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Kip, I'm sorry you had to find this out the hard way. When I first took out an insurance policy with All State, I had in mind coverage for my Cameras and lenses, since that's the only thing of real value that I own other than my three cats which I don't think anyone would care to steal. The first thing the agent asked me was did I use the photographic equipment to earn a living or for any business related things. He said that if I did I would have to get a whole seperate policy covering the equipment. Since I do photography strictly for pleasure I ended up getting a regular homeowners policy which covers the Cameras and lenses if stolen on or off my property. I guess it depends on the agent since mine let me know this information right from the start. Good luck.

Zach, The Yashica FX 3 Super 2000 is an all manual SLR no longer in production. It takes both yashica lenses ( the Yashica ML lenses are excellent.) and; once you land steady employment you can spring for the Carl Zeiss manual focus lenses. The Yashica FX3 Super 2000 is a pretty sturdy camera. I see a few of them being sold on Ebay. I own one myself and I can atest to the fact that it gets the job done. It weighs only 16oZ, so it is a rather light camera. Best of Luck.

I have owned the original RTS, the 137MDQ, 167MT, and now own and use the RX and Aria. I got all of these cameras used (the RTS was my fathers which he bought new in 1977) I have never ever had a problem with any of these fine cameras (knock on wood). The RX and the Aria get fairly heavy use and both run like a top.

Recently I was looking at a Zeiss lens on Ebay. The seller didn't say whether it was an MM type or an ae type, even though the photo indicated that it was an MM type (Last F stop was in green). I emailed him just to make sure, asking him if it was MM or ae. It turned out to be an AE lens dispite the picture. He admitted that he down loaded a photo of the lens from somewhere else and admitted that it was due to lazyness that he did so. So it is always good to ask questions and keep copies of the answers in the event the item is less than described, or different from what was described. I also notice an awful lot of sellers saying they know nothing about the product they are selling, or they are selling it for a deceased friends uncles aunt. These I stay away from as well as those who over hype their product.

My first Camera was a Canon Canonette Rangfinder that I purchased used from a fellow GI overseas. My first SLR was the Contax RTS that my father left when he passed on. This camera got me interested in photography. He also left the CZ 50 1.4 and the 25 2.8 lenses. Need I say more?

Andrew, If you like the Nikon F3 why change? I own an Aria and it is an excellent camera but I have a number of friends who own and use the F3 and they love it. I don't think there is so much difference between 50MM lenses of the top brands. Also your lens selection (depending on what type of photography you do) is larger with Nikon. I started with Contax/Yashica and stayed with it. Had I started with Nikon I likely would have stayed with that.

If one is very careful, and follows the advice of some of the folks listed above, then E bay is fine. I purchased a pristine Contax RX for over 40% less than store value and it has preformed flawlessly for nearly 3 years. I likewise bought a pristine 35-135 CZ lens at nearly 1/3 of the store value and it has performed flawlessly for around 3 years. I am a civil service employee so I don't make a fortune working. For me Ebay was the only means to be able to afford the high end gear that I have. In all the transactions (all photography related purchases by me) I had only one problem and the person took it back for fear (I didn't threaten to) of negative feedback. I paid the shipping and didn't squawk about that because it was a small sum. One needs to be patient, savvy, have good luck in timeing and be thorough and careful.