I have the secret rangefinder recommendation you were missing: Canon Model 7s can be had in good condition for about a hundred dollars at present, are very pleasant to shoot, more or less fully featured, have built in switchable frame lines for 35, 50, 85/100, and 135mm, and the light meter might even work. They take L39 aka M39 aka Leica Thread Mount (LTM) lenses, and Canon also made some nice 35s and 50s for them which are usually about a hundred dollars as well. You can also use cheap soviet glass, or multiple thousand-dollar german glass, oc. Some soviet rangefinders like FED-5s are even cheaper. Those are worse ergonomically and have more limited features, but if you get a screaming deal or just want to try out rangefinder shooting with an interchangeable lens camera maybe still worth it.
These are good recommendations, I just don't have any firsthand experience with the FED cameras and I've heard mixed things about their quality control, so I decided against mentioning them. Thanks for watching.
In the 1967, I purchased my first 35mm SLR camera, a Miranda Sensorex. It was unreliable. I got rid of it because broke too many within its three-year warrantee. After the Sensorex, other 35mm SLRs I used included Pentax Spotmatic, Fuji ST705, and Nikon F, F2, F3, F4, EM, N70, and N2000. All, except the Miranda, were reliable cameras. My personal favorite was the Nikon F2 with 35mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.4, and 180mm f/2.8 lenses.
I am an Argus C3 airhead, of the seven that I have…one has a rusted backplate so it’s unusable (for now), two have broken rangefinders (one I broke trying to remove for cleaning and the other, the seller broke trying to clean as well), three had fungus colonies in the lenses (in which one I managed to destroy the coating from cleaning, it wasn’t apparent until I received the scans), my Harry Potter matchmatic has problems with the slow shutter speeds, and the rest are fully operational. The units with broken rangefinders are not a loss, but taking pictures with them would slow me down indefinitely. In summary, they are worth what you want from these cameras…which isn’t a lot, but it’s special. I just really like the Brick’s history, lenses, simplicity, “easier” serviceability, reliability and layout of controls.
New subscriber here. Great video with really useful tips. Facebook marketplace was the place where I got my latest bargain deal: a Olympus OM-2 with a motor drive, a Zuiko 50mm f:1,4 and a Tokina 28mm f:2,8 for 100 euro (about the same in USD). The camera is in good condition and working fine, just needs a good cleaning, lubrification and new light seals. The lenses are in good condition too, glass is unscratched, some dust and fungus inside. A good cleanup of all this gear is gonna be my upcoming project so I can use it during my summer holidays. Cheers, looking forward for future videos.
13:13 For the rangefinder cameras, I suggest Soviet cameras. I got a Fed, Zorki and Kiev for under $50 and the lenses are very nice and reasonable as well! I suggest the Kiev 4A, its the highest quality camera for the best price and the lenses are all under $60 online from wide angle 28mm to 135mm long range glass.
In 2016, I purchased my last 35mm rangefinder camera, a Leica M6. It was the best 35mm rangefinder I have ever used. Argus C3, Minolta Hi-Matic 9, Canon QL17, and Contax G1 were the other 35mm rangefinders I owned and used before the Leica M6. My personal favorite was the Leica M6 with 21mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4, and 90mm f/2 lenses.
Had a Nikon S2 for a while until finally switching to Canon P. Sold the S2 for more than when I bought it, bought the Canon P with about 35% of the S2’s price. What an upgrade in so many aspects!
Canon eye controlled EOS ELAN IIe. It was what some thought was too advanced for it's time, and the eye controlled autofocus feature is difficult to calibrate. But that film advance motor sound is oh so satisfying...
For the budget autofocus SLRs, you can also find Nikon N4004 and N6006 for cheap, but I like the control layout on the 8008 a lot more. The buying guide where you walk through the cameras is a great segment Also, first.
Hey Patrick, I've been getting into film photography for just over a year now with my Minolta Riva 110 Zoom, which has been super fun to use and shoot with, but I would love a stint in 120 film photography to be able to get a better handle on manual controls. At the same time, I also want a modernish camera (1990s and later). However I've found it extremely hard to find a good camera to start on that isnt like $900 AUD +. Wondering if you had recommendations on either models, or places to look for cameras? Happy with any format really, (hopefully 645, or 6x7). Let me know if anything comes to mind! Otherwise no stress. Cheers
Medium format is very difficult to get into anywhere close to the pricepoint you can with 35mm. Probably the best value that exists is the Mamiya 645 but you're still going to spend $300-$400 USD for a full working kit. The TLRs used to be a good value but have crept up a lot in price over the years. But yeah if it were me I'd go with one of the 645 modular cameras (Mamiya, Pentax, Bronica, etc.). Thanks for watching.
