Donate your film cameras [Archive] - Rangefinderforum.com

fraley

11-21-2006, 19:38

I heard this story on the radio -- a photography teacher is looking for 35mm film cameras for his students. Interesting story, but I don't know which of my cameras to part with :eek: Here's the link:

http://www.collegenews.org/x6363.xml

reub2000

11-21-2006, 20:07

A hard time finding 35mm cameras? Maybe he means he has a hard time finding a new 35mm camera. The second hand market is awash with 35mm and other types of cameras.

rbiemer

11-21-2006, 20:49

Here is an idea:
Vivitar V3800N (http://porters.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=010555&Category_Code=C3P&Product_Count=3).
Not too much money but it is manual and uses film and Pentax K-mount lenses....
Not a range-finder but if that is what is required then I suggest a Bessa.
How can I send him the link to this?
Rob

Ossifan

11-21-2006, 23:11

You can get that same Vivitar for less at www.freestylephoto.biz (http://www.freestylephoto.biz) - they even have a section for educators.

rbiemer

11-22-2006, 03:50

Jocko

11-22-2006, 04:06

Ossifan,
Even better deal! And there are several other options as well. None of them are especially hard to find either mail order or on-line. Even living in a small town as I do, I can get a film camera or two at two different places with out resorting to "sending away". Nothing RF but still, there are choices.
Rob

But Rob, none of those options would meet the traditional academic criteria: "Obtain course materials free through scrounging and pathetic appeals to charity, then sell them to your students"!

A time-honoured practice at my alma mater :)

Cheers Ian

rbiemer

11-22-2006, 04:14

I'm not opposed to donating a camera but the reasons given by the prof/instructor seem a little , um, thin.
Last year(?) a member here posted a link to a guy in Boston who was looking for cameras for his high-school students. A rather different situation and I sent him a camera. I gave a camera to a local high-school student this past August--strings attached to that one, though: she has to give me a print some time this school year.
Rob

Jeroen

11-22-2006, 04:47

markinlondon

11-22-2006, 05:04

"There is no need or demand for film cameras anymore, so companies like Nikon and Minolta are simply not making them. If they do make a film camera, it will run you somewhere in the $2,000 range."

Pentax ZX-M, under $200. Pentax Ist plus 28-80 around $300.

Pentax obviously doesn't meet his standards :) . Or, maybe he's getting his info from a local retailer with a vested interest.

Flyfisher Tom

11-22-2006, 05:30

Last time I gave at the Goodwill, they were awash in film cameras of all kinds at literally a few dollars a piece. Odd that he can't find them.

fraley

11-22-2006, 05:41

Thanks for the reality check. I'm aware too of 35m SLR's new that are way under 300.00. Also there's eBay if Wheaton wants to procure used equipment. It may be that this professor has no experience with used gear and doesn't trust it. Maybe he's never been in a chain store selling photo equipment. They still carry low end film gear. I will pass this info on to him that you've provided, if I can get his email off the college web site.

Tom, I wish our Goodwill was awash in film cameras of all kinds! No, I take that back -- my house is awash in film cameras of all kinds already!

Flyfisher Tom

11-22-2006, 06:05

Tom, I wish our Goodwill was awash in film cameras of all kinds! No, I take that back -- my house is awash in film cameras of all kinds already!

Wait a minute, what are you doing in my house ???? :p You're right actually, mine is the same ;)

An aside, the film/documentary Born into Brothels (at least that's the name if I recall correctly). A professional photog gives cheap P&S cameras and cheap Kodak negative color film to children born into brothels in India. The work was impressive.

cheers

BillBingham2

11-22-2006, 20:45

I have a friend in Davis CA who teaches in a very low-income area school. He has used photography for years to show them there is a way out very successfully. He never asks, but will pipe up with what he needs if someone offers.

I give everything I have extra to him and every so often have purchased bargin cameras and had them sent to him. I am hard pressed to think that College students need a $300 SLR. Why not an old Crown Graphic, or an old Nikkormat with a few lenses. You can find each on EvilBay or in Good Will shops, even pawn shops.

B2 (;->

gb hill

11-22-2006, 21:24

I wonder what rock this professor is living under. Sounds like somebody needs to donate him the book, Ebay for duimmies. Then he'll learn you don't have to pay $2000 for a Canon or Nikon film camera. Besides, I'm sure those students at Wheaton college and there parents aren't too strapped for cash. If they really are serious about taking the course they will find a camera. On a plus note in the professors favor you have to admire his take on film photography and for this I wish him success.

caffeineshutter

11-22-2006, 22:44

"The camera industry is so consumer based that they are only producing digital," said Professor of Art Andy Howard. "There is no need or demand for film cameras anymore, so companies like Nikon and Minolta are simply not making them. If they do make a film camera, it will run you somewhere in the $2,000 range."

Wow. Professor Andy Howard is either staggeringly ignorant, or likes to troll for freebies.

Two friends of mine graduated from Wheaton. Most of the sudent body can be considered 'well-to-do'.

Stanton

11-23-2006, 21:03

My son is a high school art teacher. To facilitate a photography unit for his students, I bought a bunch of Argus C3s and donated them to the school. I doubt that I paid over $9.00 USD for any of them. I did a little cleaning (I am a rank amateur at camera repair) before I gave them to him. The students had a fully manual camera to learn on, and if it was damaged, lost or stolen while the students' hands, the loss to the school was, at the most, minimal. Dave