Photography gifts?
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- ifeltdave
What to get an aspiring photographer for xmas? She has been drawn to toy cameras lately, but I don't want to get the standard holga / lomo nonsense you can buy at any urban outfitters.
Also looking for book suggestions.. general inspiration, photo process etc.
- ifeltdave0
I should have said "budding" instead of "aspiring". Photography has nothing to do with her job its just something she's doing in her spare time for creative outlet.
- kona0
- ifeltdave0
How about gifts that take actual photos? Antique cameras, entry level medium format, etc?
- nb0
Those silly coffee mugs must get stolen all the time. I don't want to take my coffee with me into the restroom.
- nb0
A lot of young photographers like these:
http://www.lensbaby.com/lenses.p…
- bigtrick0
how much are you looking to spend? you can pick these up for less than $50 on ebay:
http://www.jimtardio.com/olympus…olympus stylus epic, the best compact 35mm camera i've ever used.
or if you want a less modern, more retro appeal, how about a
http://www.mattdentonphoto.com/c…canon canonet ql17 rangefinder from the 70's? there are a ton of 70's metal-bodied rangefinders on ebay for less than $100. they're definitely different from modern automatic-everything cameras, but they're still excellent photographic tools. solid and very satisfying, in a mechanical way.
or if you want a modern plasticky toy camera that's a bit different, a blackbird tlr:
http://blackbirdflycamera.com/bit over $100, but takes 35mm film so you don't have to deal with medium format.
finally, you can get her a polaroid camera! like this spectra here:
you can find these for $20 on ebay or craigslist, and you can get (expensive) polaroid film from the impossible project:
http://shop.the-impossible-proje…
- JSK0
Thats a great idea. But why not get a rangefinder instead of a SLR?
- epigraph0
http://www.oyemodern.com/designe…
after seeing this I bought some old lenses and made a few of these
- bigtrick0
rangefinder = you focus by aligning two pictures in the viewfinder until they overlap perfectly.
slr = you focus by looking through the viewfinder and a mirror, directly through the lens, focusing until the picture looks sharp.slrs are more common, and allow for autofocus. rangefinders allow for a more compact body and... well heck. they're a bit niche. they were all the rage back in the day before slrs were invented.
- interesting. thanks for the info!ifeltdave
- you can tell that i'm not really a rangefinder guy (:bigtrick
- because you suckJSK
- true.bigtrick
- i own several rangefinders and prefer shooting one over an slr but they're not for everyoneJG_LB
- they are much more quiet than slrsjaylarson
- this isn't strictly the case, you can get alternative focus screens for SLRs so they behave like rangefinders.Samush
- melq0
Photography gifts and gear:
http://photojojo.com/store/
- bigtrick0
if you like modern japanese toy cameras, this place has awesome stuff:
- JSK0
why rf?
its small. its all manual. lens is closer to the film so you get more details / sharpness.
- DoktorDavid0
geebus - set a budget, buy her something that fits within that budget and make it easy for her - any other shit and you're just gonna turn her off - as an example "blackbird fly" is a beautiful camera with an almost impossible loading process; she'll just get discouraged. An entry level DSLR is the way to go as she will get virtually instant results and then can concentrate on the skills... no suggestions from me as then we'll watch this thread degenerate into my penis is bigger/longer/faster than yours type arguments - just set how much and then spend to that ceiling...
- she likes film, said opbigtrick
- i'd like to think she can figure out how to load film into a blackbirdifeltdave
- all the best then!DoktorDavid