Photography on a Budget

[Penceler]

So it was pointed out in another thread that we sometimes (understandably) talk too much about our 1k+ gear. So what's everyone's favorite flea market, eBay, or otherwise low cost find? Let's limit this to stuff we actually use on a regular basis.

I'll start it out by saying I love the Nikon FG. I picked one up on eBay for about $50 (with new seals!) and matched it with an e-series 100mm. It's the only 80's Nikon I've used that doesn't poke my eye out (left eyed). Great camera. So yes, ZI one day, an FG the next. They actually complement each other very well.

John

 

[FrankS]

I'm a fan of the FG too!

 

[taemo]

SLR on a budget
FM2N + 28mm 2.8AIS + 50mm E

RF on a budget
Bessa + Orion-15 28mm + Jupiter-8 50mm

MF on a budget
Yashica 124-G

 

[Tim Murphy]

Dear Penceler,

Considering that except for buying a Panasonic FZ200 on Black Friday 2014 and an Olympus TG-8010 in 2010 that I haven't bought a new camera for over 20 years I can say that I am definitely a budget photographer.

I prefer to buy used gear. I cannot buy much new out of the box gear but I definitely can buy former professional class gear for 10 cents on the dollar and I do it often.

There are many excellent used cameras available for a fraction of their new cost. Someone said it better that I could in the thread about a Nikon D3 a few days ago. Just because a new camera is introduced that doesn't make a former great camera any less of a camera.

My personal favorite budget score is a Kodak Retina 111C that I bought from the Ebay store of a long ago big time advertiser in Shutterbug. With shipping I gave $ 55.00 for it and it's case. The meter still works within 1/2 stop or less of every other camera and meter that I own and while it might not be strikingly handsome in appearance it works just fine.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

Only put one roll through it to date, but I thought the Kiev 4A & Jupiter f/2 I scored for $10 performs pretty well. I did result in me buying a Contax & f/1.5 Sonnar, though, so not sure it was really all that cheap, in the end. Compared to Leica prices both were a steal of course and icing on the cake is no Amadeo adapter required. 50mm f/1.4 MD Rokkor & 58mm f/1.4 MC Rokkor for less than $20 were also memorable (former with working XD7 lens cap). I've got the SRTs and Rokkors on me today, as a matter of fact. I also recall paying only 18 quid for my first Bessamatic and 50mm Color Skopar a few years ago and I've put a number of rolls through that. A truly delightful thing to use with surprisingly effective ergonomics, gorgeous build quality and excellent lenses. I do have to do some work on it now, though which I will next year as it is far too appealing not to use.

 

[lynnb]

I've bought two XAs for $5 each at different times. They get a lot of use as they're the only truly pocketable cameras I own. One now needs repair but I've still got one fully working.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I have Smena-8m which was given to me for $1. I have Konica 28 off-road, which I won on the contest. Both are flee market items in terms of eBay pricing. But very capable.
My Canon 500D is next to free and pancake on it is well under $200, yet as capable as 1K fancy gear.

 

[Pfreddee]

I got a Canon EOS 1n on a swap for a Contax IIA that I wasn't using. IRRC, the Canon went for ~ $2400.00 new. I love the ergonomics of the beast.

With best regards,

Pfreddee(Stephen)

 

[Penceler]

Dear Penceler,

My personal favorite budget score is a Kodak Retina 111C that I bought from the Ebay store of a long ago big time advertiser in Shutterbug. With shipping I gave $ 55.00 for it and it's case. The meter still works within 1/2 stop or less of every other camera and meter that I own and while it might not be strikingly handsome in appearance it works just fine.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

Oh man. May first "real" camera back in 1976 was my father's Retina II. At the time I didn't even know it was a rangefinder and the concept of "folder" was unknown. I still have and now need to pull it out of my in-laws attic where's it's lived for the past 10 years. It will likely need more than a CLA. This budget thread may turn out to be pretty expensive..

John

 

[Tim Murphy]

I got a Canon EOS 1n on a swap for a Contax IIA that I wasn't using. IRRC, the Canon went for ~ $2400.00 new. I love the ergonomics of the beast.

With best regards,

Pfreddee(Stephen)

Dear Pfreddee,

I bought a Canon EOS 1DMK11 with everything it came with new and 5 batteries with only 50000 actuations for $ 400.00 three years ago. It was $ 4600.00 new and the battery chargers bring almost half that in working condition. It's a club but it's my favorite club and I love the results I get from it.

Later model stuff is way easier to get on the cheap because a lot of people simply get tired of their gear and feel the need to upgrade. I love to assist them! 😀

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

 

[gb hill]

My Canonet QL17 GIII that I bought for 75 bucks from Peace Camera back in 06. Never tire using it & it's almost always loaded with film. Right now it has Arista Premium 400 in it.

