Recommended kit for a student

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Hello darkroom dwellers - I need your help.

This is a bit of a 'friend of a friend' thing, but I'm hoping for a suitable recommendation for some equipment I can pass on. There's a young lady who is extremely into her photography and going to study photography at college/uni at some point in the future and for her birthday her family would like to get her a nice little film camera and some accessories (lenses, etc) so she can start learning now - sort of give her a head start for the 'real' thing.

I was thinking it might be nice to get her a small-ish SLR type camera and a couple of lenses or even something all-in-one that would teach her how to control and handle a camera and feed her passion. Only, I know nothing about film camera so I'm hoping you'll be able to point me in the right direction.

I think the budget is around £60 so anything around that area (or below) would be a great place to start. No need to worry about home developing just yet - she'll get the film processed at her local camera emporium.
 
Pentax K1000

It's what I learnt on, there's millions about, lenses are cheap as chips and it's the perfect intro to film.

Fab cameras and go for next to nothing these days!
 
The advise given at the start of my A level course was any camera would be suitable as long as it has full manual controls, after that lens come down to the choice/stlye and genre
 
That K1000 looks quite promising, Moos3h. What's the second-hand market like for them?

And do we think a 50mm prime would make for a suitable lens to pair with a fully-manual camera or should others be taken into consideration?
 
Canon EOS500n is a bit basic as a autofocus camera (only 3 focus points), but you can pick them up for around £20 on ebay, with a basic 35-80mm lens under £40. Lens and camera body have manual override.

These are going to be around 10 years old now, but the good news is they were generally bought as family cameras, so they aren't going to have had a real pounding in a serious photographers. If you want manual only kit then ebay has loads !


If you want a manula only option on the cheap then a Canon AE-1 might be within range, or failing that an AV-1 which was a consumer range model. Both take FD mount lenses which are cheap as chips
 
Actually, something a little more modern might be a good shout. That 500n would be an EF mount I assume?

Only problem with something a little more modern is finding a suitable lens for it that still keeps us under budget. Any ideas on that front?
 
Olympus OM1 ?

Make sure its had the battery mod done.

Usually shed loads on Ebay.
 
Has to be a Pentax MX, surely. ;)

Picked up my very minty one for about 40 quid, and got two very good lenses (one actually very very good) and still had change from 100.

A lot of colleges/unis like students to use a 50mm prime for starters. Kind of a do-everything-lens that makes you use your brain I suppose.

You could probably grab an MX and a 50 f/2 easily for your budget.

Pro-grade camera (if there is such a thing) and it has historical importance to boot.
 
olympus OM10 with manual adapter, great camera at a bargain price with loads of cheap lenses about.
 
Pentax K1000 - No Question. Still used by all the major colleges to train people for photography. Everything manual, so you end up with a good understanding of shutter speed and aperture and how they work together. Prices vary though. A mint example could cost £100 on egay and good used examples are available from folks on here.
I learnt loads using one of these. Whilst other students opted for more modern film cameras where some functions were automated, they never learned half as much as those using a fully manual camera.
 
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