What are your "Best film camera under £... aspiration " buys

tikkathreebarrel

tikkathreebarrel

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Just a thought triggered by not focussing on downsizing and browsing the masses of film cameras on EBay.

So here's a legitimate topic of discussion, what are your "aspirational best buy" film cameras in the categories Under £25, Under £50, Under £100, Under £200 and Under £500?

Feel free to add more price bands if you like. I think the only constraints I'm suggesting are 1. must be regularly available at that price so no early hours lucky find bargains, 2. perhaps ought to come with lens and 3. should certainly be mechanically functional and complete. That way it's not £25 for the body and £300 for the lens!

35mm, MF, Large format, what have you - completely open.

My choices? Well I don't have a lifetime of experience with film, just a couple of years so I don't speak with a wealth of knowledge. Also I'm trying to cut down, not buy:clap:

Under £25
Olympus Trip


Under £50
Any Mamiya rangefinder

Under £100
Canon EOS 1N

Under £200
???

Under £500
Mamiya R series MF camera
 
Under £50 Canon A-1, i bought 2 bodies for around £25 each and a lens for £20

Under £250 for my RB67 with lens and film holder (wasn't in good condition at all)
 
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Is this a 'want' or 'already acquired' list?
 
Under £25 - Yashica Electro


Under £50 - Nikon F75


Under £100 - Nikon F/FM anything


Under £200 - Nikon F100


Under £500 - Mamiya RB67


Under £1000 - Mamiya 6
 
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Good question, having to think hard to remember what I paid for some of my cameras. :thinking:

Under £25
Olympus Trip 35

Under £50
Minolta Hi-matic; probably won't get the 7sII in budget but if the results from my plain 7s are anything to go by, the lenses are all pretty good.

Under £100
Yashica Electro 35 rangefinder - my GX was imported from Japan and worked out slightly more than the budget but you can find GSNs and others within the limit. Cracking lens, great metering, shame mine died but it's away to be checked at the moment.

Under £200
Nikon FE2 with 50mm f/1.8 lens OR Canon T90 with 50mm f/1.4 lens

Under £500
Tricky as you could get a 35mm SLR with a bag full of lenses for that budget, or go MF and still get a couple of lenses in the deal or splurge on a 3.5 Rolleiflex or go large format, which I have no clue about. The world is your apricot. :shrug:
 
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Under £300
Mamiya 645 pro TL, lens, grip, finder, back boxed
- they do come up cheaper sometimes on eBay!

-Mamiya RB67 plus backs, Lenses, WLF, Finder
 
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Under £25
Exatka Varex IIb with 50mm Tessar; not fully working but my best buy in that price range other than maybe my two Mju-II's for £10 each

Under £50
Canon T90 with about 10 lenses and macro bellows, 300TL flash, Gossen Lunasix light meter all in a bag.

Under £100
Don't really buy much in the 50-100 range but probably my Regula Super Automatic and two rare lenses for it.

Under £200
Rarely spend in this range, probably my near mint Yashica MAT 124g falls here.

Under £500
Only thing in film i've bought that reaches this range is the Nikon FE system i've built up.
A black Nikon FE which i had the foams replaced on (£40 + £15).
Lenses; Nikon 24mm 2.8 AI (£150), Nikon Nikkor-S 35mm 2.8 factory AI'd (£37), Nikon 50mm 1.8 AI (£40), Nikon E Series 50mm 1.8 (£20) and a Nikon E series 75-150mm 3.5 near mint for £50. So about £330 total.
 
Morinaka said:
Under £25
Exatka Varex IIb with 50mm Tessar; not fully working but my best buy in that price range other than maybe my two Mju-II's for £10 each

Under £50
Canon T90 with about 10 lenses and macro bellows, 300TL flash, Gossen Lunasix light meter all in a bag.

Under £100
Don't really buy much in the 50-100 range but probably my Regula Super Automatic and two rare lenses for it.

Under £200
Rarely spend in this range, probably my near mint Yashica MAT 124g falls here.

