35mm manual camera donations wanted for Community College

btaylor · May 13, 2025

Hi All,

I enjoy taking photo classes at Los Angeles Community College. The introductory photo class requires using actual 35mm black and white film, which the students then process in the darkroom.
The school supplies the cameras and film for the students, and that's where the issue lies. As with many schools, they are prohibited from purchasing used gear- and there are no new cameras to be had! Which leads to a shortage, and reduces their ability to meet the needs of students.

I want to help. I am donating my Pentax SP500 with a 50mm lens, and I encourage others on this forum to make a contribution to help introduce as many new people as we can to the joys of film based photography.

Here's the deal: donate a working 35mm SLR camera with manually adjustable shutter speeds/aperture/ISO, a 50mm lens (or zoom lens with 50mm in the range) and you get a tax deduction for a charitable contribution. I'll send the LACC Foundation Gift-In-Kind Donation Form to you when your camera is received. As a further incentive I will pay your postage to ship it! (US only please to keep costs reasonable)

Please PM me or respond to this thread and I will send you all the information you need. Thank you!

Bruce

Here is a copy of the email I received from Natalie Embry who handles equipment for the department:

Hi Bruce,
Thank you so much for reaching out on our behalf!
I’m attaching the Gift in Kind form from our foundation. That gets the process started of receiving a tax write off for the donations.
Here’s a list of some of our preferred camera models:

Canon A1 or AE-1 or AE-1 program
Nikon F100 or FM10
Pentax K1000
Olympus OM10 (with the shutter speed dial)
Minolta X700

As long as the camera can be set manually for the shutter speeds, the apertures, and the ISO, that works for us!

Regards,
Natalie Embrey
Los Angeles City College
Visual & Media Arts Department

88E30M50 · May 13, 2025

Hi Bruce,

I may be able to help. I like to restore cameras and currently have an AE-1 Program and possibly an A-1 that are not needed by me. Both have been film tested but I don't know if I have spare lenses. A month ago, our local camera shop had a bin full of Canon 50mm f1.8 lenses for $10 each, but those sold. If I can source lenses, I can donate full working cameras. Otherwise, it will be body only.

Thanks,
Tim

xkaes · May 13, 2025

I'm sure you'll get some responses.

One point that Natalie might want to consider is expanding the list. It's pretty limited, and that won't really help donations. For example, the Pentax K1000 is a great camera, but there are lots of other cameras with the same features from several other camera makers -- for example, any of the numerous Minolta SRT cameras. Similarly, the Minolta X-700 camera is listed, but none of the countless other Minolta X-series cameras -- that are more likely to be donated.

88E30M50 · May 13, 2025

xkaes said:
I'm sure you'll get some responses.

One point that Natalie might want to consider is expanding the list. It's pretty limited, and that won't really help donations. For example, the Pentax K1000 is a great camera, but there are lots of other cameras with the same features from several other camera makers -- for example, any of the numerous Minolta SRT cameras. Similarly, the Minolta X-700 camera is listed, but none of the countless other Minolta X-series cameras -- that are more likely to be donated.

Good point. I'm working on a batch of Nikkormats that would fit the bill quite well too. Pentax KX, MX, Spotmatics and many others would also work, not to mention Canon FTbs, FTs and such.

runswithsizzers · May 13, 2025

btaylor said:
The school supplies the cameras and film for the students, and that's where the issue lies. As with many schools, they are prohibited from purchasing used gear

I wonder why the school cannot purchase used gear?

That is not the case at MSU (Missouri) in my home town. The school purchases both 35mm and medium format film cameras on the used market (and I donated one, as well). The local university has an employee who is a sort of all-purpose handyman and fixit-guy for the art department, and he buys and maintains the cameras.

Having said that, I will observe that keeping a collection of used film cameras operational is not a trivial task. At least two of the Mamiya c220 cameras I was issued had problems. I suspect it may be difficult for any school to find someone who is qualified to repair and maintain multiple brands of cameras for their students. But that problem remains whether the used cameras were purchased or received as donations.

Kino · May 13, 2025

How many cameras are needed here? 5, 10, 20?

btaylor · May 14, 2025

88E30M50 said:
Hi Bruce,

I may be able to help. I like to restore cameras and currently have an AE-1 Program and possibly an A-1 that are not needed by me. Both have been film tested but I don't know if I have spare lenses. A month ago, our local camera shop had a bin full of Canon 50mm f1.8 lenses for $10 each, but those sold. If I can source lenses, I can donate full working cameras. Otherwise, it will be body only.

Thanks,
Tim

88E30M50 said:
Good point. I'm working on a batch of Nikkormats that would fit the bill quite well too. Pentax KX, MX, Spotmatics and many others would also work, not to mention Canon FTbs, FTs and such.

