What camera should I buy my girlfriend?

gavinlg

gavinlg

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She now has the hankering for a film camera, after a few weeks ago buying one of those olympus tough digicams. I think she likes the artistic side of film and wants to have some fun with it.
I asked her if she wants an all auto camera or one thats all manual and her answer was: "Somewhere in-between"
So I guess it'd be something easy to use but capable.

I'm thinking something around canon QL17 sized - not sure wether rangefinder or SLR. Olympus XA series may be too small. Oly RC a bit difficult with metering etc.
Criteria - not too small, not too big, should have some sort of manual control although not a necessity, good lens, reliable, in built easy to use light meter.

At the moment I'm thinking Out of these ones:

Rangefinder:
Canon QL17
Olympus trip 35
Yashica GSN

SLR:
Canon AV-1
Pentax MX/KX?
Olympus OM2
Nikon with aperture priority?


Heres a picture of her: (incidently taken with a canon AV1 plus the cheapo 50 1.8)
2062859422_0666482558_o.jpg



What cameras can you guys suggest?
 
It appears that you are using Canon the Canon AV-1, therefore I suggest to also get an old Canon for her.
AE-1 sounds very reasonable to me.

Best regards,
Uwe
 
OM-2 for sure Gavin ... you know how good they are and the Zuiko glass is excellent. Their AE performance is brilliant and they are very small ... there's no competition mate! 😛

... if you could find a black one, better still! 🙂
 
I also agree with the Canon AE-1. That is a very capable camera for beginners, I found one with a 50mm f/1.4 for under $100 USD.

I actually got an AE-1 Program for my gf with the 50mm 1.8 for her birthday last year and she loves it and still uses it. Being said I also recently bought the Canonet QL17 for $40 USD. It's a lighter and more compact camera than the AE-1 so it's easier for me to bring around. The lens is superb and the f/1.7 is fun to shoot with.

Although I wish I could use the AE-1 more often, I think the Canonet QL17 is more convenient due to the size and weight. And I already mentioned it has more of a "fun" factor.

One caveat though, the Canonet uses a Mercury Cell battery, I'm not sure about Australia, but they are not available here in the States. Although you can use regular alkaline batteries the voltage will cause inaccurate meter reads in the Canonet. I just use a hand held meter or the Sunny 16 rule. If you think the meter is a problem go for the AE-1.
 
A step up from the AE-1... The canon A1

A step up from the AE-1... The canon A1

For about the same money, you can move up to the Canon A1, which was a major crossover camera for Canon. Full manual or P with steps in between. Metering in any mode. But be sure to get the manual. I picked this one up from a classified on Craigslist for $65, posted price. They often show up on eBay, but bring a bit more. Use contemporary batteries. This camera was one notch below the Canon F1.
 
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dont buy her a camera.
Keep her as your model instead.
Better for all of us. 🙂

Now if u really really want to get her a camera:
A GSN will be excellent but a bit limiting. Can/t properly control exposure there, so if she's fine with aperture priority and manual focus, it's excellent.

Otherwise, if e.g. she wants quick autofocus and control over exposure, a hexar af is a great little camera.

Otherwise...Well, once i bought a minolta x-500 slr with some great rokkor lenses for my (former)girlfriend. She loved it. Very versatile system and cheap cheap cheap with good quality.
Dont get the x-700. More expensive with useless program mode and dying capacitors. Get the x-500 (570 in US). Or an XD-11 (or XD-7 or XD-5).
 
fdigital said:
She now has the hankering for a film camera, after a few weeks ago buying one of those olympus tough digicams. I think she likes the artistic side of film and wants to have some fun with it.
I asked her if she wants an all auto camera or one thats all manual and her answer was: "Somewhere in-between"
So I guess it'd be something easy to use but capable.

I'm thinking something around canon QL17 sized - not sure wether rangefinder or SLR. Olympus XA series may be too small. Oly RC a bit difficult with metering etc.
Criteria - not too small, not too big, should have some sort of manual control although not a necessity, good lens, reliable, in built easy to use light meter.

At the moment I'm thinking Out of these ones:

Rangefinder:
Canon QL17
Olympus trip 35
Yashica GSN

SLR:
Canon AV-1
Pentax MX/KX?
Olympus OM2
Nikon with aperture priority?


