Q. I'm choosing between these cameras:
Canon Canonet Q17
Canon F-1
Nikon FE-2
Also, for seasoned photographers, what lens do you recommend for the camera of your choosing? Thanks!
Canon Canonet Q17
Canon F-1
Nikon FE-2
Also, for seasoned photographers, what lens do you recommend for the camera of your choosing? Thanks!
Answer
Hi Kathleen, welcome to the wondrous world of Film Photography! I think you'll enjoy it and it seems like you've done some research already which is great!
I'm curious as to where you got these particular camera models from because, other than being all 35mm, they are three very different cameras and none are what I would consider "ideal student cameras". That being said, you can learn basic photography on any one of them just fine.
Let's start by answering your last question, which is important. 50mm. Every 35mm film photographer and wise digital photographers, start and regularly use a 50mm lens. The Canonet has a 40mm fixed lens, which is fine. Basically the same thing. These lenses are important because they have roughly the same angle of view as our eyes, making them good lenses for most types of shoots. They can also have wide maximum apertures for shooting in a variety of lighting situations. And best of all, they are among the cheapest of all lenses yet among the highest quality too.
Personally, I recommend a Pentax K1000 or a Nikon FM as beginner cameras because they are decently priced, fully manual and simple. This means that you don't have any controls you don't need but everything that you do in order to learn solid basic photography. These particular cameras are also of very high build quality and will last a lifetime. I've been shooting on mine for over 10 years. Older shooters have been relying on them even longer.
I suggest buying from KEH.com or your local used camera shop. Do not buy your first camera on eBay, while these are reliable cameras, they often require some maintenance due to age and most eBay sellers are not going to go that extra step for the cost. So you'll wind up wasting film, money and time only to find out you have a broken camera. You may even have an issue with whatever you buy at KEH or your local shop but at least you can return/exchange it or have it repaired by them.
Anyway, a run-down of your cameras in question.
--QL17 is a compact fixed lens rangefinder. Some people have issues focusing accurately with rangefinders but others prefer them to SLR's. What's nice is rangefinders are tiny, quiet and you see your subject at the moment of exposure. The QL17 is considered, in some circles, overpriced for what it is due to high collectability and desirability among current film shooters as a cheap Leica alternative. Most of the QL17's I've handled have had issues such as sticky aperture blades so you have to spend the cost of a good interchangeable lens SLR for one that is in good working order. So that's the limitation with the QL17, only one lens. As stated, you can get auxiliary lenses for them but they are clunky, not as high quality and expensive. Fun camera but maybe not great for a student.
--The Canon F-1 is a professional 35mm SLR. It's build quality is tank-like and there are a massive number of accessories for it so that it can be highly customized. There are two F-1's that go by the same name (Canon, you'll find has really strange naming conventions); the F-1 and the new F-1 (which is still very old now! At any rate, these are FD mount cameras and there is no modern camera that can swap lenses with this. Modern Canon cameras us an EF mount instead. This is both good and bad. It means that high quality FD mount lenses are relatively cheap now but it also means that if you want to expand into a DSLR or just a newer 35mm SLR, you'll need a whole new set of lenses for it. So when you buy an FD mount camera, you have to really be committed to that line of bodies by Canon. This is a terrific first camera as it's fully manual. It's a bit more than what you need but it'll also be a lifetime camera that you'll be proud to own and use.
--Nikon FE-2. Another excellent camera. Not as professional as the Canon F-1 but still very very high build quality and a good number of acaccessoriesnd ability to customize. But this camera is perhaps more overkill to a degree. It features aperture priority exposure mode which is unnecessary for the student. It also hahas higher shutter speed and ISO range than the original FE or FM. The FE2 is a later sibling of the FM that I recommended. So with the FE-2, you're on the right track. It could be another camera for life. It's more useful than the Canon in some respects because its lenses ARE swappable with modern bodies, so when you buy these lenses, your are making a real investment by going Nikon. The original FE even allows you to use older lenses that go back as far as 1959.
Whatever you choose, just have fun and be sure to read a basic 35mm photography guide. That is the crucial part.
MANUAL AND METAL! FILM FOREVER!
Hi Kathleen, welcome to the wondrous world of Film Photography! I think you'll enjoy it and it seems like you've done some research already which is great!
I'm curious as to where you got these particular camera models from because, other than being all 35mm, they are three very different cameras and none are what I would consider "ideal student cameras". That being said, you can learn basic photography on any one of them just fine.
Let's start by answering your last question, which is important. 50mm. Every 35mm film photographer and wise digital photographers, start and regularly use a 50mm lens. The Canonet has a 40mm fixed lens, which is fine. Basically the same thing. These lenses are important because they have roughly the same angle of view as our eyes, making them good lenses for most types of shoots. They can also have wide maximum apertures for shooting in a variety of lighting situations. And best of all, they are among the cheapest of all lenses yet among the highest quality too.
Personally, I recommend a Pentax K1000 or a Nikon FM as beginner cameras because they are decently priced, fully manual and simple. This means that you don't have any controls you don't need but everything that you do in order to learn solid basic photography. These particular cameras are also of very high build quality and will last a lifetime. I've been shooting on mine for over 10 years. Older shooters have been relying on them even longer.
I suggest buying from KEH.com or your local used camera shop. Do not buy your first camera on eBay, while these are reliable cameras, they often require some maintenance due to age and most eBay sellers are not going to go that extra step for the cost. So you'll wind up wasting film, money and time only to find out you have a broken camera. You may even have an issue with whatever you buy at KEH or your local shop but at least you can return/exchange it or have it repaired by them.
Anyway, a run-down of your cameras in question.
