The price to performance of used cameras is absurd. My view is that digital photography tech hit maturity in 2008 with the release of the Canon 5D Mark II and Nikon D700.
There is an overwhelming amount of professional gear out there at rock bottom prices. Consumer gear can be a blast when it’s cheap enough. The right camera for a style of shooting is going to be better than whatever the newest camera happens to be. (Unless you’re doing sports/action/wildlife. AF tech is getting absurd.)
Third Party Battery Paranoia
I have had batteries fall apart, fail within months, and with a capacity far below what’s on the label. It’s difficult to find good quality third party batteries.
There is an easy way ANYONE can inexpensively capacity test camera batteries. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to capacity test camera batteries. It is a simple DIY project that only requires, ~$30, a screwdriver, and pair of wire strippers.
Picking Out Vintage Lens Winners
All lenses aren’t equal, especially when it comes to vintage and early digital camera lenses. Modern lenses will give you images that are razor sharp corner to corner. Vintage lenses can set themselves apart by how they render, the color you can get with them, interesting bokeh, or other characteristics not valued by current photographers.
On the other hand, many vintage lenses are not good. Their performance may not be good enough to set them apart from other lenses. Worse, as time has gone on some lenses have defects such as haze, fungus, balsam separation, or degraded grease, that will render them worthless because of the difficulty in repair.
I’m somewhat indiscriminate in my purchasing of gear, so I get a mix of good, bad, and average. The lens reviews will help you find a lens worth owning. These are popular film cameras that recieve frequent lens questions.
The Konica Minolta VF is an affordable flash light meter at $100-$150. Taking auto flash readings is the key feature. Earlier meters need PC sync cables, which is nice to avoid.
Konica Minolta exited the camera business in 2006. At that time, Kenko took over manufacturing the meters.
The meter is still being sold as the Kenko KFM-1100. Accessories and replacement diffusion domes are also still being produced.
Used Prices and Where to BuyMinolta and Kenko versions of the light meter are widely available.
There is lots of lore and hype built up around this Komine lens, and it is all deserved. This is the sharpest standard focal length vintage macro lens I have ever used.
The Vivitar 55mm f2.8 macro lens is sharper than the Canon, Nikon, Minolta, and Olympus macro lenses I have tested.
Vivitar Auto Macro Lens Specifications Vivitar 55mm f/2.8 Macro Aperture Blades Manufacturer Komine Made in Japan Year Released 19?
The Komine made Vivitar 90mm f/2.8 macro is a legendary cult classic because of how sharp it is. From f/5.6 to f/11, the lens is tack sharp with no signs of chromatic aberration or distortion.
Out of the 6 90mm to 105mm focal length vintage macro lenses I’ve tested, the Vivitar 90mm is the sharpest.
Relatively light, the lens doesn’t need an extension tube to reach 1:1 magnification. Once there you’ll have 12.
The Nikon PB-4 is a professional camera bellows for the F-mount released in 1970. It’s special because it is the only Nikon bellows with tilt/shift capabilities.
The Nikon F-mount is attractive because of how easily other camera systems can be adapted to it. You’re never going to have a problem finding an adapter for a mirrorless camera or any interchangeable lens cameras.
PB-4 Bellows Specs Swing 25 Degrees Shift 10mm Extension 43-185mm Weight 2lb 12.
The Nikon N65 represents the tail end of 35mm film cameras before the transition to digital. That’s an advantage if you’re looking for a camera with autofocus and all the other bells and whistles. The camera was also sold as the Nikon F65.
If you haven’t used a film camera before, the controls on the N65 are similar to what you would find on a DSLR. It is a great choice if you want a camera with a full range of exposure modes, not just manual mode.
The Nikon bellows PB-6 is the last bellows that was made by Nikon.
In a change from previous designs, the bellows has a monorail design. The single rail makes it possible to use extensions and to raise the standards.
Unlike the previous Nikon PB-4, tilt/shift adjustments can not be made.
The bellows uses the Nikon F-mount, which means macro accessories are widely available. It is also cheap and easy to adapt other camera systems to the bellows.
