film slr for street photographing

[legit]

Hey all,
I'm looking for a smaller film SLR camera. Not really sure where to start though.

I am wanting to get into street photographing and so im looking for something thats good quality but not too conspicuous. Also (as I always say) im a poor college kid, so im looking for something on the cheaper side.

Any suggestions or tips?

thanks,
- legit

legit wrote:

Hey all,
I'm looking for a smaller film SLR camera. Not really sure where to start though.

I am wanting to get into street photographing and so im looking for something thats good quality but not too conspicuous. Also (as I always say) im a poor college kid, so im looking for something on the cheaper side.

Any suggestions or tips?

thanks,
- legit

You want a film camera so you posted in a digital forum? I'll tell you one thing about being poor & shooting with film. 7 years ago I went to a group shoot & shot 10 rolls of 35mm film. After shelling out the cost of a good digital camera (including a large storage media card) to get the film developed, I sold all of my film gear & bought a digital camera. I've never spent another dime on film processing again (& if I had stayed with film, I would have spent enough for processing to buy 30-40 cameras).

But, if you're dead set on film, get a Nikon FG & a 50mm/f1.8 lens.

[granthagen]

legit, I just have some general comments.

You can buy used film SLR's for a song, nowadays. Pawn shops, local camera retailers, keh.com, ebay.....

The older, 70's era models are mostly mechanical -- hence heavy and large. I have two Minoltas from that time: an SRT 102 and an XE7. Both of them are like bricks around your neck.

I also have a Minolta X570 from the 80's, I think. That one is mostly electronic and made out of plastic. It is a little smaller and a lot lighter than the older tanks. Amazingly enough, you can buy the more modern electronic ones for often less than the all-mechanical cameras. I got the X570 off ebay for about $45.00. If you want auto-focus, you likely won't pay any more for that than a slightly older manual focus.

So, if you can, check out some local vendors that have used stuff for sale, look at the prices and features and handle the ones that catch your fancy to compare size/weight. The smallest/lightest will almost always be more modern electronically controlled models.

If you have any asperations of getting a DSLR in the reasonably near future, then you might want to consider a fairly recent film camera with a decent auto-focus lens that you could use on a DSLR of the same make.

Grant