Heres a picture of her: (incidently taken with a canon AV1 plus the cheapo 50 1.8)
2062859422_0666482558_o.jpg



What cameras can you guys suggest?
Click to expand...

Rangefinder: Canon GIII QL-17, Minolta Hi-Matic 7S, Yashica GSN, Yashica Lynx 5000e.

What to look out for with the above rangefinders:

Canonets have an unfortunate tendency toward sticky shutters, and are not particularly easy to get into to fix the problem. Shutter service usually requires professional help. Essex Camera, in NJ, is probably the best place to send it if you need help.

With the Minolta Hi-Matics, the weak links are the self-timers; they tend to get stuck, jamming the entire camera solid. Again, they are not easy to work on and if this happens, pretty much the entire front of the camera has to be disassembled to fix the problem. Essex Camera is, again, where to send it if you need help.

With the Yashica GSN, the main problem is the "pad of death." This is not a particularly difficult repair, but it is awfully fiddly if you try to do it from the top. The "Yashica Guy" website has a good tutorial on how to do it right. If you can't or don't want to do this, then Mark Hama is the guy to send it to.

With the Yashica Lynx 5000e, the weak link is the CDS cell. They were not sealed as well as they could be, and may need replacement. Either get a new cell at Radio Shack, or send it to Mark Hama.

SLRs: The Canon A-1, AE-1 and AE-1 Program are all better cameras than the AV-1. The Pentax K-1000 is a much better camera than the MX/KX. The Olympus and Nikon cameras you have described are both good, although with the Nikons I would lean more toward an FM2.
 
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I got my girlfriend a Canonet so that she could try the RF experience out and see if she liked it. She loved it.
Then I gave her an R2A with a Canon 50/1.4 and a CV 25/4. WOW!!!
Here is a shot she took on her first roll ("quality you can see": a faded advertisement for real estate on a rotting old bus...)
2407433365_96d9f0d470.jpg

Film cameras, preferably "anachronistic" RFs, with manual focus and AE = the way to go.
 
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I recently acquired a part of a trade a beater OM-4. I decided to give it to my more significant half. She wears glasses, so this was the only OM with diopter adjustment.

I think she likes it, but I doubt she knows I gave her THE camera I've been dreaming of for years since I started with photography...
 
Thanks for all your suggestions - It's not that I don't know what I should look at, just seeing what other people think. The problem for me is finding something that is simple enough, giving a little bit of manual control, without being too complex such as the canon A-1 with all the scene modes so as to scare her away.

I wouldn't give her my fm2n either - she bought me the thing and I love it too much.

Reason I was thinking the av1 was that it's quite light, and the one I previously had was really fantastic for a cheapo camera. The VF was very nice and even metering was very accurate. The lenses are cheap too. I think I may look at some of the manual focus minoltas out of interest.

It's gotta be an old manual focus/very basic camera with a bit of charm. SLRs are very pedestrian at times, and being such a pretty girl she's a bit fashion orientated... I suspect the canon a1 may look a little 80s/startrek/geeky for her.

I wonder what old school minolta SLRs I could get with a lightmeter?
 
I got my girlfriend a Rollei 35S and she carries it everywhere. Its an excellent, tiny camera with a surprisingly good lens. Light meter works well, the rest is manual.
 
fdigital said:
Thanks for all your suggestions - It's not that I don't know what I should look at, just seeing what other people think. The problem for me is finding something that is simple enough, giving a little bit of manual control, without being too complex such as the canon A-1 with all the scene modes so as to scare her away.

I wouldn't give her my fm2n either - she bought me the thing and I love it too much.

Reason I was thinking the av1 was that it's quite light, and the one I previously had was really fantastic for a cheapo camera. The VF was very nice and even metering was very accurate. The lenses are cheap too. I think I may look at some of the manual focus minoltas out of interest.

It's gotta be an old manual focus/very basic camera with a bit of charm. SLRs are very pedestrian at times, and being such a pretty girl she's a bit fashion orientated... I suspect the canon a1 may look a little 80s/startrek/geeky for her.

I wonder what old school minolta SLRs I could get with a lightmeter?
Click to expand...

The A-1 can be used almost like a Point & Shoot is you leave it in Program Mode. The other modes can be learned later, or not.

The AT-1 is also a rather simple Canon FD camera.
 
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