pardon me gentlemen, please enlighten me as to your thoughts on a camera...

Missus 4CF has a birthday coming up, and shes demonstrated a good dela of interest in photography. She took some courses in HS and a few in college, and has reasonable ground floor-esque knowledge about the hobby. Ive found this CL ad for a "student", but have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what the berk Im looking at. I know a few of the GRM staff know their keyster from a hole in the ground with regards to photo equipment, and probably a fair number of readers, so help enlighten a poor fool.

Reqs: $150 or less, either digital or film is ok, must be able to change lenses...other than that I havent many requirements.

A few others Ive found:

http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/pho/1926923977.html
http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/pho/1926893910.html
http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/pho/1924851542.html
http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/pho/1910919498.html

Also, there is a chain in the area that apparently sells new AND used quality cameras, is it better to go to a retailer? Is it likely that if I get her a used specimen that its gonna need a 13mm x 10° depleted unobtainium unicorn-hair cogset from Uruguay a month down the road?

help

The two Minolta XG-1s are pretty decent cameras but no 'pro' cameras by any stretch of imagination. They do however make decent cameras provided they work OK (and aren't worth fixing if they don't). Minolta also had a bunch of very decent lenses out for these that can be picked up for very reasonable money. I'd recommend the 85/1.7 (very good lens), the 50/1.4 and 28/2.8 are pretty good, too. With the exception of the 85, they can all be had cheap, at least the last time I looked.

You might want to drop a note to David. He can probably help with this one.

I think you really want to decide if you're going to shoot film or go digital before you buy the camera.

And if you do go digital, there aren't many (any?) options for interchangeable lenses and under $150.

I've had a Minolta X-700 and X-370N for years, and the camera I grab most often is my old Olympus Camedia digital.

Film is a dead medium. Its too damn expensive to shoot. Digital all the way. You are not in the right price range for a decent SLR like others have said... and any good lens will exceed your budget by itself.

My wife is a pro with mindblowingly expensive full frame stuff so I'm not really familiar with what is available cheaply since when I need a pic I use my phone or ask Mrs Snorklewacker to take it. FWIW, the phone does a pretty good job... so $150 point-and-shoot would probably be pretty excellent for just screwing around these days.

4cylndrfury wrote: ...and shes demonstrated a good deal of interest in photography.

Your wife interested in photographs, eh?
Know what I mean?
Nudge nudge. Snap snap. Grin grin, wink wink, say no more?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ona-RhLfRfc

thanks for all the suggestions thus far - I know that, like most other things "spending just a lil more gets you a lot more..." but honestly, this is just a get you started gift. My first car was a turd, and Im slowly upgrading my equipment, same deal. I just want to get her something that show 2 things: A). I want her to have the tools to explore her hobby, and B). that I listen when she talks ( admittedly not something that I do too well ). I know Digital is the future, but her background is in film - if thats where she wants to go (i.e. purists and their non-progressive ideologies), then thats her call. But I cant see her being too upset if she ended up with a digital camera with a bow on top either, so I figure either way works.

Tell me more...

4cylndrfury wrote: thanks for all the suggestions thus far - I know that, like most other things "spending just a lil more gets you a lot more..." but honestly, this is just a *get you started* gift. My first car was a turd, and Im slowly upgrading my equipment, same deal. I just want to get her *something* that show 2 things: A). I want her to have the tools to explore her hobby, and B). that I listen when she talks ( admittedly not something that I do too well ). I know Digital is the future, but her background is in film - if thats where she wants to go (i.e. purists and their non-progressive ideologies), then thats her call. But I cant see her being too upset if she ended up with a digital camera with a bow on top either, so I figure either way works. Tell me more...

You can get a manual, 35mm film SLR with a couple lenses at yard sales for $50. Probably pawn shops and ebay too. It will cost more to develop 1000 pics on film than to buy a new Digital SLR these days.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

4cylndrfury wrote: thanks for all the suggestions thus far - I know that, like most other things "spending just a lil more gets you a lot more..." but honestly, this is just a *get you started* gift. My first car was a turd, and Im slowly upgrading my equipment, same deal. I just want to get her *something* that show 2 things: A). I want her to have the tools to explore her hobby, and B). that I listen when she talks ( admittedly not something that I do too well ). I know Digital is the future, but her background is in film - if thats where she wants to go (i.e. purists and their non-progressive ideologies), then thats her call. But I cant see her being too upset if she ended up with a digital camera with a bow on top either, so I figure either way works. Tell me more...

You can get a manual, 35mm film SLR with a couple lenses at yard sales for $50. Probably pawn shops and ebay too. It will cost more to develop 1000 pics on film than to buy a new Digital SLR these days.

she has thoughts of turning an unused portion of the basement into a darkroom, I dont object. I think thats part of the allure for her

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: You can get a manual, 35mm film SLR with a couple lenses at yard sales for $50. Probably pawn shops and ebay too. It will cost more to develop 1000 pics on film than to buy a new Digital SLR these days.

I just sold two film Minolta XSi (one trash), two standard lenses, telephoto lense, filters, hoods on ebay for............$35.

I bought a Canon digital EOS Rebel to kick around. I shot a church youth outing last Saturday and took 350 pictures in 3 hours. I kept the best 25 and tossed the rest. Digital is the way to go.

Get a $125 camera and upgrade later should this prove to be a good hobby.

http://dayton.craigslist.org/pho/1929622855.html ?
http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/pho/1921155228.html ?