Under £500
Only thing in film i've bought that reaches this range is the Nikon FE system i've built up.
A black Nikon FE which i had the foams replaced on (£40 + £15).
Lenses; Nikon 24mm 2.8 AI (£150), Nikon Nikkor-S 35mm 2.8 factory AI'd (£37), Nikon 50mm 1.8 AI (£40), Nikon E Series 50mm 1.8 (£20) and a Nikon E series 75-150mm 3.5 near mint for £50. So about £330 total.
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HUH T90 with that lot for under £50 :suspect:
 
Well I want a Roliflex but can't afford it :( Next one down would be a Yash Mat but certain people on this forum keep snapping up the decently priced ones :)

35mm wise I always lusted after an Electro 35 and last week I managed to pick one up for twenty quid. Suppose I wouldn't turn down an F90!
 
Under £25
Canon Demi half frame

Under £50
Pentax mx or my spotmatic (prob the latter as the mx needed a good service)

Under £100
Rolleiflex

Under £200
Graflex speed graphic (very tatty)

Under £500
Leica M3
 
My most used camera is a Canon T70 for about £15.
 
just substitute the £ for a p, and do your own list Brian..:cool:
 
I can't really guarantee that these are available at these prices and some of them didn't come with a lens but...

Under £25
Agfa Clack, big medium format quirkiness.

Under £50
Minolta Dynax 9, possibly the the best 35mm camera ever made.

Under £100
Mamiya RZ67 (Yes really) bought in bits and cobbled together by me.

Under £200
Nikon F2

Under £500
Nagoaka 4x5

Like my top 10 records of all time this is likely to change on a whim but that's my list for the time being,
it may change when my Voigtlander Avus arrives next week :D
 
excalibur2 said:
HUH T90 with that lot for under £50 :suspect:
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Heh it was a lucky few weeks, i got the camera, 3 lenses, flash and meter at a boot sale for £30 and in the TP IRC chat room stu_the_flat had a load of FD lenses and the bellows and sent them to me for the cost of the postage which was about £15 i think so i got the lot for under 50 in the end.

Saying this i've sold all but the camera and 4 lenses now and now i've got the Nikon FE setup i'm thinking of selling those off as well so someone else can get some use out of it as the T90 is a bloody good camera but it's too big for my taste.
 
joxby said:
just substitute the £ for a p, and do your own list Brian..:cool:
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No need for a list as a Canon T70 will do 98% of what an amateur uses a camera for at the cheapest price. :thumbs:
 
excalibur2 said:
No need for a list as a Canon T70 will do 98% of what an amateur uses a camera for at the cheapest price. :thumbs:
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I agree with you Brian but can you use it to knock nails in and defend yourself against muggers like a Nikkormat?
 
RaglanSurf said:
I agree with you Brian but can you use it to knock nails in and defend yourself against muggers like a Nikkormat?
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I use my RB for hammering in fence posts, knocking down houses and also as a doorstop :thumbs:
 
RaglanSurf said:
I agree with you Brian but can you use it to knock nails in and defend yourself against muggers like a Nikkormat?
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Ah I have a MTL5 for those dodgy areas :) but a mugger wouldn't want to nick a T70 as it's so ugly, but see the word Nikon on a camera around your neck and....... :thumbsdown:
 
robhooley167 said:
I use my RB for hammering in fence posts, knocking down houses and also as a doorstop :thumbs:
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The RB is, without doubt, the most versatile of all housebrick/camera/doorstop/wrecking ball combinations available, however it does lose out to the Nikkormat on portability.
 
