80 Film Cameras for Under 50 Dollars!
I want these awesome camera reviews to be the main focus of this article, so all the text will be below the mosaic. As a result of a group project, here are 80 film cameras for under $50!
And if you're into film, be sure to check out my film photography blog.
When I announced this project, I wasn't sure what to expect for the level of participation. I asked for people to buy a sub-$50 film camera (or use one they already had), write a review of the camera, and publish an entire roll of photos from the camera. I was kind of hoping for 30 or 40 entries.
But the community exceeded my expectations and surprised the heck out of me! We had all kinds of crazy stuff showing up: rangefinders, SLRs, TLRs, toy cameras, underwater cameras, point & shoots, box cameras, folding cameras, Polaroids, and even a 3D camera. 80 of them in just one month! I applaud your efforts — you guys are awesome! With all this enthusiasm for film photography, I feel like we're on the brink of a film-revolution. It was great to see so many people picking up a film camera for the first time in years (or for the first time ever!), and having such a good time with it.
So if you're ever looking for a cheap film camera — just go through the list above and I'm sure you'll find something that sparks your interest. The photographers who participated in this project have essentially created a huge resource for other photographers that may be interested in film photography.
OUR SPONSORS ROCK!
How cool is it that ILFORD Photo and Lomography have sponsored this project to give away a Diana+ and 10 rolls of film to 3 winners!? These two companies are at the heart of present day film photography and it's pretty awesome that they've taken an interest in our project.
I'd like to offer my thanks and gratitude to both companies for joining us, and I encourage all of you to check out what they have to offer.
A BIG THANKS TO OUR JUDGES
I asked each of our two external judges to choose their favorite project entry — which is a daunting task with 80 participants! I'd like to extend a huge “thank you” to Jim Talkington and Udi Tirosh for taking on this role. Two of the three winners are shown at the very top of the list, and will each receive a complimentary Diana+ from Lomography and 10 Rolls of film from ILFORD Photo. And don't forget to cast your votes for the third winner!
A few words from Udi of DIYPhotography.net…
Participation was amazing. Now, this is not your ordinary “shoot a pic and submit” kinda contest, it requires effort, discipline, and commitment. After all it is film and it takes at least one day to chimp. Not to mention getting a camera for less than 50 greens.
It is not easy going through 80 entries so here is the process I used: I divided the submissions into 8 groups of 10, and browsed through each group, limiting myself for one or two selection per group based on general impression, first paragraph, and camera reviewed. I ended up with 12 reviews. I skimmed through the 12 and narrowed it down to three. that was not easy as there were more than three that actually were really good.
It was a though competition between Nick Jungels' Pentax K1000 review, Erick's Marine XI, and Mr. Wolf's Yashica SamuraiX3.0.
The Pentax K1000 review was written right from the heart. It is packed with the technicalities that would interest me when considering a film camera like the viewfinder, the aperture ring, and “feel” of the camera. However, Nick is not just talking about the K1000, he is talking to the K1000, and for this he gets my full appreciation.
The Wolf's interview with Dr. Lomo was fun to read and was both amusing and informative. and earned points for “sucking up to the prize givers” (yes wolf it was worth it).
The last review that made the final trio was the Marine XI. I could not resist a review that brings GAS in the first paragraph. This certainly got my attention. This along with the creative use of flash got Erick the winning vote. This and the Cohaagen-Give-those-people-air expression on the set taken with the camera.
And a few words from Jim of Pro Photo Life…
It's been a great deal of fun getting to judge these entries. From the moment Brian first announced the contest I've been looking forward to seeing what readers would come up with and the results have exceeded expectations. This contest rocks, on many levels.
There was a great deal of diversity and many interesting cameras: toy cameras, half-frames, Soviet SLRs…you name it. And being totally honest, I always like a good bargain. Part of the intrigue would be seeing just how much camera could be purchased for $50. Just what bargains are out there?
So it was with a bit of a personal surprise that I found my winner to be Janne in Osaka with the simple “Handy Box” box camera. Rather than seeing how much camera could be purchased for $50, Janne showed how little camera is actually needed to enjoy photography and create beautiful photographs. The text was informative, explaining the camera, company background and tips for shooting with the simple little box. And the photos sealed the deal for me. Shot in a variety of situations and obviously more than just a test roll, they were a pleasure to view.