Darkroom, eh? I was making very nice 8 x 10 color prints in the kitchen of my apartment back in the (gulp) mid-1990's! My enlarger is sitting on a shelf in the garage. I suspect that the chemicals I have laying around someplace are past their expiration date.

I would love to set it up someplace and show the kids how to develop and print B & W film. It's pretty much like studying dinosaurs now.

I'm still shooting film, not as much as I used to but I do prefer colour transparencies or B&W to digital. That said, for the stuff that's more likely to end up on the Internet than the wall, I use a dSLR these days.

Mind you, I only develop the B&W film myself, then run it through a film scanner and print it digitally if I want to print it at all.

This thread has a lot of help in it. I ended up buying my wife the Nikon D40 and she's been thrilled with it. I would think you could find a used one near your price range.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/learn-me-digital-slrs/4600/page1/

4cylndrfury wrote: she has thoughts of turning an unused portion of the basement into a darkroom, I dont object. I think thats part of the allure for her

I would love to go back and do that stuff again, but I would shoot exsclusivly in B&W. That you can do on your own.

Color is an insane bag of worms to work with. JUST SAY NO!

Their site is down right now, but KEH usually has some deals on used DSLR's. You can sometimes find the original Pentax *ist for around $150. Add a 50mm lens for around $50 and you'll be good to go.

I'd stay away from any point and shoot digitals at that price point for someone who has any interest in photography beyond family snaps.

I would say pick your side (Canon or Nikon) and buy an outdated dslr. I know 10D's can be had for $100 or less, they suck compared to current offerings but you can't kill them and with the right glass you can get great pictures. Buy better lenses as the deals come along and then make the jump to a newer body.

Emailed you my brothers contact info, he's in Columbus, buys/sells used camera gear and won't screw you over.

If you're going to go film, why not go totally back to basics and pick up a Pentax K1000--manual focus, manual exposure, manual film winding. The only thing the battery does is power the light meter. The early ones have metal bodies, too. We used them in high school. You can pound nails with one.

For low-buck digital, I just picked up a Canon SD1300 IS and love it. I paid like $199 for it, but I have seen them for a few bucks less. (I pretty much bought mine the day it came out.)

I honestly think my mother has a Pentax something or other, but I know enough about my wife's expectations to know she will want something a little more current (as current as 35mm is these days anyway).I think I may have found the low buck digital if I can negotiate down a little...What can people tell me about Cannon Rebels that doesnt pertain to Andre Agassi?

http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/ele/1874783154.html

The rebel XT body feels cheap but the guts are fine, your results will depend on the lens.

Most pro's or educated amatuers want either Nikon or Canon(sort of like Ford vs Chevy). The aftermarket support is amazing too. My wife started out using Canon EOS film camera following me around with my racing and several years ago we moved to EOS digital. All the lenses were transferable and after some adjustments she has really adapted to digital. The best thing is the ability to take so many pictures and then delete those that dont work for you.

ok, so after poking about at some camera shops, she is interested in digital. After some question and answer with a few sales folks, it looks like the 2 contenders are Nikon and Sony. one has vibration reduction in the body (Sony) and the other in the lens(Nikon). which is better? Sony has a better price point, but Nikon is a name im personally more familiar with, so i feel like its a better quality unit. am i crazy? opinions? looks like 5 bills is where my budget is now and no more than 750 ...which is a lot for me. but for something i feel she will get a lot of enjoyment and use over a long period of time, its worth it...not to mention a few hundred on a transmission for a project is easier to argue after this camera is in her hands

I got the wife a Nikon D3000 for her last birthday. She likes it because it shoots good pictures. I love it because it will shoot anything you want. Low light, action, anything. It has taken a little playing to get it down pat, but it is a great camera. The price was $479.00 at Sam's. Since getting it the Pentax and the Cannon have been collecting dust. It's about time to put them on Craigslist.

4cylndrfury wrote: ok, so after poking about at some camera shops, she is interested in digital. After some question and answer with a few sales folks, it looks like the 2 contenders are Nikon and Sony. one has vibration reduction in the body (Sony) and the other in the lens(Nikon). which is better? Sony has a better price point, but Nikon is a name im personally more familiar with, so i feel like its a better quality unit. am i crazy? opinions? looks like 5 bills is where my budget is now and no more than 750 ...which is a lot for me. but for something i feel she will get a lot of enjoyment and use over a long period of time, its worth it...not to mention a few hundred on a transmission for a project is easier to argue after this camera is in her hands

Sony bought Minolta's camera division a few years ago. Some of the old lenses will fit the new bodies but there may be issues with "total" compatibility. That may be true of older Nikon/Canon lenses on newer digital bodies, too.

Not trying to cloud the skies, but there are always things to consider when a budget is included with decision-making.

I prefer the digital format, but I've kept my old Pentax and Fujica film SLR's/lenses - just because.

dyintorace wrote: This thread has a lot of help in it. I ended up buying my wife the Nikon D40 and she's been thrilled with it. I would think you could find a used one near your price range. http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/learn-me-digital-slrs/4600/page1/

We've got the same camera and I've used it for everything from trackday pictures, shooting paintball scenario games(not as safe or easy as it sounds), to family pictures. Absolutely love it.

http://picasaweb.google.com/m/viewer?source=androidclient#album/Spinout007/5329527148549906497