more because they have less depth of field at a given aperture than a 35mm camera does. It makes it less practical to just set the camera at a fixed shutter speed and aperture and forget about focusing each time... but not impossible.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mukul_dube Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 <p>Of the cameras you list, only the AE-1 is an SLR which you can use with different lenses. I shall point out also that if you want "night or low light shots", a faster lens than that of the Minox will be good.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amir_vii Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 <p>Between these 3 which one would you go with?<br /><br />Yashica Electro 35 GT <br />Canon Canonet QL17 G-III <br />Minox GT with 35mm F2.8<br />Ricoh 35 Electronic with 40mm F1.8 lens<br />Canon A-1 with 50mm f1.8 lens</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridinhome Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 <p>Canon A1 with 50mm 1.8. </p> <p>The A1 was the first multi-mode camera Canon (anyone?) ever produced and a truly under appreciated camera for its capabilities. It's a little fiddly to use but once you get used to it it's a dream. </p> <p>And the 50 1.8 is an excellent lens. Sharp as a tack. If you really want you can upgrade the 50 1.8 to the 50 1.4 at a later stage, or just buy an 85 1.8 and live happily ever after.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amir_vii Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 <p>thanks kayam<br> from the pictures i'm seeing the canon A1 seems bigger than the other cameras i had in mind, i'm not sure if this is true. can you confirm?<br> i have a canon FD 50mm 1:2 from my previous broken canon that my dad used to own (canon T50)<br> not sure if the lens is working or not, is that a good lens? I remember asking here how much the lens is worth and they said around 20$ which is a bit surprising when its a 1.2 lens </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridinhome Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 <p>Amir - yes the A1 is definitely bigger than the Canonet, Yashica and Minox, though it's not a large camera by any means. At least, not compared to some of its peers. Don't know about the Ricoh 35 but since it's a rangefinder I'm guessing the A1 is bigger than that too.</p> <p>As for the FD 50 2.0 - can't comment on the quality of the lens since I've never come across one. It's actually quite rare (note - that doesn't mean it's valuable). See http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/canon/fdresources/fdlenses/50mm.htm</p> <p>That said, it's likely to be a decent lens. It's hard to screw up a 50mm lens, and Canon had certainly gotten the formula down by that point. I'm not sure why they built a lens that's slightly slower than the 50 1.8 since that was pretty much the standard introductory kit lens they sold at the time. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom_price1 Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 <p>Throwing a bit of a curve here, quite small black manual shutter/aperture SLR for low light with a wide range of lenses available? Ricoh KR5 Super II, takes K-mount lenses and has an LED +- in the viewfinder. Neither of mine needed new mirror bumpers or light seals, a big plus in my view. Alternative would be Pentax ME Super which has a LED indicator in the (awesome) viewfinder and can be used in manual mode if you don't mind using buttons instead of a dial. I have a raft load of SLRs and the ME Super has the quietest shutter of them all. The semi-pancake Rikenon 50mm f2 lens is fantastically sharp and usually very inexpensive on Ebay.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 <p>Way too expensive unless covered by a long warranty! i am in Toronto, Canada. There are sales of "historical" cameras every few months and also at St. Lawrence Market every Sunday. I purchased a Chinon(yes! made in Japan) SLR with a nice lens for $10.Street sale. See Goodwill and Value Village. A Pentax MG and a ME-Super with a fault)were each about $40. They all work fine. Biggest problem is deteriorating light and mirror foam. Canon Ae-1 and AE-1P are great. The Canon A-series must use the correct lens! FD and FL not same coupling. The feel of the cameras are very similar to Leica and the lenses of same period, mostly better, in less, flare etc.<br> The Canon A-1 is a great camera but problem if service reqd?. If anyone can give more details here..</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_smith55 Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 <p>Old thread so I don't know if the OP made a purchase. Why buy such an old Canon? Why not get something like a Canon Elan 7N or 7NE? They are pretty new and you can find some with minimal wear on ebay for less than $100 if you are patient. They accept newer EF lenses and have all the bells and whistles you would expect in a modern DSLR.