Girlfriend and small SLR (I have one, need the other)

[r s]

Ok, so I bought an Olympus 35SP and my girlfriend loved the 35RC's

size... So I got her a really nice RC only for her to discover after

a few days that she wasn't too comfortable about rangefinder

focusing. <br>

<br>

She loves the size and likes 40-50mm focal length (she's the one in

the family that took actual university classes on photography..not

me...) :-(

<br><br>

Anyway, we're now looking for a camera that would be a perfect fit

for her. Here are the four-five most important factors:

<br><br>

* Size. It needs to be small. She has small hands. The RC's size was

great.

<br>

* Quality. Something non-plastic, metal, good solid quality. Also

good optics.

<br>

* Aperture priority.<br>

* Second-hand price of under USD 200 (body and 50'ish lens).

<br>

<br>

So far the 'winner' seems to be the Olympus-2 series (2, 2n, 2s).

<br>

Does anyone know of any similar sized or SMALLER SLR that meets these

requirements (it does NOT have to have interchangeable lenses).

<br>

Kind regards,<br>

Richard

[neil_parker]

You named it! The OM2n would be a great choice, more reliable than the OM2s. There is a discussion on small SLRs going on now on the leica forum: http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=004xGt

[r s]

Yeah, I am leaning towards an OM-2n unless something else surfaces as competition to it.

<br>

I have an opportunity to get a really nice OM-2n body with an equally nice 50 1.4 lens - all for 150 dollars. It's an ok price I think.

Not sure about the 1.4 lens though - many people seem to think that the 1.8 outperforms the 1.8 in sharpness (but if memory serves me right the 1.4 has one more element than the 1.8 and seems better 'on paper').

<br><br>

Not to change topic completely, but does anyone have first-hand experiences using the 1.4 vs the 1.8 Zuiko 50?

<br>

Richard

[craig_bridge]

Your budget and constraits severely limit the choices. You might do better to let your girl friend make her own 35mm SLR tough choices. You don't want to be responsible for talking her into something that she ends up disliking or won't do something she wants to do in the near future.

 

If photography is likely to end up a serious lifetime hobby or carrear, the Oly 2 series may end up a dead end replace the whole system depending on where the interests lead.

 

To put your budget in perspective, even in 1978, the Nikon FE with a 50mm went for more than $200. BTW: it meets your size and technical requirements and is a setup my wife still uses as her backup body. Unfortunately, the used prices for the FE and FE2 are still above your budget.

 

Regarding your anti-plastic bias. A Rebel or FM-10 body will break if dropped on a rock, but they are less expensive to repair or replace than a finder on an F4s dropped upside down on the same rock.

[r s]

Craig, thanks. No worries - she is not intending to pursue a career in photography. She's a very good pastry chef at a great restaurant :-)

<br>

The camera is simply inteded as something nice to take with on roadtrips, etc.

<br>

Richard

[joey]

The Nikon EM seems to fit these criteria. It's small, metal, aperture priority (with 1/90 mechanical, and B), and it uses Nikkor glass. I think it might be a little bigger than the Olympus, but I'm not sure. Anyway, it's worth a look.

[neil_parker]

I've had both in the past and don't remember that either was much different the other, but any 50 is going to be good stopped down a couple of stops. I think they improved the later 1.4 lens design, maybe the 1.8 also, not sure. -Although more lens elements doens't necessarily mean a better lens. They definitely improved the coatings on the later zuiko 50s.

 

My experience with Zuiko lenses was mixed, incredible 24 & 50 macro, soft 35 f2, decent 100 f2.8 but not a match for a nikkor. Used Oly lenses beyond the common ones can command a high price because of scarcity sometimes.

[britt_park]

<p>Another good small SLR is the Pentax ME-Super. About the same size as an OM and the lenses are small too. They tend to run a little cheaper than OMs.</p>

 

<p>- <a href="http://www.sciencething.org/photos/photos.html">Blatant Plug</a></p>

[Jerry_]

Save up some more money and take your friend to a camera shop.

