bill_thorlin Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 I always keep an eye on the used equipment on offer and it set me thinking what sum would I need today if I were starting from scratch (as a beginner) and was not too proud to buy second hand. For 200 quid (why no pound sign ?) I could get the following :- 404si + 28-80 macro 3.5-5.6 + 70-210 4.5-5.6 + 50mm 1.7 and 15 rolls of (new) assorted film.To me that is amazing value especially for the quality equipment that Minolta is. If I were to then save 25 quid a month for 18 months I could end up with :- 800si + 24-105 3.5-4.5 D + 50mm 2.8 macro + 100-300 4.5-5.6 APO and keep the 50mm 1.7 from the original kit. With the proceeds of selling the rest of the original kit (at a 30% loss say) I could keep myself in film for the whole period.To me that is even more amazing value. When I think that I used all my Christmas bonus one year and some savings to get an SRT101 with 58mm 1.4 MC Rokkor and felt lucky to get the deal I did it makes it clear that photography today is a more than affordable hobby. Probably even cheaper elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl attanapola Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 I can do better! Hehe! I found my dad a Dynax 5 with 28-100mm lens for the paltry sum of 50 GBP as a higher quality "point and shot" camera in the local Loot paper.For another 50 GBP I could add either a 100-200mm/f4.5 or the 70-210mm/f4.0 lens. I am sure for another 25-50 GBP I could add the 50mm/f1.7.Having 50 GBP left I could get 15 rolls of expired Konica Impressa(early 2004) for 22.50 GBP and spend the rest on a case for it all! If I did not buy a case I could the bog standard 100-300mm Minolta lens brand new from Dixons for 80 quid. I recently saw a Minolta 807si going for 100GBP at my local LCE. I agree that Minolta equipment is going very cheap - not only on Ebay though. Shops like LCE are offerring their film equipment cheap since many offer only short-term guarrantess on them.This is because to fully check them over and offer a full guarrantee would inflate the price by around twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben conover Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 I know what you mean about starting over again with 200 squids, but I also think that if I invested in an slr system I would ultimately be compromising what I want. If I had a spare 200 quid I would start with an old speed graphic and some lenses for it. Large format is an investment I would have been happier with, if I had to start over again. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill_thorlin Posted May 25, 2005 Author Share Posted May 25, 2005 SL - not a competition just musing and taking average prices not the rock bottom ones. Ben - I appreciate your opinion but I was thinking of a raw beginner who might find the kit I suggested an easy starting point. We seem to agree on the value for money around at present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_lewis3 Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 I thought digital would be cheaper than film but to get setup like I was with film costs a lot . Ok I already have lenses covering from 19 to 400mm (plus bellows, telly converters etc) but I needed new flashes, CF cards, card reader, digital wallet, laptop with Photoshop, and batteries batteries batteries batteries. Not to mention the dslr itself. If I had just given all that money out for film and developing I could shoot for the next 1,0000000000000 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill_thorlin Posted May 25, 2005 Author Share Posted May 25, 2005 Scott - I know what you mean and I also guess I would find all the faffing about a bore. Wait for the digibods to come piling in though especially Not Able Nic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl attanapola Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 The thing is though it is not that hard to find "rock bottom prices" anymore especially with Minolta.They are SO underrated.I wonder why? They make some excellent equipment! BTW I love bargain hunting for electronics and cameras so hence I could not resist! Sorry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill_thorlin Posted May 25, 2005 Author Share Posted May 25, 2005 SL - I was not slapping wrists just clarifying. As to why they are so underrated the only reasons I can think of are 1. Their PR and publicity stinks 2. They gave up on supporting the professionals 3. It has always been impossible to hire their lenses anywhere ( at least as far as I can recall). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan_dzo Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 Bill, like you I find it amazing the quality of Minolta MF kit you can buy for a few pounds. I've kitted up with XD7's and a fairly wide range of lenses for little money. The quality is excellent and they're fun to use. I would have never stretched to something like a 16mm f2.8 otherwise. Trouble is, they're so cheap that I keep bargain hunting and adding to my collection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill_thorlin Posted May 25, 2005 Author Share Posted May 25, 2005 Ivan - I have to battle very hard with my bidding arm and to keep my hand out of my pocket in proper camera shops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennis_fallon1 Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 Film bodies are dirt cheap right now - especially anything besides the 7 & 9. Lenses ... there are a few bargains out there (newer kit lenses, 28-85, 24-50 & a few others) ... certainly quality lenses for a beginner as well as good enough to make most happy. A lot of lenses have become much harded to find second hand and prices have gone up a bit in the last few months with the popularity of the 7D. There's a ton of manual focus stuff out there, too ... - Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesdak Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 Yes Minolta MF gear is cheap and very available and is soooo tempting. I originally went on Ebay about 6 months ago to get a MF camera to teach my teenage son on. Once I saw the deals though it's turned into a feeding frenzy. To date I've picked up a SR-7 Mod V, a XE-7, a XD-7, a SRT 101 w/MLU, a SRT-101b, my son's X-700, two Hi-matic 7SII rangefinders, a auto bellows I with focusing rail, table stand and slide copier, a SR extension tube set #1, 24mm/2.8, 45mm/2, 2 50mm/1.4, 55mm/2, 58mm/1.4, 