Great video, when I was looking for a rangefinder to play around with I also found it seemed like slim pickings compared to all the affordable options with regard to SLR's, I ended up with a little auto compact which is super handy in low light with its flash, and very easy to carry around. I just take it everywhere, too many times I bought an SLR somewhere and had to lug it around for no reason, or wished I had a camera but didnt bring it. I think the big learning curve for me when I first got into buying SLRs was figuring out what lenses fit on what. Luckily most of the big brands seemed reluctant to change lens mounts for long periods of time. Would also love to see a teardown/cla video of that 50mm macro, I've kind of wanted one of those for a while but haven't seen one come up for a price I'd pay just yet.
90s slrs are so underrated, they feel kinda crappy yea but their cheap and have so many features. i have like 5 canon rebel bodies i bought for under $5 each and they all function
Disregard the haters lol. Canon AE-1 Program for life. It's the perfect little blaster. Picked it up at a thrift store out of curiosity (with a few lenses), knowing little about it, and it's been a dream. Also got a Yashica 200-AF, but it just doesn't feel right. AE-1 Program for LIFE.
AF SLRs may be less cool to be seen shooting with, but I almost always use a way more reliable and fast Maxxum 800si for anything remotely important or action-y.
They're definitely the way to go where speed and ease of operation is a concern. I'm pretty fast with my X-700 but I still always shoot with an AF SLR for portrait jobs. The ability to fire off continuous shots is really a game changer for capturing nuanced candid moments. Thanks for watching.
Hey you mentioned using the Minolta 50mm f3.5 for scanning film, have you tried that out yet? I want to get into scanning my own film if I can. I have a Sony A7R that I have a few adaptors for, one being an MD mount so using a Minolta lens would be ideal.
It's been very good, but if you're going to be using it on a full frame camera you'll need to get an extension tube for it. At the time I purchased it for use on an APSC camera, so the fact that it's a 1:2 lens didn't matter. I recently upgraded to full frame, and found that it was weirdly difficult to find an extension tube for it at a good price relative to the initial cost of the lens. Thanks for watching.
@@patricknicholsdesign Sweet! I've just placed an order on Ebay for this lens with the 1:1 extension for $150 Canadian. I'm not sure if that is a reasonable price or not but it was in very good condition with the original extension tube as well. Do you have a specific model or brand of light source you recommend for scanning film?
Shooting point and shoot with film is pointless hipster posturing. The whole point of shooting film is the process, everything else is objectively worse than shooting digital and/or can be achieved better with digital. If you take the manual exposure control out, what's the point. Its just a worse version of a digital point and shoot, you might as well shoot with your phone and use filters if all you are after is the hipster film grain look. Don't even get me started about people who don't develop film themselves...
he has returned
Welcome back Patrick! Excellent video and definitely a great guide for starters in this world of cameras.
Daddy is back
I have the secret rangefinder recommendation you were missing: Canon Model 7s can be had in good condition for about a hundred dollars at present, are very pleasant to shoot, more or less fully featured, have built in switchable frame lines for 35, 50, 85/100, and 135mm, and the light meter might even work. They take L39 aka M39 aka Leica Thread Mount (LTM) lenses, and Canon also made some nice 35s and 50s for them which are usually about a hundred dollars as well. You can also use cheap soviet glass, or multiple thousand-dollar german glass, oc.
Some soviet rangefinders like FED-5s are even cheaper. Those are worse ergonomically and have more limited features, but if you get a screaming deal or just want to try out rangefinder shooting with an interchangeable lens camera maybe still worth it.
These are good recommendations, I just don't have any firsthand experience with the FED cameras and I've heard mixed things about their quality control, so I decided against mentioning them. Thanks for watching.
