Cheapest 35mm SLR system

[zozur]

What is cheapest slr system, that offers decent lenses and nice bodies? Its M42 or something else?
All the best

 

[loman]

Minolta Sr

 

[Ian Grant]

M42 or K mount because so many companies used these two mounts. My view is the best M42 camera has to be the Pentax Spotmatic F with it's full aperture metering.

In K mount the Chinon CE4 is the camera Pentax should have made instead of the ME & ME Super, a good aperture priority manual/auto camera and the Chinon standard lenses were superb.

Ian

 

[mr rusty]

minolta x series with mc/md mounts are very inexpensive as well.

 

[AgX]

I think it depends. If you are advised on one system, but rarely see anything of it locally, but various parts of another system at fine prices in abundance?

 

[blockend]

All are cheap compared to their original prices. Canon FD are very inexpensive, Chinon, Ricoh, Cosina, Minolta MD, etc. This long after manufacture, the condition of the individual lens is as important as the brand. We're talking primes, zooms can be hit and miss with any make.

 

[cuthbert]

Praktica B system.

 

[Sewin]

Praktica B system.

You beat me to it

 

[baachitraka]

Zenit E + Helios 44-2

 

[trythis]

Zenit E + Helios 44-2

But you'll need a new body for each roll of film.


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[baachitraka]

Okay. If it is so, then I suggest an upgrade to Praktica MTL 5B which I got for €5.00.

I bought Zenit E as broken camera for the Helios 44-2 that came with. Honestly I like the camera and wish I find someone who can fix mine.

 

[RobC]

what does cheap mean?

what you want is something which is reliable and just works. Whether cheap means that is debateable. You might get lucky and you might not.

Buy something with a short term warranty which gives you a chance to test it out and return if its not functioning properly. Otherwise your "cheap" becomes not so cheap and a real PITA

 

[dynachrome]

A Vivitar V4000S with either the 50/1.8 or the 35-70 zoom. The 50/1.8 is decent and the zoom is pretty sharp, if slow. There are many K mount lenses around if you want to branch out to other focal lengths. A Minolta X-700 with any of the 50/1.7 Minolta lenses. The X-700 often has bad capacitors but this can be fixed by any good repair person. The common Minolta manual focus lenses, Rokkors, plain MD and Celtic are inexpensive.

 

[gone]

I liked my little Zenet E too, but they are unfixable for all intents and purposes. That's my opinion on all Russian cameras. If you get one that works, go w/ it. Otherwise, use something else.

I finally put my Helios lens on a Canon FTb w/ an adapter. One of the best 50's you can buy at any price. Mine is for sale because I'm stupid, but the early lenses are just great.

There is no cheapest SLR. It just depends on what you can find.

 

[macfred]

The wife owns a Nikon EM with 28, 50 and 100mm series E lenses - inexpensive and handy kit.

 

[Ap507b]

Won an ebay auction yesterday for a Praktica BC1 with 3 Pentacon lenses & a flash for the opening £9.99 bid. The lenses look OK. The camera is untested. It was being sold by a hospice.

I had a BC1 back in the 80's. The meter broke & I have read that anything up to 50% of BC1's proved to be defective. Will wait to see what this one is like. Even if it doesn't work, 3 lenses for £9.99 is a bargain in itself.

 

[Paul Howell]

what does cheap mean?

what you want is something which is reliable and just works. Whether cheap means that is debateable. You might get lucky and you might not.

Buy something with a short term warranty which gives you a chance to test it out and return if its not functioning properly. Otherwise your "cheap" becomes not so cheap and a real PITA

I agree with RobC, and what do you mean by system? When I think of a system I thinks of motor drives, winders, backs, interchangeable viewfinders and focusing screens and wide range of fast lens.

 

[Sewin]

Won an ebay auction yesterday for a Praktica BC1 with 3 Pentacon lenses & a flash for the opening £9.99 bid. The lenses look OK. The camera is untested. It was being sold by a hospice.

I had a BC1 back in the 80's. The meter broke & I have read that anything up to 50% of BC1's proved to be defective. Will wait to see what this one is like. Even if it doesn't work, 3 lenses for £9.99 is a bargain in itself.

I think I seen that, I've a BC1, (also a B100 and B200 plus a few lenses) BC1 is a very underated camera, mine is working fine, famous last words.

Its slightly quieter than other Prakticas, which is all relative.

Did you see the praktica BCA which went for about £60 :confused: on Saturday, it did have some reasonable lenses though.

The only Prakticas I have had trouble with (repeat, famous last words) are an LLC which had a lot of use and my PLC3 which died last week, both meters failed.

So I'm sticking with the B series as my frugal system set up.

 

[hudson]

I like the Spotmatic SP (M42) and also the Minolta MC/MD mounts. With the M42 mounts a lot of the Russian lenses are very good and cheap. And Minolta has some very nice lenses in that era...lots of nice, fast MC Rokkor lenses around for not too much.

I would strongly suggest getting a body that has been CLA'd...or at least a body from a seller that knows what he's talking about and only sells working cameras with a 14-30 return...don't get estate sale finds where they say "oh, I pressed a button and it seems to work!"

 

[Sewin]

M42 lens prices have risen, they are being snapped up by the Digi users, particularly the stepless aperture Helios.

I now find bayonet mount cheaper.

 

[Ap507b]

I think I seen that, I've a BC1, (also a B100 and B200 plus a few lenses) BC1 is a very underated camera, mine is working fine, famous last words.

Its slightly quieter than other Prakticas, which is all relative.

Did you see the praktica BCA which went for about £60 :confused: on Saturday, it did have some reasonable lenses though.

The only Prakticas I have had trouble with (repeat, famous last words) are an LLC which had a lot of use and my PLC3 which died last week, both meters failed.

So I'm sticking with the B series as my frugal system set up.

It was an on the spur of the moment search on ebay looking for a bit of nostalgia. For that much money I would hope that it would have some reasonable lenses with it. The £9.99 got me a 28mm F2.8, a 50mm F1.8 & a 70-210 zoom. I will look at adding a 135mm F2.8 but other than that, the outfit should be complete. I already have an MTL5 to keep it company.

Honestly I didn't think that much of the BC1 back in the 80's & only had it for a year before moving on to a Nikon FA. Spec wise though it matches pretty much an OM2 or a Nikon FE & I think that I was a bit harsh on it back then. It deserves another chance!

 

[Dali]

If I had to choose, I would go for a Minolta or a Konica system: pretty cheap, good cameras, good lenses, what else to ask?

 

[cuthbert]

But you'll need a new body for each roll of film.


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Zenits are rough and sturdy cameras, probably some of the toughest I've seen, the V doesn't even have the lightmeter so I assume it's the most reliable of the bunch, personally I've a 12XP of which I am moderately satisfied, even if the only Zenit with all the features of a "normal" camera is the 19.

 

[trythis]

The two Zenits I own both failed half way through the first roll. 12xp's one plastic, the other metal so parts are not interchangeable . Knobs fell off and curtains detached. Got nice lenses off of them though that work fine on my EOS 620


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[alanrockwood]

Not necessarily the cheapest, but still pretty cheap, Canon Rebel T2, the last of the Rebel film series. On ebay they sell for less than $50 more often than not, shipping and consumer-grade lens included, and they are a great little camera. The Rebel 2000 (the most popular 35mm SLR ever sold, I believe) usually sells for a little less and is almost as capable.

You can use any canon EOS film camera lens on this camera, from the cheapest to the most expensive professional grade lens, and your photos will be indistinguishable from those made with the most expensive Canon film cameras.

There are good non-Canon camera choices as well.