Buying cameras can be tough. I have as many stories of getting burned as I do getting a good camera. Here are some tips. If you suck and just want quick facts I have a chart on the bottom of the page. This isn’t written in stone and all from a personal opinion garnered from personal experience. These tips are guides not law.
-Do some basic homework. There are so many amazing resources to getting information about cameras. If you see a camera you like read up a little about it. Ask questions from people more knowledgeable than you, after doing some Google work, and I bet they will be happy to help you. I love talking about cameras and I know there are a lot of other weirdos out there like me.
-Don’t get caught up in sexy cameras. Oh boy film cameras are hot. Its good and a little bad but mostly good. People being interested gets companies interested and hopefully this will make sure film always being produced and maybe even new cameras (that aren’t plastic garbage) will be made. All of this attention brings the price of used cameras and film sky high in comparison to years ago. Certain cameras which celebrities use or are very aesthetically pleasing have become exponentially high in price. Contax point and shoots (beautiful cameras) are going for 500-2000. Although gorgeous they are still made of electronics from 30 years ago which will eventually fail, sometimes soon and sometimes long down the road. And if they break they are almost unrepairable.1 Don’t go for a Skyline as a first car, get a Camry. If something goes wrong or you make a fatal mistake it will be a cheaper mistake.
Buy cheaper cameras if you are going for the compact point and shoot style. They will give results that are more than enough for a casual photographer. I think the Pentax PC35AF is one of the best designed cameras I have used and I got mine for 40 bucks (now it’s more like 100+) and gives 90% of what my Contax TVS results.2
-Avoid selenium meters on cameras unless explicitly stated it works. They are found on older cameras before CDS light meters became en vouge. Lots of older compact cameras use this light meter system which was fine at the time but selenium has a shelf life. They eventually stop reacting to light and become inaccurate then just die. It’s too bad I love the aesthetic of them and find out interesting there was a light meter that didn’t require batteries but oh well.
-Be careful buying “untested” or “as-is” cameras on eBay. Actually just avoid them altogether. Ebay is pretty good at protecting the buyer but if things are listed as “untested” “as-is” and “no returns” a lot of times that means it doesn’t work. It’s a way to sell broken items while looking innocent. This isn’t true for all items but it is for some. It could also be people reselling items from an estate sale which means they are unknown so sometimes you are gambling most of the time it’s some dick selling broken equipment. Don’t purchase an unknown unless you are prepared to lose the money you invested.
-The more pictures of a camera being sold the better. Just be weary of good photographers that can hid defects. Lenses with light scratches, mold, and etc can be hidden by the right lighting and angles. If a shot is down the barrel of a lens and the lighting is so blown out nothing can be seen sometimes that’s on purpose. Buy from people that properly describe and photograph what they are selling. If the market respects and buys from good sellers maybe some of the people trying to cheat will be sieved out.
-Don’t buy film on Amazon at least not now (2022). They charge by demand and film is popular. Shooting film is Ruby Rod Hot! Hot! Hottt! The prices on film have risen across the board (people will argue about why) but Amazon has jacked their prices up from just 3 years ago.3 Other websites are selling for more reasonable prices but tend to be sold out if they have good deals. It’s worth it to look around and compare prices, they’re many good websites that sell film. I would also suggest buying cheap film to start out with. There is no need to
-Russian cameras and lenses are cheap but at a risk. I have had only a little a luck buying cameras and lenses from Russian sellers for whatever reasons. They sell old Russian cameras and lenses (which are awesome as they are knock off of German products from the mid 20th century) but sometimes they are reworked and cleaned poorly. I received a Helios 44 with its aperture ring on backwards, stripped heads on set screws, cameras different from the picture, and etc. I would personally make sure they have some kind of return policy if you buy from them or from anyone for that matter. If you do get lucky then you can get some gems for cheap such as the aforementioned Helios 44 and its variants.
-Japanese camera sellers have a weird grading system which should be ignored. For example you’ll see “EXC 5+++” in the title. If your grading scales starts at “Ultra clean ++*** plus” and ends at “Super Mint EXC*****!!” its hard to judge. BUT if you read the description and look at the photos you are fine. From my experience the descriptions are very honest and detailed as are the pictures. If you ignore the initial grading system you are good to go. I have not purchased a camera with a defect that wasn’t described. Maybe I have just been getting lucky.
-Domestic sales on eBay have their ups and downs. I don’t know what’s going on but Ebay sellers who find a point and shoot camera at a yard sale and try to sell it for 100 dollars above a normal price and all while saying it’s untested. Sometimes they are untested but sometimes you can just look and tell it’s broken and it doesn’t take an experienced eye to notice. Are they trying to rip off someone that doesn’t know better? Not sure but it looks like people are raiding estate sales and just trying to sell a dusty camera for the price of a clean maintained version they see listed on Ebay. If the camera looks like it’s in rough shape it probably is. These items are sometimes 60 years old and run a lot of risk of broken.
-If you can afford the premium go ahead and buy cameras from specialized stores. There are websites like Keh.com and others that sell film cameras and do thorough job describing and reworking cameras. You’ll pay more but you know what you are getting.
Footnotes
1. Most point and shoot cameras are unrepairable. They have small delicate parts and are packed into the camera. If you ever want to be blown away by engineering and manufacturing take one of these cameras apart and be in awe. Once you see it laid out you’ll understand why very very few professionals will work on them. I’m sure the people assembled them when they were new were paid shit to do surgeon like work.
2. Personal opinion. I am not a skilled photographer so I can’t tell the small differences but most people are probably in the same boat.
3. Personal belief: Film prices have risen quite a bit in the past year but that’s because they were incredibly low for a while. Film wasn’t popular and it sold for nickels. Now that it’s exploded prices have come back to what they were in the days of old if you look at inflation.