In the 1967, I purchased my first 35mm SLR camera, a Miranda Sensorex. It was unreliable. I got rid of it because broke too many within its three-year warrantee. After the Sensorex, other 35mm SLRs I used included Pentax Spotmatic, Fuji ST705, and Nikon F, F2, F3, F4, EM, N70, and N2000. All, except the Miranda, were reliable cameras. My personal favorite was the Nikon F2 with 35mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.4, and 180mm f/2.8 lenses.
34:23 Pro tip, you can dismantle that aperture ring pretty easily and use the ball of a ball point pin for its indexing bearing.
I am an Argus C3 airhead, of the seven that I have…one has a rusted backplate so it’s unusable (for now), two have broken rangefinders (one I broke trying to remove for cleaning and the other, the seller broke trying to clean as well), three had fungus colonies in the lenses (in which one I managed to destroy the coating from cleaning, it wasn’t apparent until I received the scans), my Harry Potter matchmatic has problems with the slow shutter speeds, and the rest are fully operational. The units with broken rangefinders are not a loss, but taking pictures with them would slow me down indefinitely. In summary, they are worth what you want from these cameras…which isn’t a lot, but it’s special.
I just really like the Brick’s history, lenses, simplicity, “easier” serviceability, reliability and layout of controls.
Always thought those Argus ramgefinders looked like fun. Haven't tried one yet, but might have to at some point. Thanks for watching.
New subscriber here. Great video with really useful tips. Facebook marketplace was the place where I got my latest bargain deal: a Olympus OM-2 with a motor drive, a Zuiko 50mm f:1,4 and a Tokina 28mm f:2,8 for 100 euro (about the same in USD). The camera is in good condition and working fine, just needs a good cleaning, lubrification and new light seals. The lenses are in good condition too, glass is unscratched, some dust and fungus inside. A good cleanup of all this gear is gonna be my upcoming project so I can use it during my summer holidays. Cheers, looking forward for future videos.
I agree, local deals will almost always be cheaper and more trustworthy than what you'll find online
13:13 For the rangefinder cameras, I suggest Soviet cameras. I got a Fed, Zorki and Kiev for under $50 and the lenses are very nice and reasonable as well! I suggest the Kiev 4A, its the highest quality camera for the best price and the lenses are all under $60 online from wide angle 28mm to 135mm long range glass.
Canon f1 my beloved
In 2016, I purchased my last 35mm rangefinder camera, a Leica M6. It was the best 35mm rangefinder I have ever used. Argus C3, Minolta Hi-Matic 9, Canon QL17, and Contax G1 were the other 35mm rangefinders I owned and used before the Leica M6. My personal favorite was the Leica M6 with 21mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4, and 90mm f/2 lenses.
Minolta is the answer:
SRT (regardless which model) for all that manual goodness and x300 for a bit of aperture priority support.
the XD's are really nice, same feature set as the x300-x700 but way nicer build quality and looks
@@720whip But the X300 you can have almost for free 🙂
The x-500 is definitely better. Less risk of capacitor issues too.
Had a Nikon S2 for a while until finally switching to Canon P. Sold the S2 for more than when I bought it, bought the Canon P with about 35% of the S2’s price. What an upgrade in so many aspects!
Point and shoot ftw
Canon eye controlled EOS ELAN IIe. It was what some thought was too advanced for it's time, and the eye controlled autofocus feature is difficult to calibrate. But that film advance motor sound is oh so satisfying...
Praktica cameras for life !
Welcome back
For the budget autofocus SLRs, you can also find Nikon N4004 and N6006 for cheap, but I like the control layout on the 8008 a lot more.
The buying guide where you walk through the cameras is a great segment
Also, first.
Dude. Make more camera teardown and repair videos!
KEH is the best in my opinion. You forgot to mention shipping in your KEH review. And KEH usually will put what's wrong with it in the description.
Hey Patrick, I've been getting into film photography for just over a year now with my Minolta Riva 110 Zoom, which has been super fun to use and shoot with, but I would love a stint in 120 film photography to be able to get a better handle on manual controls. At the same time, I also want a modernish camera (1990s and later). However I've found it extremely hard to find a good camera to start on that isnt like $900 AUD +. Wondering if you had recommendations on either models, or places to look for cameras? Happy with any format really, (hopefully 645, or 6x7). Let me know if anything comes to mind! Otherwise no stress.
