Advice needed: Beginner's film SLR on shoestring budget

[jsirevaag]

Like some of the others here, I immediately thought of the Minolta SR-T series. All mechanical, battery only for meter. I picked up a flagship SR-T 102 for $27 on E-Bay last year with a 50mm f1.7 lens. A phenomenal value in a camera. All my latest Flickr images are taken on it: www.flickr.com/v-system

 

[Ronald_H]

Thanks for the advice. Having bought a lot of old cameras (30-50 years old) in the past few years, I was well aware of the risks. So what did I end up with? It satisfied all my initial requirements and then some:

- The much maligned (?) Nikon FM10. Looks quite used but seals, shutter, meter all are ok. Extra bonus is that I am a Nikon shooter myself so we will be able to swap lenses.
- Two lenses, a very nice 28-80 AF zoom and a manual focus 50mm f1.8.
- A honking big 'ole Agfa sensotronic flash (working with batteries, bounce head & sensor).

All for a very little money. If I am brutally honest, this kit could cover 90+ % of my analogue 35mm work, and no-one would be any the wiser that its a bargain basement kit.