Pros | It's OLD which means: It's Durable, It's Reliable, and Produces a Great Image, what more could you ask for? |
Cons | It's Manuel, so if your not a fan there's a good chance this camera is not for you. |
Rating | 9 |
Price (U.S. Dollars) | 50 bucks |
Years Owned | 8 Years |
I can recommend this camera: Yes
Value, Features, Performance & Size
Value:
Hands Down Great Value.
Features:
Light Meter, Shutter, Film Rewind, All Manuel. Battery only needed for light meter.
Performance:
With the right lens Great.
Size:
It's old, and durable.
(W x H x D)
143 x 91.5 x 49 mm
Weight:
620 g
---thanks to pentax forums for size and weight)---
Camera Review
Chances are whoever you ask will tell you this is the perfect camera to learn on.
It's true.
It forces you to work hard for an image by simply offering no bells and whistles.
The thing is, this can be a great camera for the professional as well. Most pros may want something more advanced with functions out the wazoo to simplify and speed up the process of taking a picture, don't forget, time is money, and if your relying on photos to pay the bills, time, as it is for many reasons is very valuable. This means no time for manuel rewind, manuel focus, etc.
If your a pro and you intend to work weddings, sports events, and take shots on the Serengeti than this isn't the camera for you (or maybe for a few of you it is).
On the other hand, if your a pro that is not pressured by time, than you need at least one of these cameras.
In essence, a camera does one thing, and that's open a small mirror, letting light paint a picture on film. That being said, it doesn't take a million dollar camera to capture a million dollar image. And I'm only talking about the body of the camera here, not lenses (for those who may not know there kind of important when it comes to image quality...so if you buy this camera and like it, buy a real nice lens to compliment it.)
As you know after looking on ebay and elsewhere, this is not a million dollar camera. With the right lens though, this camera is capable of taking a million dollar picture.
For somewheres around $50 bucks you can have a camera that you can always rely on, and not worry about taking it into unfavorable situations for the state of your camera (meaning you can have piece of mind and bring it anywhere because it's durable, but mainly because it doesn't cost an arm and leg to replace or fix it. And you know the best pictures always occur in extreme situations when either the cold, rain, sleet, 100 mph winds, tornados, and blazing fires are your obstacles...)
Basically this camera is a great bang for the buck.
Furthermore,
Using a camera that only relies on the person to make the decisions not only makes for a great tool for learning, but it also doesn't hold you back when you know what your doing, and it allows you to get creative and work for your pictures.
What you learn from this camera will make you a better photographer, and continuing to use it will only make you a more capable and talented.
If you couldn't tell by my review, I like this camera and I highly suggest you get your hands on one.
But don't forget, the lens that comes with it is great, but investing in a real nice piece of optics will really make this camera sing.
(I only rated it a 9 because nothing is perfect, and with a camera with a lot of age using shows some signs of wear, but a little wear doesn't mean it's still a great camera.)