But the tech junkie in me still wants to buy a Zorki, Fed or Olympus Pen. As a runner-up I have to go in the other direction and point out the very unique Yashica Samurai half-frame camera (and equally unique review) from The Wolf Brigade. The little Yashica is about as high tech and over-engineered a $50 camera as you'll find, a complete contrast to the little Handy Box. Long live the endless variety and possibilities of the $50 film camera!
Again guys, thanks so much for judging this contest!
DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!
[UPDATE] The official voting is over and all three winners have been awarded their prize — but you can still leave a comment about your favorite entry!
Like I said, we're giving away 3 prize packages. The first two winners have been chosen by our judges, and the third will be chosen by the masses. Leave a comment with your vote for best project entry. Look for those who put in the extra effort and/or got creative. You can vote by listing the entry number or the name of the reviewer — if you hover your mouse over the thumbnails, you'll see this information show up. More than one vote is OK if you can't decide between a few really good ones. One week of voting, then I'll tally-up the points and announce the third winner.
Latente
September 17, 2008a mamiya C330 under 50$?
Latente
September 17, 2008OM2, OM1 and yashica mat under 50$ are not a deal are a very very lucky found.
why never happen to me 🙁
the_wolf_brigade
September 17, 2008So I’m pretty gutted that I only made it as a runner up, and part of me wants to vote for myself, but I’m not sure that would be entirely fair. You don’t mention any restrictions about that though? I thought I should check early on if that is acceptable or not.
I had planned to vote also for Janne’s “Handy Box” as out of the many reviews (and I’d read a lot so far!) I also thought that it was easily the best review I have read.
I will hold off my judgment until I can finish reading every one of the reviews there as it’s only fair that I give each a fair go, though I’m with Latente on some points. A few of those cameras can not be bought for under $50 on an average market, though an occasional lucky find may be out there.
I have my fingers crossed 😀
Off to read the reviews!
the_wolf_brigade
September 17, 2008Almost forgot
Congrats to the winners! I’m especially keen to see what Janne ends up with from this in terms of final outcomes….(I loved his Handy Box shots 😀 )
Tuckr
September 17, 2008Congrats to the winners. Now I’ve got a lot of reading to do.
P.S. I’m entry #34, the Praktica B200, vote for me 🙂
Latente
September 17, 2008pant pant, read all the reviews (i zee some 404 :P)
and My winner is: (30) Zorki 4K, by Hitesh Sawlani
Jim Talkington
September 17, 2008Congrats to all entrants, it’s obvious everyone had fun and, in the process, contributed to a really valuable resource for future $50 film camera research. And this post presentation is really nice, Brian, the camera photos are perfect navigation. I’m pulling out the spare cash and heading to eBay…
Janne
September 17, 2008Wow, that was unexpected! I was completely sure I didn’t stand a chance once I started looking through the other early reviews. Big thanks to Brian for organizing the whole thing!
Have a few favourites already but I want to look through all the reviews before casting my vote.
the_wolf_brigade
September 17, 2008So I’ve read through every single entry. And I keep coming back to Hitesh Sawlani’s review. Iove the idea of a FED camera, and I really enjoyed the review, with the photos being suitable shots from a rangefinder….
I don’t feel comfortable voting for myself, so my vote goes to: (30) Zorki 4K, by Hitesh Sawlani as well.
bestgramps
September 17, 2008I vote # 15 tomas webb
Konrad
September 17, 2008I vote Number 26 , Panorama Camera!
Derek
September 17, 2008I I can’t vote for myself, I vote #77 – Minolta X-370 write up.
Udi
September 17, 2008congratulations to all participants. This post is amazing and is a great tribute to the origins of modern photography.
Only now when you’ve posted all images together it shows what a great ride this has been. hats off.
Now, quick accounting says I only need 4000 Dollars to satisfy my GAS.
ld
September 17, 2008Good luck finding a Mamiya C330 or a Nikon F3 for under $50. I suppose it’s possible that someone has one of these out there on a yard sale table, or that a really shady-looking auction for one of these might end at $50, but really not likely.
Dick Wood
September 17, 2008Ok . I still have my first camera a Kodak Retina 1A which I got for christmas in 1962! Yes I am that old.
I will brreak it out this weekend and shoot a roll of film. I remember the Kodachrome 25 I used then, wonderful colors ect. I will shoot a roll of B&W and use the f/16 rule, no meter!
Mel Fuentes
September 17, 2008It’s fun to look at all the entries and see / read their entries. I cast a vote for Sarah Gerace’s Yashica-MAT LM. I liked her pictures as well as the review she wrote. Great contest.