135mm/3.5, my son's Focal 135/2.8, Vivatar Series 1 28-90/2.8-3.5 zoom and a Rokunar 2x teleconvertor. Oh yeah, also two small vivitar 102 flashes for macro work. The SR-7 was serviced by John Titterington and the SRT-101 and one Hi-matic 7SII where done by Garry's Camera. All this and I've still spent less than a $1000. That figure also includes two 75-200 zooms buys that went bad. First one has a bad aperture and the seller has dropped off the face of the earth. The second I got today and it is totally covered in black sticky gunk. It was sent in it's original case an I suspect some foam padding might have disentigrated. The buyer is at least refunding on that. But anyway, the deals are incredible. And the cameras are so pleasing to use. My Maxxum 7s see use right now just shooting sports. All other work lately has been with the MF stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drjedsmith Posted May 26, 2005 Share Posted May 26, 2005 Congrats on the MF gear, Jim. That's quite a haul!<BR><BR> You could (by shopping smart and waiting for the right ones) get an XD-7/11, a Minolta MD 35-70mm f3.5 and MD 75-200mm for right at US$200 or a hair less.<BR> That seems amazing to me, considering the build quality, etc of that setup...which is exactly what I'm using now.<BR> I have to echo the "thought it would be cheaper digital route" saga. Not looking to start a war here, I have a digital camera, and I KNOW it's benefits. However...<BR><BR> Even at it's cheapest point, the 7D and 2 AF lenses of same length would cost $1100 more than what I paid for the above.<BR> Considering I only get my negs developed and scan them at home, that's film/developing cost for over 4 years... and that's shooting expensive film, one roll a week straight for 4 years, and I probably don't even have time to do that much if I'm realistic about my job/life demands!<BR> I think it's easy for me to get sucked into the digital hype (you can shoot 1 billion pics for X dollars) -- but how many of them are keepers, and how many are tossed...how many do I really print out even?<BR> Jed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesdak Posted May 26, 2005 Share Posted May 26, 2005 Yeah, I've been doing the same thing. A local lab will normally develop just the negs for me in about 10 minutes or so. They charge me $2 bucks. I then take them home and scan them into the computer. But, for the important stuff I still shoot slides and that's a 2 day turnaround. I've struck out on buying two 75-200 so far. One of these days I'll actually get my hands on a good copy of this lens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drjedsmith Posted May 26, 2005 Share Posted May 26, 2005 I just got one coming, haven't used it yet. If it turns out to be a keeper, which it should be, I will have to post a pic or 2 on here for you. I think it's a decent lens at less than HALF the cost of a 70-210!<BR> Jed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesdak Posted May 26, 2005 Share Posted May 26, 2005 I wound up keeping the second one and have been working on it today to clean it up, hence my other post a couple of hours ago. This lens is supposed to be real good. Funny thing is we can buy the Minolta version for peanuts yet the same lens with the Leica name on it still goes for hundreds of dollars on Ebay. Same lens, different name. I too will post some shots from it soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl attanapola Posted May 26, 2005 Share Posted May 26, 2005 The Leica quality control was higher.It seems that at times Leica actually(supposedly) rejected alot of the Minolta lenses made for them after going through their "tests". Perhaps their lenses may actually be modified too. An analogy would be Grado and Alessandro headphones or BMW and Alpina cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miguel_rodriguez5 Posted May 26, 2005 Share Posted May 26, 2005 A year ago I got off ebay.uk the following: a 600 si body in working condition. a 35-135 sigma lens a 70-300 sigma lens tripod filters remote release a jessops dedicated flash gun bag all for 100 GBP. The camera works very well. It seems that someone just wanted to buy the digital rebel at the time. Then for 120 GBP I got a 2700 dpi film scanner. So I think you can get good deals on the net, get a decent body like the 5 , 800SI or a 600SI and a couple of lenses and maybe a film scanner, download the GIMP software which is free and you?d be getting a nice combination of digital 'darkroom' and a good film camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miguel_rodriguez5 Posted May 26, 2005 Share Posted May 26, 2005 Forgot to add that I also made some calculations on how many rolls of films I could develop and print in order to spend the same money needed at that time to buy the Canon 300D and compared it to how many rolls I shoot per year. I turned out to be like I would be spending in a new digital camera the money I was currently using for 8 years of film (and not including any printing). Now I go for the 3 GBP developing and printing (6x4) of my 36 rolls and scan the negatives of the pictures I like and I retouch on the computer. An 8x10 print from a chain store costs me 1 GBP. For my amateur use, going digital(SLR) would-ve been non-sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill_thorlin Posted May 27, 2005 Author Share Posted May 27, 2005 Seems to be a consensus on the great value for money kit available from SLR to AF. Perhaps we should keep quiet before the light dawns elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl attanapola Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 Miguel Rodriguez - where can you get an 8" x 10" for a quid in the UK? Please tell me! What paper is it on? How many days service? That is cheap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miguel_rodriguez3 Posted May 28, 2005 Share Posted May 28, 2005 well, I don't know where you can get the 8x10 for a quid in UK. I moved to Mexico this year and in Costco Club (american supermarket) a 7x5 print from digital costs the equivalent of 10p, a 10x8 90p. All in a choice of matte paper or glossy paper. Printing is way cheaper here, however used and new film cameras are way more expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl attanapola Posted May 28, 2005 Share Posted May 28, 2005 We get Costco here but I think it is a wholesale store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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