Plastic SLRs

jeffreythree

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Don't forget Pentax plastic. I really liked my ZX-5, and hauled it around on a lot of hiking trips. Plus it had a shutter speed dial instead of more buttons. It is long gone, but I have been thinking of tracking down another.
 

ciniframe

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I admit I'm a camera snob when it comes to these cameras, don't like or buy them at all. And yet......
Smart thrifty and talented film users still turn out work every bit as good as with classic MMM cameras (Metal Manual Mechanical). Sometimes there is no logical reason for our personal prejudices.
The closest I have to one of these is a Sears KS500 (Ricoh KR5), it does have at least plastic top and bottom covers, is very light, limited features, but still all mechanical in its operation.
 

narsuitus

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blockend said:
I have a big soft spot for entry level autofocus SLRs.
Click to expand...

My entry level auto focus/auto exposure plastic body Nikon N70/F70 that I use as a backup to my auto focus/auto exposure Nikon F4 has a rear curtain flash sync feature that is great for balancing room light with flash for large group shots. My F4 does not even have this rear curtain flash sync feature.


Nikon N70 + 180mm lens by Narsuitus, on Flickr
 

ciniframe

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While not AF what do you folks think of the Nikon FG? They seem very inexpensive and the one time I got to play with one for a bit it felt nicely built and had a good vf.
 

Paul Howell

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ciniframe said:
While not AF what do you folks think of the Nikon FG? They seem very inexpensive and the one time I got to play with one for a bit it felt nicely built and had a good vf.
Click to expand...

The FG is not plastic, although entry level has a very good shutter, first Nikon with P lens, takes both a winder and drive, I used one as a backup to a F3 for years. For anyone with AIS lens a good daily user.
 

Sewin

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Well done!

That's a real bargain.

How do you find the fan shaped settings on the top, I think it is very clever.
 

frank

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Everyone has different tastebuds and that's okay. Every bride is beautiful to at least one man.
 
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blockend

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ciniframe said:
I admit I'm a camera snob when it comes to these cameras, don't like or buy them at all.
Click to expand...
Try to think of them as a fun point and shoot with a mirror on top, and they make sense. Think of them as a low rent F6 or an Alpa and you'll be disappointed. I stick my plastic SLRs where I wouldn't think of putting my Leica, or even my better SLRs. An hour ago I dangled the F60 two inches above a stream to photograph the mayfly hatch. In that sense, the cheap camera is the better one.
 

MattKing

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Sewin said:
Nobody admitting to having used one of these then
Click to expand...
I have friends who traveled extensively with a couple of them, and their travel photos were always excellent!
 

Paul Howell

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Sewin said:
Nobody admitting to having used one of these then
Click to expand...

I seemed to have gotten 3 of them, 2 35mm and a APS, aside from having slow zooms, they do a good job, they were sold a bridge cameras, a step up from a point and shoot, but not a full featured 35mm AF. I still have 5 or 6 rolls of APS film, ran one though the APS version, at 4X6, classic setting, ISO 400, as sharp as can be expected, the 35 to 120 model has an APS lens, slow but at F11 as sharp as other consumer grade zooms. The viewfinder is bright. I forget the exposure modes, P and A I think, some versions may have shutter speed preference. Just really too large to carry, I prefer to carry a Pentax or Nikon point and shoot. Olympus seems to have sold a lot of them.
 

frank

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With so many used great cameras available, I choose to use cameras that feel good to use.
 
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blockend

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frank said:
With so many used great cameras available, I choose to use cameras that feel good to use.
Click to expand...
I think people take their cameras too seriously sometimes, and it's reflected in the photographs they take. I'm all for less serious photography - good photography doesn't have to be serious.
In the end it's whatever turns you on, but any camera is just a box with a hole and plastic cameras are a reminder of the fact.
 

frank

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No argument there, blockend. My point is, when I choose to shoot film, partly it's for the experience and process. Casual photography for me is when I choose a digital camera.
 
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blockend

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frank said:
No argument there, blockend. My point is, when I choose to shoot film, partly it's for the experience and process. Casual photography for me is when I choose a digital camera.
Click to expand...
I use Poundland film in a plastic SLR and process C41 chemicals in a bucket. Works for me. It doesn't stop me taking 5 x4" chromes or 120 B&W, but I enjoy the homespun spontaneity.
 

mklw1954

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I picked up a "refurbished" Nikon N75 and the 28-80 and 70-300mm G zoom lenses, that all looked new, very inexpensively from Cameta Camera in 2008. I was kind of surprised at the great results and have made many nice b&w and color prints using this camera. It is loaded with features (not something I really care much about, especially all the clutter in the viewfinder, as the main cameras I use and like are mechanical manual focus cameras) but it got little attention when it came out as it was made in the early-mid 2000s when everyone was buying digital cameras.

A few years later I picked up an N80 body, new and sealed in the box, for $70 and it is a very nice camera as well.
 

Paul Howell

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Another that I like is Phoenix, made in Japan, by who is a mystery, K mount, aperture preferred exposure will any K mount lens, 1/2000 top shutter, 1/3000 in Program mode. Phoenix was offered a couple of models, one that took a winder. With a Pentax K 50 2.0 or a short 35 to 70 zoom, light weight, good viewfinder, nice travel camera.
 

MattKing

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A Canon Rebel 2000 with a 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens is light, moderate in size and great for things like parties.
 

Ricardo Miranda

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narsuitus said:
My F4 does not even have this rear curtain flash sync feature.
Click to expand...
Oh yes, it has.
As a 1st generation AF, the flash features are all commanded from the flash unit.
That was a "trick" to make the F4/F801 have less buttons, but also to sell more SB-24 units.
The rear curtain sync is commanded from the SB-24/-25/-26.
That's why when someone asks for a recommended flash for the F4 I recommend these.
The F4 and the F801 also have flash exposure compensation, again in the top range flashes only.

Later, and starting with the F-601/F90 series, the flash features were moved to the body.
 

ME Super

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My kids each have a Pentax ZX-30, and I have a Pentax PZ-20. My criteria for purchasing these was: 1) It had to have auto focus, and 2) I had to be able to override the DX setting of the film speed.

My PZ-20 usually has a 28-200mm zoom on it. It's a beast of a lens compared to a standard 50mm. The camera feels so much lighter when I've got the 50mm MF lens on it!
 

jeffreythree

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MattKing said:
A Canon Rebel 2000 with a 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens is light, moderate in size and great for things like parties.
Click to expand...

I just picked up one of these at the local camera store, but with a Canon 28-90 zoom. I really wanted that 40mm as well, but this is to be a light one lens kit for my hike and bike adventures. It is definitely light and full function.
 
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