Film SLRs are extremely inexpensive!

During the past 5 years, I have been buying second-hand Nikon film dslrs. Where I live there are no garage sales. All my cameras were bought on Ebay through competitive bidding and none were 'extremely inexpensive'.
 
I recently bought a Minolta Dynax/Maxxum 7000, and prime 50 and 28mm AF lenses for £25. That seems to be a massive bargain given that the lenses can be used on Sony dSLRs as is.

I don't intend to use the camera body as I have a Contax Aria I use when I want to use an SLR, but I may keep the lenses with a view to a possible Nex acquisition in the future, or I may sell and use the cash to buy a C/Y or LTM/M mount lens.
 
Minolta XD-11, 50mm MD Rokkor-X f1.7 lens, motor drive D, Vivitar 283 flash, all near-mint for $50 (had camera CLA'd for $65, including shipping); local Craigslist.

Minolta SRT201, 35mm MC W. Rokkor-X f1.8 lens, Vivitar 252 flash, EX+, for $45 (had camera CLA'd for $70, including shipping); local Craigslist.

Non-SLR bargains:

Minolta Hi-matic 7S, EX+, $32, Hunts Photo on ebay; meter, everything works great, must have been CLA'd at some point

Zeiss Ikon Contaflex Super BC, including Ikoblitz 4 flash, Zeiss lens shade, Tiffen filters, carrying case, camera bag, EX+, $25, local Craigslist; meter, everything works great.
 
lynnb said:
found this for $6 at a charity store. The camera was dead when powered on but a new set of batteries brought it back to life - all working perfectly.
8802455829_b51a14c1d9_o.jpg

by lynnb on flickr
Click to expand...

That was a nice find; nice price too and a decent lens on it. I bet you've got a film in it now and are enjoying it.

Regards, David
 
I paid about $35 USD for my Nikon N90s body and it's been nothing but 100% wonderful. Since I had a nice lens collection, almost all older lenses with the Aperture ring, it just made sense. I've used it tons since I got it. Sure, it's big and bulky and noisy but it works great and does what I want. So I consider it a win. 😀
 
Last weekend I scored a good looking, properly working Minolta XG-7 and 50mmF1.7 MC Rokkor for $5. And an excellent condition Winder G for it, for $10 (all with new fresh batteries) at our local camera show.

I am covering this with Cameraleather black Griptac, as the original vinyl does not hold up well.

This is useful to me.
 
Bought an EOS-1v with stuck shutter in Ueno this February for 3,000 yen. Restored to life for $120.

Not the best deal ever, but surely is a story worth telling...
 
Archlich, to me any camera you come to own and bring back to life is a story's beginning. Regardless of whether it starts out interesting, it will have an interesting life with you and that alone is worth telling.
 
Film cameras are inexpensive but any "classic" digital camera is just about worthless.

Meanwhile I'm eyeing off a Nikon F6 right now 😉
It's not perfect but it checks out 100% and it comes with a 3 month warranty.
 
could someone recommend prosumer EOS film body? support for speedlites would be nice. top models like 1n, 1v and 3 are (IMO) too expensive for random and irregular use. next best thing would probably be more than enough.
 
I havent tried the EOS5 but the 3 is absolutely wonderful to use, lovely hefty piece of kit, I always have mine in a messenger bag with one (or more) of my EOS500 bodies, just for a backup different film choice.

The 3 is a delight to use, and I find I shoot films quickly with it (the ultimate sign for me that I really like a camera) and the 500s weigh almost nothing with a body cap on, they're obviously not as well equipped as the 3, but they're just a light tight box to slap the same lenses on.
 
What about lenses for the EOS 5 anything that stands out as a very good deal, mainly interested in wide to short tele.

Wile I'm here I have a Nikon F with a 5,8cm f1.4 lens that I have not yet used. Does anyone have any opinions on this lens, photos would be nice too.

Cheers, Brian
 
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The recent Eos 40mm 2.8 is a cracking good lens, and adds almost no size/weight to the camera. I almost treat it as a body cap, but a nice sharp one

The AF isn't quite as snappy as the USM lenses, but I've not found it a problem in use at all.
 
Also try the EOS Elan 7n. It's very quiet, very different in that regard to the EOS3. It works well with manual focus lenses, too, so you can play around with Zuikos, Takumars, Nikkors, etc.
 
Inexpensive film SLRs remind me a little of inexpensive inkjet printers. The initial investment is nothing compared to the expense of using them, especially now that film and developing is getting more and more expensive.
 
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