Cannot decide which to buy

[acetv]

Hello Everybody,
this is my first post here and I need your professional expertise on deciding on which of those (seemingly) awesome SLR's to buy.

I have here three brands at offer currently:

Pentax MZ50 with lens 35-80

Canon EOS3000 with lenses 28-90 or 38-76

Minolta Dynax 4 with lens 28-80

Minolta 7000 with lens 28-220

I am currently going crazy as all of them seem to be great and they do not differ too much in their functionality.

So to put it in a nutshell: You are my last chance to decide which one to buy. I am looking forward for your support.

And thanx in advance.

[jim_panzee]

If you want my honest opinion, none of them. But please tell us, how much you are prepared to spend, what you want to do with it, if you are a newbie to photography, (obviously, or you would not be looking at these cameras), and what you have at the moment including lenses. Without this information no one can help you with your choice, or make any other recommendations.

[acetv]

Now that sounds like i've chosen the worst of the worst. Obviously you spotted it right, I am a total newbie when it comes to SLR's. The list above only shows the cameras that have currently been offered to me to perhaps get a new passion started.

They are all in the price range between £85 and £115 for the body plus £30 for an additional lens (where applicable).

I think that sounds like a good deal or better, that is how much i would wnat to spend.

Currently I work with a digital medium priced camera with 10x optical zoom and a hell of a lot of options to set (auto or manu).

My primary interest would be to take snapshots of landscapes (sun/shadow contrasts) etc., and as I have the opportunity to take photos down a valley, I would also be interested in a nice zoom-range. I thought 200mm should do well there.

Nevertheless I appreciate your opinion and I am grateful for your help.

[jim_panzee]

With this sort of money, I would be inclined to go for a somewhat older type of SLR, which has a good selection of S/H lenses to choose from and which are inexpensive to purchase.
Ones that come to mind would be a Canon A1 or AE 1 which use the FD lens, these can be picked up quite cheap at the moment, and will take bloody good photographs. another is the Olympus range, same sort of price but not such a great choice of lenses as the Canon.
Check out the prices on Ebay first, and then have a look in the local rag or in a good S/H camera shop, I would advise against buying on ebay unless the seller is in your town, you should always check it out first before parting with your hard earned.

[matiasasun]

Conversion from today´s Babylon conversion rates:
UK Pounds = U$ Dollars
£85 = u$ 152.05
£115 = U$ 205.72
£30 = U$ 53.67
(I assume they were Pounds)

[jim_panzee]

Just an add on to my last post.
I recently sold my Canon A 1 with an FD 50mm f1/1.4 and a power winder A, for 150 Euros. It was in very good clean condition with new seals all round (check these), they are easy to replace.
When buying lenses, I would forget the zooms and stick to primes, (read the other thread on lenses in this forum), the only thing you wont get with these cameras is automatic focus, but I wouldn't trust that on a cheap camera and lens anyway, new or S/H.
I also used a Canon AE 1 for many years, and took some great photos with that as well, have a look at some of the pictures in the PBase camera database on these cameras.
Lastly if you have a friend that knows a lot about cameras, if its a private deal, take him or her with you when you buy, just to check it out, also if you buy from a good dealer, they will usually let you try it with a roll of film first.
Good luck.
A couple of photos I have taken with these cameras.

http://www.pbase.com/jim_panzee/image/34850503
http://www.pbase.com/jim_panzee/image/23342027

[acetv]

Good luck.
A couple of photos I have taken with these cameras.

http://www.pbase.com/jim_panzee/image/34850503
http://www.pbase.com/jim_panzee/image/23342027

Very nice pictures and thanks a lot for your help Jim.

Unfortunately I do not know anybody who is even interested in "old school" photography They all seem obsessed with the digital age.

Obviously you seem to be someone with a lot of experience, therefore I consider your advice very valuable.

Now I had worked with the Canon AE1 before and I liked it a lot although I had a lot of blurred results with it. Nevertheless now that you mentioned it, I might really give it a go once more.

I went down to a second-hand shop yesterday and found it imediately. It is available for a reasonable price I guess. I haven't spoken to they shopowner there yet, as I had just found the shop recently.

I would like you to comment also on the range of other camreas that he offers, just if you do not mind and when you have the time to do so. They all seem to be in a good condition:

Canon AE1 69GBP

Olympus OM101 149GBP

Nikon N50 119GBP

Nikon F65 149GBP

Minolta Dynax 4 119GBP

He also had a set of "no name" cameras, which I would not really consider.

There was another shop which displayed the AE1 for 120GBP and the owner said that he provides 1 month guarantee, as the camera had been checked through by a professional studio (i think it was Jessop).

He also had a bundle for sale:

Olympus OM1N with flash and two lenses: 19-35 & 70-210
for 129GBP

Thank you in advance for your feedback Jim and take care.

Obviously this is not a private chat between me and Jim, so if anyone would want to add his comments, please do not hesitate.

ADDITION:
I just read the lens discussion that you mentioned Jim and I was surprised to read that you are using an EOS 5 yourself. Last time I had the impression you do not like the EOS-Series, as you did not like the EOS 3000.

Therefore a couple more offers from the second-hand shop, that I did not consider, but would like to hear what you have to say about them:

Canon EOS 620 for 69GBP

Canon EOS 50 for 159GBP

Thanks once more...

[jim_panzee]

Hey acetv.
Just because I have a Canon EOS does not mean that all Canon EOS system cameras are alike.
If you want to spend a great deal more money on the EOS, then go ahead, for a start you are looking at 250-350 GBP just for a decent USM lens. There are only a couple of EOS film cameras that are worth considering (my opinion) EOS 5-3 or 1 anything else forget it, but these bodies cost a lot more than the consumer type.
Take my advice, the Canon AE1 is a good camera, I had mine for over ten years, ( maybe the blur was faulty focusing, or camera shake when pressing the shutter, we have all done it.)
The only Olympus cameras worth having are the OM1-2, or at a push the 10, but don't be in a rush, Wait and try and get a Canon A1 there are hundreds out there, this coupled with a 50mm f/1-1.4 FD lens will be a bloody good starter kit for you and will last you for years to come, (I haven't mentioned Nikon, because the lens prices tend to be a bit high).
BTW my favourite camera ( the one I take with me everywhere every day) is a Leica f111 built in 1953. The last time I took my EOS5 out was about six months ago!!!
I'm not trying to sway you in one direction or the other, its up to you.
The only thing I am saying is, that by using a good manual camera, you will learn a lot more about what goes into taking a good photograph, rather than just pointing the camera in the general direction, and pressing the button. Of course you will make mistakes, we all do, but you learn from this.


Regards,
JimP.