</p> <p>If you want to do street photography modern autofocus and auto exposure are a big help. I would leave the antique 35mm stuff to collectors.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m_stephens Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 <p>There are several styles of street shooting, and some of those work better in one style than another. I like a quiet shutter and and a 35mm lens. A normal lens doesn't have much reach. The little Canonet has a 40mm f/1.9 which is very nice. The better model is the QL 17 G-III which has an f/1.7 lens that is beautiful. You can range focus, or scale focus these in a second. It is small, quiet and unobtrusive. It has shutter priority auto exposure. Bad news is that it is limited to ASA 800 film speed. A clean ready to shoot Canon will cost about $100. </p> <p>The Yashica GSN is a good alternate, but it is a little larger in size. It has a f/1,7 45mm lens. Not as wide as most people might want for street. It's a fantastic camera though in all regards. A nice one that is ready to shoot will cost about $75. </p> <p>The Canon AE-1, or any similar program mode SLR has a few disadvantages. Heavier, larger, noisier, and more intimidating looking when you point it at someone in the street. For street shooting, you don't need to have interchangeable lenses. And don't forget - the main reason people like RF for street work is that you are never blinded by the mirror of the SLR. If you do go for an SLR, get a 35mm lens. It adds another $40 or so to the cost, but it is more useful than the 50mm normal lens. AE-1 goes for about $65.</p> <p>Autofocus is a plus and minus situation if you start looking at newer cameras. They often focus on the wrong thing when you are in a hurry, and there is often a lag that is annoying for street shooting. Having tried all kinds of cameras for street, my preference is a manual focus RF with a 28mm to 35mm fast lens. A small rangefinder with a pancake 35mm and quiet shutter is quite ideal for working in close quarters with people as you mentioned in cafe settings etc.</p> <p>Some people shoot street with TLRs or big MF boxes, or high-end SLR, and all sorts of stuff. Opinions will vary. Good luck! </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amir_vii Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 <p>thank you guys for your help, which one of these would you say is a good choice for blogging photography? I'm going to mexico soon and I want to have a small camera that i can carry around easy instead of a big DSLR around my neck. </p> <p>Ricoh 35 Automatic. Fully automatic rangefinder with 40mm F1.8 lens <br /> Canon GIII QL17 manual/automatic rangefinder with 40mm F1.7 lens <br /> Canon A1 manual/automatic SLR with 50mm F1.8 lens <br /> Olympus OM-1 manual SLR with 50mm F1.8 lens <br /> Minolta XG-1 maual SLR with 50mm F1.8 lens<br /> Yashica 35 Electro semi-automatic rangefinder with 45 mm F1.7 lens <br /> Fujica 35 ML manual rangefinder with 45mm F2.8 lens <br /> Pentax Spotmatic manual SLR with 35-105 zoom lens <br /></p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amir_vii Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 <p>any thoughts? </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m_m3 Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 <p>Have you figured out which you prefer - rangefinder vs slr?<br> I would pick the newest one without any problems. Make sure to test out if the metering is accurate.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
User_502260 Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 <p>Over time you may be more limited by the availability of fast film than by the exact speed of the lens.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Gammill Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 The OM-1 only needs a battery for the light meter and is compact with the 50 mm f1.8. Add the Zuiko 35mm f2.8 for greater apparent depth of field. Or even a 28mm. You can preset focus on the wide angle lenses and key DOF do the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_tran14 Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 <p>Your prices are too high in my standard. I would use a Nikon F5 (bought $250) or an FM (for under $100). But in your list, I would pick the GSN because it's simple, hard to use but if you know it still can give great photos</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou_Meluso Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 <p>I shoot with both rangefinders and SLR's and own most of the cameras on your list. For you I would recommend the OM-1. Very small and light. Interchangeable lenses. The 35mm f/2 is a great lens. Wonderful bright viewfinder. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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