Let her hold the Nikon FM3A body with the 45mm f2.8 P lens.

It is fairly rugged, small, works fine, and has a 'new' camera warranty.

 

Good luck!

[gib]

how many rolls of film might she shoot in one year?

[stemked]

I'd recommended several in the Pentax line:

Pentax MX Pentax ME Super Pentax Super Program/ Super A (very sophisticated camera) Pentax Program Plus Like the SP but a little less sophicated

 

Others to consider P30T, P30N, P3, ZX-M (MZ-M)

 

Personally I really lime the Super Program myself. Accurate Exposure to 30 seconds, DOF indicator, options for exposure Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Full Program and Manual (of course). TTL flash. Drive if you want it. I see a lot of them in the $130 range. You really can't get any camera with all of that at that price.

 

For any of these cameras you can also get dirt awsumly sharp cheap screw mount lenses (need a $20 adaptor). But I'd suggest that you let her try them out first and see what she likes.

[dan_fromm1]

Small hands?

 

In addition to the OMs, consider Pentax MX and ME. Pentax has great optics too.

 

Also check out the smaller Minolta SLRs. XG, ... Same story as Pentax. Good gear, not enough respect.

 

I use only Nikon for 35 mm SLRs, so I'm not pushing my own preferences. Used Pentax and Minolta MF SLRs seem good values. OM too. FWIW, one of my pals who is more critical than I am switched from Nikon to Olympus because of weight/size issues, then came back to Nikon because he didn't like Olympus lenses.

[kelly_flanigan1]

I bought a old girlfriend a used Nikon EM in the mid 1980'; and also a early 1970's 50mm F2 Auto Nikkor ; that was AI'd. She broke the wind; rewind selftimer; the back; entire body; except for the old lens. She was hard on stuff; and left handed; and would force something before figuring which way it should be pushed. Mt teapot; iron; and numerous other household items also got broken too. About any camera she had would get torn up in short order. This was before disposables were out. Most her P&S cameras would be taped; with their battery doors lost or broken. I got the Nikon EM because she wanted a "better camera".

[Jochen_S]

The mentioned Pentaxes are quite nice little cameras and Pentax has a little bit more future than Olympus. Maybe a Minolta X300 or Seagull might also be nice. But let her touch the stuff herself.

[gary_watson]

The Nikon FM-FE series cameras are probably among Nikon's best for ergonomics(FE,FE2, FM3A all have aperture priority).The Pentax ME, ME Super were very petite. Minolta XD-XE series bodies were also very sweet and shared one of the silkiest shutter releases of all time.XX shooters I've known have been especially partial to these models.

[r s]

Wow, thanks for all the great ideas!

<br>

<br>

I'm browsing *bay for these cameras now and will check out a few local stores to see what 'feels right' for her.

<br>

In addition to the OM-2n I already was interested in I must say that Nikon and Pentax does have a really nice line of cameras. The EM looks really nice for instance and so does the Pentax ME.

<br><br>

William, when it comes to number of rolls/year I don't know. I'd say probably less than 20 rolls a year. But there are more than that to take into consideration it's the "Not having to borrow my camera", "Using a camera she really enjoys herself", etc. So we'll be checking out camera in 'live' this coming week once we've gotten an idea about if there is such a thing as a combination of 'affordable' and 'good fit'.

<br>

<br>

Dan, yeah she has small hands :-)

<br> I have an old Canon A2e lying around but she is not comfortable with a camera of that size.

<br><br>Funniest thing...I don't seem to have any photo of her hands...but here is one where she hides them really well for some reason..well it WAS early in the morning..

<br>

<br>

</blockquote>

 

<hr width=300><blockquote>Here it is...