RaglanSurf said:
The RB is, without doubt, the most versatile of all housebrick/camera/doorstop/wrecking ball combinations available, however it does lose out to the Nikkormat on portability.
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Perhaps... but add 4 wheels to the bottom and I think an RB makes a decent trailer :thumbs:
 
put a gun on it and.....well.....the possibilities are endless..:)
 
joxby said:
put a gun on it and.....well.....the possibilities are endless..:)
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Why a gun? Just fire it, people will think the mirror moving is a gun anyway. Built in sound effects :)
 
freecom2 said:
Perhaps... but add 4 wheels to the bottom and I think an RB makes a decent trailer :thumbs:
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More like a caravan, plenty of space in that mirrorbox for a family of 4
 
robhooley167 said:
More like a caravan, plenty of space in that mirrorbox for a family of 4
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Ahh, Northerners... :D

Wait what was this thread even about? :bonk:
 
Its about t70's doing 98% of what an amateur uses a camera for and the trade off of having to be seen in public with it, by necessity.

for an extra 40p you could buy something that doesn't look like Blake 7's beard trimmer, and still do 98% of what an amateur uses a camera for, quite what that is, we don't know cos Brain ain't making a list..:lol:




.
 
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joxby said:
Its about t70's doing 98% of what an amateur uses a camera for and the trade off of having to be seen in public with it, by necessity.

for an extra 40p you could buy something that doesn't look like Blake 7's beard trimmer, and still do 98% of what an amateur uses a camera for, quite what that is, we don't know cos Brain ain't making a list..:lol: .
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:lol: I'm a lens man and to me the camera body is just the bit that connects the lens to the human brain :wave:
 
joxby said:
put a gun on it and.....well.....the possibilities are endless..:)
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500mm and the 2x TC and it might be mistaken for a supergun..

(probably the least "budget" of the available RB lenses.. there's been one on Ebay with the body included for free)
 
excalibur2 said:
:lol: I'm a lens man and to me the camera body is just the bit that connects the lens to the human brain :wave:
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lol......our lass was just saying, she sent a card to a work colleague last week called Brian, he read it and exclaimed..."who the hell is Brain"
I found this hilarious, with a picture of Brains from Thunderbirds driving a council bus in my head and some trite comments about how thick she was...lol.

And then...



joxby said:
....we don't know cos Brain ain't making a list..:lol:
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Sorry Brian...
 
joxby said:
lol......our lass was just saying, she sent a card to a work colleague last week called Brian, he read it and exclaimed..."who the hell is Brain"
I found this hilarious, with a picture of Brains from Thunderbirds driving a council bus in my head and some trite comments about how thick she was...lol.

And then...

Sorry Brian...
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:D: :clap:
 
OM 10 in working order for £18 with manual adapter, leather case and instructions.

Contax 139 Q with a Carl Zeiss 50mm 1.7 T* with two zoom Yashica lenses both 2.8 and a Tamron 18-70 and a doubler for £80 (steal)

Yashica Mat was a gift from my very generous brother after showing an interest in TLR's (Cheers Bro :thumbs:)

My DSLR is an old 20D I bought For £220 quite a while ago.

Next purchase for me will be a Fuji X10 :thumbs:
 
Under £25
Canon AE1 Programme - £15
Canon 3000n - £12
Canon 500n - £0.99p
Canon AF35M = £0.99p

Never spend over £50!
 
BBR said:
So to all intents and purposes my virtually mint Canon AE-1 program and AE-1 are both virtually worthless in terms of cash?!:(
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I'm afraid so but in terms of the enjoyment to be gained from using them and keeping them alive, priceless.
 
Under £100
My FM2n
Nikon F4 ( the camera I have got the most enjoyment out of)

Under £300
Mamiya RB67 with lens and spare back.
 
Ebay hits for me.

Under £10. A Praktica MTL5

Under £25. Nikon FG

Under £50. Olympus OM2 SP with a 35 > 105mm zoom.

Under £100. Debatable between Nikon F2, F3, FE2 or FM2 as I have picked up all for under £100 there. Each a nice camera in its own right.

Under £300. Nikon F5
 
Pretty sure when I bought my minty mint RB67+90mm+WLF+back it was under £150... This was back in the days before the, from what I've seen at least, resurgence of interest in film.

My Ebony was *cheap* compared to new, but still silly expensive :D
 
I'm a cheapskate, and I love a car boot, so... the most "expensive" film camera I have was swapped for a Tomtom I didn't use any more!
 
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