Camera Gear Doesn’t Need To Be Expensive.

If you have an interest in photography, you likely have an interest in gear. You’ve also likely been disappointed in some of the gear, especially used, that you have bought in the past.

There are lots of techniques and strategies that can save you money when you buy gear. I’ve learned these from years of being a professional online seller. That’s where my interest in photography came from. Good photos sell.

The Buying Guide will help you save money on cameras, lenses, and other gear. You should be able to save enough money to where you can break even when you buy and sell gear.

Picking Out Vintage Lens Winners.

All lenses aren’t equal. 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 just aren’t that 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 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.

Nothing Depreciates Faster Than A Camera.

Cameras are the fastest depreciating pieces of photography gear. That’s bad if you buy a new camera. If you buy used, you can get a high-end camera from 10+ years ago for pennies on the dollar.

Being able to use flagship cameras of years gone by is an interesting experience. Medium format in both film and digital become obtainable for non-professional uses. Or owning many cameras is remarkably affordable.

The camera reviews section showcases all of the cameras I have reviewed. You can also find information on camera manufacturers that are no longer in business.

Recent Posts

Nikon D70 - Everything You Need to Know

Nikon D70 DSLR Camera Released in 2004, the Nikon D70 was the first Nikon DSLR released with an original MSRP under $1,000. That price also made it the first digital SLR from Nikon to be targeted at non-professionals. Now the D70 can be found used for much less than that. If the kit lens, the 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G is included with the camera, the price is a bit higher. In 2005 the D70 was replaced by the Nikon D70s.

Nikon D70s Resources: Software, PDF Manual, & More

This page has a list of resources and reference information for the Nikon D70s. Included are support phone numbers, links to PDF copies of the manuals, replacement battery information, compatible memory cards, and accessories. The Nikon D70s is the second mid-range DSLR released by Nikon in 2005. The Nikon D70 came before it and the camera was replaced by the Nikon D80 in the middle of 2006. Nikon D70s Battery - EN-EL3a or EN-EL3e Nikon EN-EL3 battery with MH-18 charger The Nikon D70s uses EN-EL3a or EN-EL3e recharegable li-ion batteries.

The 5 Best Minolta SR-T 101 Lenses

The Minolta SRT 101 is a great 35mm film camera. It is notable because it was one of the first cameras designed with full aperture TTL metering. It is likely the best-known camera in the Minolta SRT single lens reflex camera lineup. This page covers the 5 best lenses for the Minolta SR-T 101, plus some alternatives. Here is the list of the best lenses for the Minolta SRT 101:

The Nikon FM2 - Nikon's Mechanical SLR Camera Masterpiece

The Nikon FM2 is a fully mechanical 35mm SLR film camera manufactured in Japan by Nikon from 1982-2001. When released, it filled the middle of Nikon’s camera lineup, behind the F3. The target customer for the FM2 would have been a camera for professional photographers or advanced enthusiast. Every review you’ll come across is likely to have given this camera five stars. Don’t expect a camera designed with business in mind.

Kalimar 3D Stereo Camera 35mm Film

The Kalimar 3D camera is a vintage 3 lens stereo camera. With 3 lenses, the series of pictures produced by the camera would have been used to make lenticular prints, which would have a 3D effect without the need of wearing glasses or using a 3D stereo viewer. The ImageTech 3D fx appears to be the same camera with a different paint job. This would make sense because the Kalimar 3D Wizard looks exactly the same as the ImageTech 3D Wizard.

Nishika N8000 35mm Quadrascopic Stereo 3D Lenticular Camera

The Nishika N8000 is a quadrascopic stereo 3D lenticular camera. By taking 4 different images at once, it was possible to create “3D” lenticular prints. Lenticular prints were popular in the 1980s and early 1990s. Unfortunately, the Nishika company went out of business due to running a telemarketing scam. The last printer capable of making the 3D lenticular prints broke years ago. Instead of lenticular prints, the camera can be used to make “3D” animated GIFs.