 

[Tim Murphy]

Oh man. May first "real" camera back in 1976 was my father's Retina II. At the time I didn't even know it was a rangefinder and the concept of "folder" was unknown. I still have and now need to pull it out of my in-laws attic where's it's lived for the past 10 years. It will likely need more than a CLA. This budget thread may turn out to be pretty expensive..

John

Dear John,

Please don't blame me for making you spend money. 😀

I bought the Retina because when I was about 14 or 15 my buddy and I sort of borrowed his Dad's Retina and went off taking pictures. We joined the camera club at HS and became film nerds.

I eventually bought a Canon F-1 from a neighbor who was upgrading to a Canon A-1 and motor drive. I used that all through college and developed my own film and did my own prints. I only had a Canon 135 f2.5 lens for it and I spent most of my time shooting Tri-X at 1600 for basketball games and wrestling matches. I got some pictures that I was pretty proud of but they are long since lost.

I fell away from just talking pictures and I am hoping the new to me Retina brings me back.

Time will tell

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

 

[zuiko85]

So much cheap gear out there. The real cost is the ever increasing price of film, and if you don't do your own, processing. Even a used film M is cheap compared to a years worth of film and processing if you shoot say, a roll a week of 35mm 36exp load B&W. At about $5 per roll and if a lab does the processing and proof sheet that would add up to $1500 a year if you can walk it into the lab or $2000 if you have to use the mail.

Now of course, if you do your own processing (and I cannot think of any reason not to, but that's just me) then the overall cost can be reduced by almost 70% not including initial outlay for tanks, reels, Chems etc. Even bulk loading offers no savings and strangely is now often more expensive than factory loads.

But I'm just an old fart who still remembers walking into Altman's in the early 70's, getting a 100 feet of Tri-X, a box of snap caps, and change back from a $10, oh those were the days!

 

[Penceler]

Dear John,

I bought the Retina because when I was about 14 or 15 my buddy and I sort of borrowed his Dad's Retina and went off taking pictures. We joined the camera club at HS and became film nerds.

I fell away from just talking pictures and I am hoping the new to me Retina brings me back.

Tim - Ditto all around. Yes, I think I will need to pull out that Retina again.

John

 

[AlexBG]

Minoltina s for a small rangefinder. £20 with sticky shutter blades, quick clean and it is perfect.

Sold my A7 as I needed the money but loved my FD 50mm 1.4 lens so much that I got a cheaper version (none chrome nose) but S.S.C and a Canon AV-1 as I only use aperture priority.

Waiting for the Sony A7s to get better value and i'll get one again.

 

[02Pilot]

I tend to buy broken or at best untested cameras, repairing and servicing them myself. Out of those I've netted quite a few bargains, but I don't think any of them top the $30 Rolleiflex Old Standard I bought a couple years ago. Very heavily worn from use, and the lenses were opaque with dirt, but once I gave it some much-needed attention it shaped up to be a perfectly usable camera.

 

[MrFujicaman]

The Nikon FG I bought at a used book store for $14

 

[KRaZiGLiTcH]

Pentax Spotmatic Black and Brassed with a Takumar 50mm 1.4 got given to me by a friend that goes around buying and selling things. I use it alot

 

[btgc]

Contrary to my fleabay finds I have found new Pentax K-S1 with lots of tech inside for a money I could get very well used pro level Pentax DSLR. Having original IstD I know what real DSLR body means - full size grip, dedicated buttons, top LCD, rear and front adj wheels. Glass pentaprism instead of pentamirror but Pentax isn't limiting this to pro bodies.

I needed simple video capture device so I though - what if I increase budget by 1/3rd and get DSLR a bit newer than IstD, giving me both basic video and stills? So far I'm not disappointed despite internet-spread hate for "too small but still heavy body with no full size grip". This great little colored body is a wolf in sheep skin, no one takes it for real (if you attend events with pro gear restricted).
Some people want to pay for budget car but drive in sports car, and use it as a family wagon. I realize I got LOTS of camera for a money I paid, I just had to allow me to step off beaten track "real cameras are big and black". My photography is still well within budget.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

Difficult to answer;

I've been given cameras by people who saw me shooting film and offered me their old gear;

bought cameras for a pound ( US$1.50 ish or €1.35 ish) and have one or two that cost half that

and decades ago I got a bonus out of the blue, walked round the City's camera shops, and then bought a Leica CL for the same price as the new ones I'd seen but this had a lot of other gear with it and the 90mm lens elsewhere and also second-hand. I still have it, one repair on insurance, one under Leitz original guarantee and two services and hundreds (if not thousands) of rolls of film through it.

Some of the free ones have never had a film in them and I reckon capital costs per film is the key to cheapness. So it's difficult.

Regards, David