bwcolor
Veteran
Nice body to attach to a C/Y Zeiss Contax 100-300mm lens. High value optics and many bodies to choose from. RX nice... RTSIII the best..
Cheap 35mm SLR for sport/action photos, using manual focus lens?
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locheeboy
locheeboy
Minolta 8000i.
Body and lenses can be bought, in excellent condition, very cheaply, The camera is ergonomically excellent; small, simple tae use and takes a host of manual lenses with a plain adaptor (ah use Fotodiox).
Ah use several FSU/Pentacon/ my favourite Industar 61 L/Z and of course Minolta AF lenses, from 50mm-300mm. Works in A priority on manual lenses + full manual and Program. Had mine for 30+years, so can testify tae longevity.😎
PS ye can pick up expansion cards for it, cheaply...and they still work.😉
Body and lenses can be bought, in excellent condition, very cheaply, The camera is ergonomically excellent; small, simple tae use and takes a host of manual lenses with a plain adaptor (ah use Fotodiox).
Ah use several FSU/Pentacon/ my favourite Industar 61 L/Z and of course Minolta AF lenses, from 50mm-300mm. Works in A priority on manual lenses + full manual and Program. Had mine for 30+years, so can testify tae longevity.😎
PS ye can pick up expansion cards for it, cheaply...and they still work.😉
Swift1
Veteran
I'll probably get a bit of flack for this, but I think the Nikon N2000/F-301 to be a good choice based on the OPs criteria.
It's certainly cheap enough, has a built in motordrive, has a decent finder, and older Nikon telephotos are fairly affordable.
It's certainly cheap enough, has a built in motordrive, has a decent finder, and older Nikon telephotos are fairly affordable.
Steve Bellayr
Veteran
What is your idea of "cheap?" How about a Nikon f4s w/mb-21 motor drive and a 35-135mm af f3.5-4.5 macro? With manual focus you would need to focus on a point and wait for the vehicle/runner to come to that point. Having shot some events like that I found the autofocus to be much easier.
gustavoAvila
Established
Optional battery grips are available that use AA batteries.
gustavoAvila
Established
Why bother with manual focus when late model AF SLR's are available for next to nothing? (They are also more likely to be fully operational than a 30 year old SLR.)
Used AF, non-IS lenses also available for very reasonable prices.
My suggestion is to also consider the Canon Elan 7 and 7n models which are very functional, economical and can mount any EF lens manufactured in the last 30 years.
Used AF, non-IS lenses also available for very reasonable prices.
My suggestion is to also consider the Canon Elan 7 and 7n models which are very functional, economical and can mount any EF lens manufactured in the last 30 years.
oftheherd
Veteran
Agree on the Fujica, either ST 801 or ST 901. 801 has up to 1/2000 shutter, 901 has AP auto-exposure and manual speeds. Fujinon glass is 2nd to none.
Yashicas take the Zeiss glass, and Yashica Yashinon is good glass. If you want a Contax, the 139Q and the 167mt are both fun to use, and have auto-exposure but they and the C/Y mount Yashica are battery dependent.
rumbliegeos
Well-known
This is precisely what I was thinking of: they are extremely inexpensive, they have a full range of auto-exposure modes, and you have motorized, sequential shooting if you want it. I agree that the finder is user-friendly, too. The only downside is that the film-advance moter, at least on mine, is truly noisy - but you're not talking about using it at the opera or for weddings.
If you get a manual focus zoom for whatever camera you buy, be sure that the zoom collar is neither too loose or too stiff. There has to be a compromise between control and speed in operation.
mugget
Established
Well I have made one decision - I decided that I will go with a larger "pro" size body. If I tried to shoot with a smaller body it just wouldn't work with the way I hold the camera (right hand on the body, left hand under the lens, base of camera on left shoulder - a small body would mean I couldn't see the viewfinder).
By "cheap" I have revised my limit to $300 (the more below that, the better) I was originally thinking around $100-150 max before I actually started looking at what I wanted/was available). T90 is looking like a good option at the moment, thinking of 35-105mm f3.5 for general use and 85-300mm f4.5, with a 2x converter to try out on them. Never used a TC so I've gotta give it a shot. I will likely try out a 500mm reflex lens later on as well, enquiring minds need to know...
Just so everyone knows - all my photos will be panned, meaning relatively low shutter speed around 1/300 - 1/400 and f7 - f11 (depending on film speed of course). So I am not worried about using a slower lens, actually a slow lens is pretty much a requirement if I'm holding to the "cheap" criteria.
You don't have much faith in old cameras! You know I would only buy a fully working camera. 😛
Do those AF, non-IS lens fall under $200? I just had a quick look online, I could get a Nikon N90s with battery grip for under $100 (I'm sure there are others as well) - but since I was planning on using a 2x TC with a 300mm lens, this raises some questions. I'm not sure that an f4-5.6 lens (sure a faster AF lens would blow the cost out?) will let AF function with a 2x TC? And I know that I want more reach than 300mm, even up to 500mm at least some of the time. (Or at least I want to try it out for myself and see if it's a viable option.)