--QL17 is a compact fixed lens rangefinder. Some people have issues focusing accurately with rangefinders but others prefer them to SLR's. What's nice is rangefinders are tiny, quiet and you see your subject at the moment of exposure. The QL17 is considered, in some circles, overpriced for what it is due to high collectability and desirability among current film shooters as a cheap Leica alternative. Most of the QL17's I've handled have had issues such as sticky aperture blades so you have to spend the cost of a good interchangeable lens SLR for one that is in good working order. So that's the limitation with the QL17, only one lens. As stated, you can get auxiliary lenses for them but they are clunky, not as high quality and expensive. Fun camera but maybe not great for a student.
--The Canon F-1 is a professional 35mm SLR. It's build quality is tank-like and there are a massive number of accessories for it so that it can be highly customized. There are two F-1's that go by the same name (Canon, you'll find has really strange naming conventions); the F-1 and the new F-1 (which is still very old now! At any rate, these are FD mount cameras and there is no modern camera that can swap lenses with this. Modern Canon cameras us an EF mount instead. This is both good and bad. It means that high quality FD mount lenses are relatively cheap now but it also means that if you want to expand into a DSLR or just a newer 35mm SLR, you'll need a whole new set of lenses for it. So when you buy an FD mount camera, you have to really be committed to that line of bodies by Canon. This is a terrific first camera as it's fully manual. It's a bit more than what you need but it'll also be a lifetime camera that you'll be proud to own and use.
--Nikon FE-2. Another excellent camera. Not as professional as the Canon F-1 but still very very high build quality and a good number of acaccessoriesnd ability to customize. But this camera is perhaps more overkill to a degree. It features aperture priority exposure mode which is unnecessary for the student. It also hahas higher shutter speed and ISO range than the original FE or FM. The FE2 is a later sibling of the FM that I recommended. So with the FE-2, you're on the right track. It could be another camera for life. It's more useful than the Canon in some respects because its lenses ARE swappable with modern bodies, so when you buy these lenses, your are making a real investment by going Nikon. The original FE even allows you to use older lenses that go back as far as 1959.
Whatever you choose, just have fun and be sure to read a basic 35mm photography guide. That is the crucial part.
MANUAL AND METAL! FILM FOREVER!
What kind of camera lens should I get?
Q. Hello,
I'm new to the world of photography. I plan to get a Canon T2i/550d as my first DSLR. I just do not know what kind of camera lens I should buy. If you can link me to some nice package deals on amazon or give me a link teaching me about different types of lenses, that would be great!
PS: I do not know about the "numbers" when it comes to lenses. For example, I have no clue what "EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6" is.
Thanks!
I'm new to the world of photography. I plan to get a Canon T2i/550d as my first DSLR. I just do not know what kind of camera lens I should buy. If you can link me to some nice package deals on amazon or give me a link teaching me about different types of lenses, that would be great!
PS: I do not know about the "numbers" when it comes to lenses. For example, I have no clue what "EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6" is.
Thanks!
Answer
EF is the name of the lens mount system for Canon EOS cameras. All EOS cameras can take EF lenses. The lens mount is the mechanism that fits the lens physically to the camera body. Different brands of cameras have different lens mount systems.
EF-S lenses are specially made for cameras such as the T2i which have cropped sensors - sometimes called an APS-c sized sensor. They are not suitable for EOS cameras with full frame sensors. The sensor is the light sensitive electronic cell in a digital camera, which the image gets focussed onto, to create an image, which the camera then records. The sensor is the digital equivalent of film in a film camera.
55-250mm means the zoom range of the lens. The numbers themselves relate to the focal lengths available from that lens. At the 55mm end of the range, the angle of view is wider (zoomed out). At the 250mm end the lens become a telephoto lens, like when you zoom in on something, the angle of view is narrower at higher focal lengths.
The "f" refers to the f-stop - also known as the aperture of the lens. The aperture of the lens is the size of the hole that lets more or less light into the lens. The aperture can be adjusted to let in more light (wider) or reduce the amount of light entering the camera (narrower). Big holes let in more light than narrow holes.
f/4.0-5.6 relates to the range of apertures available over the entire zoom range of the lens. At the 55mm end of the lens, the widest possible aperture is f/4.0 - at the telephoto end (250mm) the widest possible aperture is f/5.6
Understanding camera lenses here: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-lenses.htm
Understanding apertures/exposure: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-lenses.htm
EF is the name of the lens mount system for Canon EOS cameras. All EOS cameras can take EF lenses. The lens mount is the mechanism that fits the lens physically to the camera body. Different brands of cameras have different lens mount systems.
EF-S lenses are specially made for cameras such as the T2i which have cropped sensors - sometimes called an APS-c sized sensor. They are not suitable for EOS cameras with full frame sensors. The sensor is the light sensitive electronic cell in a digital camera, which the image gets focussed onto, to create an image, which the camera then records. The sensor is the digital equivalent of film in a film camera.
55-250mm means the zoom range of the lens. The numbers themselves relate to the focal lengths available from that lens. At the 55mm end of the range, the angle of view is wider (zoomed out). At the 250mm end the lens become a telephoto lens, like when you zoom in on something, the angle of view is narrower at higher focal lengths.
The "f" refers to the f-stop - also known as the aperture of the lens. The aperture of the lens is the size of the hole that lets more or less light into the lens. The aperture can be adjusted to let in more light (wider) or reduce the amount of light entering the camera (narrower). Big holes let in more light than narrow holes.
f/4.0-5.6 relates to the range of apertures available over the entire zoom range of the lens. At the 55mm end of the lens, the widest possible aperture is f/4.0 - at the telephoto end (250mm) the widest possible aperture is f/5.6
Understanding camera lenses here: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-lenses.htm
Understanding apertures/exposure: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-lenses.htm
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