<br>

<center>

<img src="http://www.photo.net/photodb/image-display?

photo_id=1440996&size=md">

</center><br><br>

 

</blockquote>

<br>

<br>

Kelly, thanks for the story :-)

[gib]

with 20/ year she is not going to wear the thing out and also not going to barely use it, so you have a lot of variation there in your choices. Nikon FG is a pretty small and light body....Yashica FX-3 is also light..... Yashica lenses are ok or maybe a Carl Zeiss 35mm 2.8 T lens that fits on Contax/Yashica cameras.

[kelly_flanigan1]

Today many of the SLR cameras; Canon Rebel etc; might be bigger by a hare (!); but alot lighter that the 1970's great stuff. The heavy glass penta prism is history on low end slrs; and the lighter substitute "pseudo prism"is used. The bottom end slrs are really super light today; but not as bright (sometimes). Buying an item for somebody else is very difficult. Their hands; eyes; and actions are much different. Good luck!

[wind.dk]

If your budget is tight in the near to medium future, don't let her try an FM3a with 45mm/2.8 as someone suggested. It may not be quite as small as an old Olympus, but it's <EM>very</EM> nice, and smaller than the normal modern motorized things.

[hoyin_lee1]

<a href="http://mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/emfgfg20/em/index.htm">Nikon EM</a>; <a href="http://mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/emfgfg20/fg/index.htm">Nikon FG</a>; <a href="http://mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/emfgfg20/fg20/index.htm">Nikon FG20</a>; chicks dig them! Personally, my preference would be the FG, followed by the EM and the FG20.

[hoyin_lee1]

This is said to be among the smallest 35mm autofocus SLR cameras currently in production (with an unpronounceable name!): <a href="http://www.pentax.com/news/news_display.cfm?pressid=149">Pentax *ist</a>.

 

</p><IMG height=150 alt="" src="http://www.pentax.com/eWebEditPro2/upload/IST.jpg" width=178 border=0>

</p>Haven't handled one, and I'm not sure if it has arrived in stores or if it's within your budget though.

[cbender]

I'll agree with what others are saying concerning the FG and FM series. I used an FG before recently upgrading to an FM3A. They are both excellent cameras, but you shouldn't suggest the FM3A before the FG. Try the FG. Maybe she will love it right off the bat (It's also in your price range, with a Series E 50mm lens). If she doesn't like the FG, I doubt she'll like the FM3A. It's slightly heavier and has many more features that she probably doesn't need to worry about if she is just taking snapshots. Also, its cost is 2-3 times that of the FG. If however, she does like the FG, then I'm almost certain that she will love the FM3A and have to have it. This will result in you outlaying at least $300 more than you intended. (which is why I said show her the FG, and don't say anything about the FM3A)

[kelly_flanigan1]

<h3>Nikon EM </h3>; It lasted less than 20 days with my old friend; I bought it and the lens used from KEH; it came by UPS; a cool birthday present to her. I still have a new case; and a flash in my junk pile somewhere. The camera was torn up before the VISA bill came! Maybe she should work as the one who trys/abuses things before the consumer items are released to the public. We looked for the wind lever all up and down main street in Ventura; from the Top Hat (where she last took a photo looking north on palm street) to Ventura camera; a few blocks east. The guys at the store said the camera was a piece of crap. I got another wind lever from a junk pile at Dels camera in Santa Barbara; for only a few bucks. Del probably took pity on me; trying to patch together my girls camera. He had several dead ones to strip parts off of. The shutter jammed about 2 rolls later. We threw the damn thing over the hill; at the "cross" in Ventura; maybe somebody will find it 2000 years from now; and it wonder what it is for. I kept the lens; it still works well.

[gib]

the guys at the store say lots of things.

 

Nikon FM and FG been in my family for over 20 years, still work perfectly.

 

I bought a used FG and FM in the past year, user quality on the FM, still works perfectly.

[douglas_green1]

I agree, the Nikon FG would be a great choice, for less money than the Olympus OM-2n and also it has far better lens availability. I have a Nikon F2, F3HP, FE2 and FM2n, and it never ceases to amaze me how often I choose to shoot with the FG over all of these others because of it's small size and weight.

 

Another great choice is the Pentax ME Super.