Thanks for all the other suggestions, but I'm still thinking that it's much more simple (and cheaper!) if I just stick to manual focus, and Canon because I know the lens range.
Actually has anyone used the T90 in that "shoulder mount" type position? I'm just wondering if it's high enough, it seems a little bit shorter than the Canon 1 series bodies? Could always take the ghetto option and use a bit of foam on the bottom to boost it up I guess. 😛
By "cheap" I have revised my limit to $300 (the more below that, the better) I was originally thinking around $100-150 max before I actually started looking at what I wanted/was available). T90 is looking like a good option at the moment, thinking of 35-105mm f3.5 for general use and 85-300mm f4.5, with a 2x converter to try out on them. Never used a TC so I've gotta give it a shot. I will likely try out a 500mm reflex lens later on as well, enquiring minds need to know...
Just so everyone knows - all my photos will be panned, meaning relatively low shutter speed around 1/300 - 1/400 and f7 - f11 (depending on film speed of course). So I am not worried about using a slower lens, actually a slow lens is pretty much a requirement if I'm holding to the "cheap" criteria.
You don't have much faith in old cameras! You know I would only buy a fully working camera. 😛
Do those AF, non-IS lens fall under $200? I just had a quick look online, I could get a Nikon N90s with battery grip for under $100 (I'm sure there are others as well) - but since I was planning on using a 2x TC with a 300mm lens, this raises some questions. I'm not sure that an f4-5.6 lens (sure a faster AF lens would blow the cost out?) will let AF function with a 2x TC? And I know that I want more reach than 300mm, even up to 500mm at least some of the time. (Or at least I want to try it out for myself and see if it's a viable option.)
Thanks for all the other suggestions, but I'm still thinking that it's much more simple (and cheaper!) if I just stick to manual focus, and Canon because I know the lens range.
Actually has anyone used the T90 in that "shoulder mount" type position? I'm just wondering if it's high enough, it seems a little bit shorter than the Canon 1 series bodies? Could always take the ghetto option and use a bit of foam on the bottom to boost it up I guess. 😛
gustavoAvila
Established
Au contraire my friend! I love those old classics! In my opinion, they are the absolute epitome of 20th century mechanical design and are very pleasurable to use! I would never discourage anyone from buying one!
However, chances are excellent that an old mechanical body will require at least a CLA, so this needs to be factored into the cost.
Used Canon EF 75-300 F45-5.6 lenses can be had for approximately $150. (The IS version is less than $300.)
I recently bought a fully functional Canon 7 for $25, last year I paid $70 for a NIB Nikon F80.
The thing is, recent model Canon or Nikon AF SLR's are plentiful, cheap-as-borscht and are very likely to be fully functional from the get-go.
Nope, the AF will not function. The AF systems for non 1 series Canon (and presumably equivalent Nikon) bodies require a max aperture of F5.6 to focus.
Since a F4-5.6 lens becomes a F8-11 equivalent with a 2x extender, even a pro, manual focus body with a suitable focusing screen is going to be very challenging to focus.
(And this is assuming that the tele-extender and the zoom lens are optically compatible.)
My experience with telephoto photography is that focal lengths beyond 200 mm are difficult to use effectively (and in many situations are unnecessary).
Also, recent advances such as auto-focus and image stabilization are extremely useful, almost indispensably so for action photography.
In any case, good luck with whatever route you decide to take!
mugget
Established
Thanks again to everyone who posted!
After a week of furious Googling I made a decision to go with FD lenses and the T90. It will be winging its way to me soon. On the chance that anyone else is thinking of making a smilar change I'll post back with my findings/results maybe in a couple of months when I've had a chance to test it out and adjust to manual focus.
After a week of furious Googling I made a decision to go with FD lenses and the T90. It will be winging its way to me soon. On the chance that anyone else is thinking of making a smilar change I'll post back with my findings/results maybe in a couple of months when I've had a chance to test it out and adjust to manual focus.
rwintle
Scientist by day
Excellent news. Yes please to posting some photos, enjoy and good shooting! 🙂
I will be off at the local race track in a week and a bit with either the aforementioned Spotmatic, or a Minolta ME-F with a battery grip (or maybe both). Either way the camera will be wearing a Bushnell 135/2 in M42 mount and loaded with either Plus-X 125 (sun) or Arista Premium 400 (overcast).
Of course I will also have the usual DSLRs with me to make sure I actually get photos the drivers might want to see. 😉
Enjoy your T90!
I will be off at the local race track in a week and a bit with either the aforementioned Spotmatic, or a Minolta ME-F with a battery grip (or maybe both). Either way the camera will be wearing a Bushnell 135/2 in M42 mount and loaded with either Plus-X 125 (sun) or Arista Premium 400 (overcast).
Of course I will also have the usual DSLRs with me to make sure I actually get photos the drivers might want to see. 😉
Enjoy your T90!
