1. Minolta Hi-Matic E: Bought this on etsy for $27. It’s my go-to lightweight shooter. Its a 70s era rangefinder.
2. Yashica Electro 35 GS: Got this on ebay for $50 plus the cost of a battery adapter. It’s currently broken but i plan to get another one because it took some of my best, sharpest, and most memorable photos. They sell on ebay for between $70-100 for a working one.
3. Canon A2E: This is a canon film SLR from the 80s that takes EF lenses so all of my regular lenses will work with it. It cost $45. If you can use a canon DSLR, you can use this since all the options are basically the same.
4. Film: I think all three of these rolls were tri-x 400. That has been my standard black and white film, along with ilford HP5 (since its buy 2 get 1 free on B&H). For color i usually shoot portra 160.
5. Memory Cards: This is my $5 memory card wallet that i use to keep my cards organized when i shoot video.
6. Filters: My set of 77mm ND3, 6, 9, and circular polarizer. These come in handy when shooting video because they adjust the lighting since the shutter speed has to stay at 1/50.
7. gopro hero 2: I love my gopro! I use it for surfing mainly, but not exclusively.
8. Canon 70-200mm f/4: My surfing lens. I got it used for $550. It’s great for outdoor action when you don’t need image stabilization or the faster (much more expensive) 2.8 version.
9. Canon 1.4x extender: Can be used on several canon telephoto lenses, works great when i need a little more reach out of my 200mm.
10. Not pictured: Canon 7d, Canon 17-40mm: The 7d is my workhorse and me and steffy love it dearly. Its been with us for over 3 years.
Tips on buying your own vintage camera:
Whenever possible, buy from a legitimate camera enterprise, i.e. B&H, Adorama, KEH. While prices will be higher than ebay or craigslist, if something does not work or is not to your liking, you can return it.
When buying from individuals on ebay/amazon: only buy from reputable sellers! i wouldnt buy from anyone with a rating of less than 95%.
“hasnt been tested but everything seems to be working fine”, “worked fine last time i used it in 1993”, “the guy who gave it to me said it works great” – all of that means IT PROBABLY WONT WORK! never buy a non-returnable camera from any seller who makes any of these claims (unless it costs less than $20, then sometimes you can gamble)
ebay has a nifty tool called “average sold price” where you can see what people have paid in the past and get an idea of what you should pay for something (also you can look at completed listings)
now go buy yourself a camera and some film and get shooting! you won’t regret it. i wont bore you guys with the standard “why i shoot film” mantras (it makes you think more! it makes you take your time! its like christmas every time you get your pictures back!), just go spend the $40 or $50 and be amazed with the results.