D. T. North
September 17, 2008My favorite is the Yashica-mat LM (from Photographic Culture)
Mattias Wirf
September 17, 2008I really liked doing this challenge 🙂 Will keep on doing more reviews even if the challenge is over, there is no shortage on cameras… somehow the collection keeps growing even when I’m not looking, hehe! I’m going to look through all the reviews here, but it will take a while I think 😉 It was interesting that so many chose Yashica, one of my favorite camera makers.
the_wing_brigade
September 17, 2008I vote for #15
Chica
September 17, 2008Gah that was tough to go through all of those reading and viewing, very awesome results I agree.
My votes have got to Wolf, Gary, Jeremy Johnson.
I enjoyed taking part in this project, thanks for all the hard work to make it possible. Good luck to everyone! 🙂
Chica
September 17, 2008Oops, may want to include the numbers.. they would be 15, 21, and 39 🙂
N3ttl3s
September 17, 2008I vote for 15 the Wolf Brigade. What an effort!
JRH
September 17, 2008Well, surely given that both judges mentioned it, the runner up has to be The_Wolf_Brigade… Plus, y’know, the shots were good and all that…
Nicole
September 17, 2008Way to go Wolf_brigade, outstanding work. My vote is for 15.
Dan Auer
September 17, 2008Way to go Brian on a fantastic project. And way to go to all the entries!!! Some really great stuff. You are all winners in my book.
Freezephoto
September 18, 2008My vote is for #26
stephan aka mephisto19
September 18, 2008where is my review gone??? i cannot see it here
Javier
September 18, 2008First of all I want to say that this was a GREAT idea! Not only for the prices (that I really, no, really was looking forward to win… bummer 🙁 ) but because now we get a lot of very nice film cameras reviews to read.
I’m reading them all and after that I will cast my vote. Thanks for this!!
(And any votes for my entry are really appreciated ;).
jerry
September 18, 2008Gotta go with #15.
Great project overall, and some amazing results came of it. And some people found some great deals on cameras. Wish I was as lucky of a shopper!
Mikhail Fludkov
September 18, 2008I finally read the most of the reviews and my vote is 40.
I also want to note amazing photos of #72 Yashica Mat LM by Sarah Gerace and Daria Sukhanovska’s FED 4 #57 review. These three reviews I liked the most.
Erick Cusi
September 18, 2008I’m one of the winners! Thanks you Brian!!
mattcharnock
September 18, 2008number 7 fed 3 for me! a great cam and great shots!
Tasha
September 18, 2008This is so exciting! I wanted to do this, but have been so crazy lately that I never got the time I needed to devote to it… but that’s okay, because I’ve already found a ton of new cameras that I want to try to track down 🙂
Congrats to the winners, and thanks to Brian for a great idea!
Tasha
September 18, 2008PS. My votes:
#15 (The Wolf Brigade) – For insane creativity. I loved it.
#2 (Stephan Kaps) – Beautiful images, and a great look into a camera that I’ve been curious about.
#72 (Sarah Gerace) – I totally sympathized, because I had the same problems with my Yashica at first, and I love the images!
Brian Grapes
September 18, 2008I vote for #7 – Brenden.
Brian Auer
September 18, 2008Interesting string of comments…
jerry
September 18, 2008“Interesting string of comments…”
Different or same IP address? =P
Jenny P
September 18, 2008I vote for #7 – Brenden
Brian Auer
September 18, 2008All different IP’s.
Louie
September 18, 2008I vote for #7 – Brenden
davina
September 18, 2008my vote is going to #7 BRENDEN <3
Lanrek
September 18, 2008I VOTE FOR #7 – BRENDEN.
Boomstick
September 18, 2008I VOTE FOR #7 – BRENDEN.
La Wintour
September 18, 2008Numero 7: Brenden
Betsey
September 18, 2008I vote for NUMBER SEVEN/BRENDEN
hildeaux
September 18, 2008I VOTE FOR #7 – BRENDEN.
Brian Auer
September 18, 2008I don’t mean to be a dick, but do I need to explicitly state that I reserve the right to call Shenanigans and just pick the winner myself? Or is that already implied and understood?
The concept for voting is to recognize participants who did an extraordinary job with the project — not to recognize those with the most friends. I’m not saying that Brenden didn’t do a good job, but it’s a little curious that so many Brenden-only votes are coming in all at once… just an observation.
Enzo
September 18, 2008Voting ; #7 – Brenden
Steven
September 18, 2008NUMBA 7! Brenden DELZER!
chris
September 18, 2008NUMBA 7! Brenden DELZER!