Thank you so much! That would be great.
I should point out that those camera models mentioned are only examples, and perhaps only because they are what Natalie has been exposed to. When I offered my Pentax, which fits the manual operation profile, she didn’t know what it was! But I am probably 40 years older than she is- so not so surprising

btaylor · May 14, 2025

xkaes said:
I'm sure you'll get some responses.

One point that Natalie might want to consider is expanding the list. It's pretty limited, and that won't really help donations. For example, the Pentax K1000 is a great camera, but there are lots of other cameras with the same features from several other camera makers -- for example, any of the numerous Minolta SRT cameras. Similarly, the Minolta X-700 camera is listed, but none of the countless other Minolta X-series cameras -- that are more likely to be donated.

Xkaes, I couldn’t agree more! The list was simply models Natalie was aware of. I am personally donating a Pentax SP500. Pentax, Ricoh, Minolta, Chinon, Olympus, Nikon, Canon, etc all are welcome and appreciated. Any 35mm slr camera that has the option of full manual control is welcome!

btaylor · May 14, 2025

Kino said:
How many cameras are needed here? 5, 10, 20?

Good question! I asked- 5 would be great, if they got 20 that would enable them to add additional class section.

Tel · May 14, 2025

Are working meters necessary? And does she have any use for rangefinders? (I sympathise with her; I used to teach in a state college with the same only-new-equipment rule. I ended up spending a lot of my own money on motion picture gear just so I could teach the cinematography class. On the up-side I got bitten by the camera-repair bug.)

retina_restoration · May 14, 2025

It's too bad they only want SLRs, not rangefinders. I have a number of cameras I could donate.

btaylor · May 14, 2025

Tel said:
Are working meters necessary? And does she have any use for rangefinders? (I sympathise with her; I used to teach in a state college with the same only-new-equipment rule. I ended up spending a lot of my own money on motion picture gear just so I could teach the cinematography class. On the up-side I got bitten by the camera-repair bug.)

I will check on the working meters question- I was wondering that myself. I know they have hand held Sekonics for some classes.
I’m sure there is a reason for the no used equipment rule, but it certainly does make it difficult for situations like this.
(So were you repairing the mopic gear? To keep those old FSU cameras running a resident technician was certainly needed!)

btaylor · May 14, 2025

retina_restoration said:
It's too bad they only want SLRs, not rangefinders. I have a number of cameras I could donate.

I was wondering the same thing- I’m going to check.
Thanks for the kind offer, I hope they can take you up on it!

Tel · May 14, 2025

btaylor said:
I will check on the working meters question- I was wondering that myself. I know they have hand held Sekonics for some classes.
I’m sure there is a reason for the no used equipment rule, but it certainly does make it difficult for situations like this.
(So were you repairing the mopic gear? To keep those old FSU cameras running a resident technician was certainly needed!)

Yup. I got pretty good at servicing Kinors and Konvases, thanks to Andy Overtoom and Raf Pankratau and a few others I’m sure you remember...

btaylor · May 14, 2025

Tel said:
Are working meters necessary? And does she have any use for rangefinders? (I sympathise with her; I used to teach in a state college with the same only-new-equipment rule. I ended up spending a lot of my own money on motion picture gear just so I could teach the cinematography class. On the up-side I got bitten by the camera-repair bug.)

I will check on the working meters question- I was wondering that myself. I know they have hand held Sekonics for some classes.

mehguy · May 16, 2025

It's unfortunate there is no new standard film SLR one can buy. There used to be the FM10, but it seems like Nikon nuked that option not too long ago

btaylor · May 21, 2025

Tel said:
Yup. I got pretty good at servicing Kinors and Konvases, thanks to Andy Overtoom and Raf Pankratau and a few others I’m sure you remember...

Ha! Andy, Raf, Bruce at Arandafilm in Australia, Olivier in Ecuador, Anders in Sweden, and more, those were fun days.

btaylor · May 21, 2025

Tel said:
Are working meters necessary? And does she have any use for rangefinders?

Working meters not required!

Also, I checked and rangefinders are okay.

The main things are 35mm and full manual control.

Thanks!

Bruce

btaylor · May 21, 2025

retina_restoration said:
It's too bad they only want SLRs, not rangefinders. I have a number of cameras I could donate.

I checked and rangefinders with full manual control are accepted! They do need to be fully operational. I am going to film test all the cameras as they arrive before they go out to students.

PM me for shipping details and shipping reimbursement and I'll send the form for the tax deduction.

Thank you!!!

Bruce

35mm manual camera donations wanted for Community College

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency