What do you think is the best used camera today/price-performance wize?

hap said:
My N80 a pleasure. It focuses right and the shutter is about as quiet as any Leica (except the M5) the only quibble is the tunnel type view finder. Super inexpensive.
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I don’t have any issue with the viewfinder as it is, because this is an AF-only camera. It won’t meter with manual focus lenses (it will if you add a chip, but then the focusing screen isn’t designed for manual focus.) The smaller viewfinder is more than offset by a much smaller, lighter body than the F100, which used to be my favorite AF Nikon until I picked up an N80.
 
The Nikon 12mp models from their first releases of full frame--D700 and D3. I love the B&W images from these cameras so much and they feel really good in my hands. They are also available cheap these days and they are quite the bargain if you find one that's not worn out by heavy pro use.
 
For the price of one crappy film compact camera you get ca. five "underdog" SLRs, including lens(es), like the Ricoh KR-10 (functionality like Nikon FE).
 
If I were to buy anything film today, it would be a Canon P. Solid, mechanical, inexpensive for what you get. Plus great glass from dozens of makers.

Digital, well, I have my eye on a Nikon D700 down the road as the best bang for buck FX camera.
 
There are so many.... it depends what someone gives you or what you come across in the thrift store. I've just inherited another Leica CL with both lenses as well as a Pentax 645 w 3 lenses....both sterling performers capable of anything. There are so many working cameras out for adoption
 
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I saw a 5D body for 90 Euros, a 5D III for 200 Euros. The Nikon D700 lately got expensive, so the Pentax K10D (at least in central Europe).
 
splitimageview said:
I don’t have any issue with the viewfinder as it is, because this is an AF-only camera. It won’t meter with manual focus lenses (it will if you add a chip, but then the focusing screen isn’t designed for manual focus.) The smaller viewfinder is more than offset by a much smaller, lighter body than the F100, which used to be my favorite AF Nikon until I picked up an N80.
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I hear you about the vf. However when shifting around cameras n80 has a restricted view which feels funky to me. can get used to it.
 
x-ray said:
… Even a clean F with standard non meter prism can be bought at a good price. I still use an F and F2 and see no reason to change.
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Not too long ago a plain-prism F was valued higher than an F with a no-longer-working metered prism (e.g. FT, FTn, FTN versions), even though functionally they could be considered equal. I don’t know if it’s still the case, but I would see just the plain prism itself selling for over $100. A plain-prism F, while not exactly sleek, is less clunky than a metered F and has a certain less-is-more aesthetic.
nikon_sam said:
For the going prices today I think the Nikon F4/F4s is a great body to use with almost any of the Nikkor lenses out there.
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Yes - the F4 is quite a bargain considering all you get. Ken Rockwell is correct in calling the F4 the “Rosetta Stone” of Nikon lens compatibility.

After reading about the enhanced capabilities of the MF-23 back here (scroll down to bottom of page):


I bought two MF-23’s for my two F4s’s. I use them mostly to imprint exposure information between the frames. I’ve also used the trap-focus feature. I would agree with their assessment that a Nikon F4 without the MF-23 is 10% short in capabilities of a of a true Nikon F4.
 
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There are a lot of good cheap cameras these days, especially film cameras. Most have already been mentioned but the N80 deserves another shout out. So cheap and the end of the line for film cameras so it is loaded. I just found an N90s today for $7.50. Crazy. Canon of course has similar inexpensive but high quality cameras. The A2/5 is peanuts these days. Even the 1n can be had for less than $200, often much less. If you want a screaming deal, Minolta autofocus lenses are super cheap and so are the bodies. Hard to find fault with those. For autofocus cameras they are the closest to a Leica look which makes sense since they partnered with Leica for quite a time. I'm really surprised people haven't caught on to that yet.

I don't stay up on old digital too much but the Canon 5D series seems to be a sweet deal these days. Digital SLR cameras seem to have imploded in general. No one really wants them anymore since mirrorless cameras took over. Lots of cheap ones. And even the old ones hold up for the most part. Unless you are going to blow images up the size of a wall, they are fine.
 
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