Cheers
Medium format is very difficult to get into anywhere close to the pricepoint you can with 35mm. Probably the best value that exists is the Mamiya 645 but you're still going to spend $300-$400 USD for a full working kit. The TLRs used to be a good value but have crept up a lot in price over the years. But yeah if it were me I'd go with one of the 645 modular cameras (Mamiya, Pentax, Bronica, etc.). Thanks for watching.
Great video, when I was looking for a rangefinder to play around with I also found it seemed like slim pickings compared to all the affordable options with regard to SLR's, I ended up with a little auto compact which is super handy in low light with its flash, and very easy to carry around. I just take it everywhere, too many times I bought an SLR somewhere and had to lug it around for no reason, or wished I had a camera but didnt bring it.
I think the big learning curve for me when I first got into buying SLRs was figuring out what lenses fit on what. Luckily most of the big brands seemed reluctant to change lens mounts for long periods of time.
Would also love to see a teardown/cla video of that 50mm macro, I've kind of wanted one of those for a while but haven't seen one come up for a price I'd pay just yet.
90s slrs are so underrated, they feel kinda crappy yea but their cheap and have so many features. i have like 5 canon rebel bodies i bought for under $5 each and they all function
the eye controlled auto-focus in some canon EF SLRs is so intuitive
Still a pass for me, I only own metal soviet cameras rn lmao
I had an EOS 500n btw
I subscribed early, I am not disappointed 😂
Disregard the haters lol. Canon AE-1 Program for life. It's the perfect little blaster. Picked it up at a thrift store out of curiosity (with a few lenses), knowing little about it, and it's been a dream. Also got a Yashica 200-AF, but it just doesn't feel right. AE-1 Program for LIFE.
Man using flash on point and shoot is so nice for easy pictures
Gonna take this opportunity to say I'm selling a Minolta XE-7, one of their best cameras made. Camera has been CLA'D!!!
Amazing video. I wish I had this video when I was trying to buy cameras
Well done,, Stay with the 60's-80's cameras,,, Medium Price,,, most expensive,,, then specialize in different brands,,, ETC.... :) :) :)
AF SLRs may be less cool to be seen shooting with, but I almost always use a way more reliable and fast Maxxum 800si for anything remotely important or action-y.
They're definitely the way to go where speed and ease of operation is a concern. I'm pretty fast with my X-700 but I still always shoot with an AF SLR for portrait jobs. The ability to fire off continuous shots is really a game changer for capturing nuanced candid moments. Thanks for watching.
Nice vid, and nice Rokkor collection!
35 is nice, but babes love guys that shoot 120
Hey you mentioned using the Minolta 50mm f3.5 for scanning film, have you tried that out yet? I want to get into scanning my own film if I can. I have a Sony A7R that I have a few adaptors for, one being an MD mount so using a Minolta lens would be ideal.
It's been very good, but if you're going to be using it on a full frame camera you'll need to get an extension tube for it. At the time I purchased it for use on an APSC camera, so the fact that it's a 1:2 lens didn't matter. I recently upgraded to full frame, and found that it was weirdly difficult to find an extension tube for it at a good price relative to the initial cost of the lens. Thanks for watching.
@@patricknicholsdesign Sweet! I've just placed an order on Ebay for this lens with the 1:1 extension for $150 Canadian. I'm not sure if that is a reasonable price or not but it was in very good condition with the original extension tube as well. Do you have a specific model or brand of light source you recommend for scanning film?
@@patricknicholsdesign Would love to see a video on your setup/scanning process
idk thay're really the same, just bought minolta x-700 bcs of it's look and happy with that 😁
HES BACK
Hey awesome a long one welcome back
Subbed for saying gif correctly
Not in the photography but this channel is Killer
Hey man, if I paid you, would you restore my camera and make it white like your badass Minolta?
33:19 Pavement fan?
Thinly veiled Minolta Propaganda! You can't get past me!
personally i wouldn't pick up any pentax autofocus slrs, their mirror/shutter gears are plastic and very prone to breaking
Omg you have a face
Shooting point and shoot with film is pointless hipster posturing. The whole point of shooting film is the process, everything else is objectively worse than shooting digital and/or can be achieved better with digital.
If you take the manual exposure control out, what's the point. Its just a worse version of a digital point and shoot, you might as well shoot with your phone and use filters if all you are after is the hipster film grain look.
Don't even get me started about people who don't develop film themselves...