looking for a beginners camera

[Bob The Great]

I want to get into photography in the next few months but I need to find a good begginers camera that will take some good looking cameras. I want to go non-digital, and my price range will be about $100 though I could easily go up if I need to. Used is not an issue though I'd need to know what to look for so I don't get a dud.

I want to do landscape shots, so like a field with a mountain in the background. I'll probably be getting my prints on a cd as well so that I can edit them with my PC, but still have the high quality of the photo labs really expensive equipment.

[Theophylact]

I'd say something like this would be a good start. A zoom, autofocus, 35mm camera. This one zooms from 28mm to 70mm, so it can act as a slight wide-angle.

This is only an example; you'll find plenty of good ones in this price range or a bit more, and J&R is far from the only place to buy.

[Bill in SD, CA]

An old Minolta 35 mm single lens reflex SRT 101 is a good camera to do shots with. Allows you a lot of flexibility vs. timing and aperture to experiment with depth of field, etc.

You can find them on Ebay for about a $100. Was one of the most used 35 mm cameras ( next to Nikon ) in the Vietnam war with correspondents. I have two of them.

Bill

[Target]

My favorite "beginners" camera is an older Pentax K-1000. Production on these units stopped in 1997 and it was replaced by other models, however you should be able to find plenty of them used both locally and on the net.

Keep in mind this is a totally manual 35mm SLR camera. Thats part of why I still use it as well. It gives me total control over the photograph. Plenty of lense options from several OEM manufacturers are also available and are generally cheaper than Pentax branded lenses. I've used everything from the standard 50mm up to 1000mm with it. All with great results. Ok, maybe the photos with the 1000mm lense and the 4x converter might have turned out a little grainy (I didn't actually take any), but hey, I could read a newspaper from a couple city blocks away <lol>.

Seriously though some of my best photos.... those that ended up in newspapers, books, museums, or were sold, were taken with the K-1000.

There are some others that are worthy of mention as well, and Bill has already touched on some of them. I don't personally have experience with those brands/models, but have heard good things about them from others.

[Bob The Great]

Bill your right on Target...

sorry, anyway both those cameras are the types I'm looking for, actually I think I may know where to find a Minolta like the one you suggested Bill.

Theo, thanks for the suggestion, but I'm looking for something I can grow into more. I think I'd probably be wanting a better camera after a little bit, but thanks for the suggestion anyway

[Brainchild]

that Minolta is a nice camera for beginners. My wife bought one around christmas and it takes excellent pics.We opted for a nice digital camera though.
No developing costs,instant picture prouction,and the fact that once the camera is paid for there are virtually no other costs

[Bob The Great]

I want really good pictures though without the pixels, so I think something along the lines of the Minolta would be a good deal!

[Toddly]

I think Minolta, Nikon, Canon all make good SLR cameras if you go with the film. Consider interchangeable lenses for the future and shooting in Black and White.
You know you can get a very good digital camera and have them developed with photo equipment with excellent results.You can edit them and keep the best ones for developing. All photo shops will do this for you. I'm talking 4-5 megapixels at the least but never for 100.00.
Good Luck

[Brainchild]

I picked up a 2 MP panasonic digicam for 125,and am very happy with the quality and performance of it.But a good film camera takes way better pics.I just like to convenience of the digital

[Theophylact]

I favor SLRs myself. But where are you going to find the lenses, even second-hand, for the kind of price you want to pay?

By the way: unless you're buying a camera so old that it doesn't have a built-in light meter, be sure you can get replacement batteries for it; most of them used mercury-containing cells, and those have all been taken off the market.