From time to time I’ll have tested cameras packaged with Bikes and Film Cameras Club memberships. These are usually compact zoom point and shoots. The idea is to give someone who is interested in the club but doesn’t have a film camera an easy point of entry. These cameras will also include a roll of film and a battery (if needed) plus the Membership card, notebook, and two stickers.
Hello folks! This time around I’ve got three great cameras to choose from:
Released in 1966, the Minolta SR-T 101 was the first in a line of successful single lens reflex (SLR) 35mm cameras. It’s a completely manual camera that you must focus and set exposure, though there is an included light meter to help you figure out exposure. This is a great camera to learn the art of photography, as it has everything you need and nothing you don’t! The SR-T 101 comes with a 50mm Minolta Rokkor f/1.4 lens, which produces beautiful images. You can also mount any lens that accepts Minolta’s SR/MC/MD mount. (This mount will not accept later autofocus lenses for Minolta’s Maxxum line.) The SR-T 101 came from an era where cameras were solidly built, and should give you years of enjoyment. $80, buy it here.
Released in 1968, the Olympus Pen EES-2 was part of a successful line of easy-to-use “half frame” cameras. What is half-frame? A “full-frame” on 35mm film is 24mm high and 36mm wide. Half-frame literally “halves” that, so an image is 24mm high by 18mm wide. You get double the amount of photos you would with a half-frame camera, so a 24 exposure roll becomes 48, and 36 becomes 72! Besides the efficiency and money savings, half-frame is fun. You shoot standardly in portrait mode vs. landscape, much like most phone shooters today.
The Pen EES-2 is an all mechanical camera with automatic exposure–just wind the film, compose your picture, choose one of the zones to focus (from close to infinity), and release the shutter. The Pen EES-2 is a very small camera, easy to take everywhere. And it takes great photos, too! $60, buy it here.
Released in 2002 at the end of The Film Era, the Pentax IQZoom 170SL (also known as the Espio 170SL) is a very small and sophisticated point and shoot camera with a 38-170mm zoom lens. Everything in this camera is “automatic”, all you really need to do is compose and shoot. There are a few creative options, like flash modes, infinity focus, spot AF, and self-timer.
This camera is a bit banged up but still works. Because it took a fall or two, the price is very low–since a membership by itself is $20 and a roll of film is $10, consider the price of this bundle as paying for those two and getting a camera for free! $30, buy it here.
Bikes and Film Cameras Club 