Question for camera people - Pics in post #40

[jennielynn1970]

I asked my mom if I could borrow the expensive camera she had bought for my dad. Turns out she bought it back in 1988. Dad has also been keeping it in the basement, without any cover. Ugh.

I asked her what kind it was, also what lens she bought with it. She's annoyed my father has treated it so badly. I want to try to get some better pictures around here, and thought I'd try her/his camera.

Here's the info she sent me on it:
camera is ricoh AF-5 XR-M multi-program tri-metering system

special lens is sigma zoom-K III that K is actually a symbol, i think, and i have no idea if it can be found on a keyboard 75 ~210mm multi-coated


Is this still an ok camera?? Should I see if they will trade it in for something newer (is it even worth anything???). I don't know if lenses get antiquated, but I'm guessing the base camera could. I dunno. I'm guessing it needs to be serviced/cleaned up, as it's been gathering dust and dirt uncovered in the basement for lord knows how many years.


Any thoughts or suggestions??

[Husky_mom]

there´s this forum... photoforum... and another... I can´t remember will have to check at home... that has many pros there.. I can ask.. or you can ask.. some even buy "collectionables"...aka old cameras... some might find it quite interesting...and might give you better info about it....

[Moesha]

I think I have 2 of those cameras. (Well not exactly sure about the AF-5 part.) I don't know much about them though, but I do have tons of accessories for them! LOL I do know that some of the Ricoh lenses will work on the newer Pentax DSLR cameras. It has to do with it having a K mount or not. (That's just what I read somewhere when I was trying to decide if I should go with a DSLR that would work with lenses I might already have.) I went with Nikon because I wasn't sure what I was doing. LOL

[Catlady711]

I'm not actually familiar with that particular name brand however...

I did a search on ebay and what few are listed aren't selling even as low as $40. I only found one real reference to it from an online camera store called 'old tyme cameras' or something of that nature suggesting the camera is considered an antique to all but possible collectors.

I'm not familiar with specifics on anything other than Canon for the last 20 years so I don't know if the lens is compatible with anything else or not.

Personally if the camera has been kept in those conditions and is that age it's probably not worth more than say $20 if you can find a buyer for it that is, I'd trash it or garage sale it for $5 myself. It would probably cost you as much or more to service that one as to buy a new digital camera. That would be assuming you could find a photo place that is capable of servicing that type of older camera.

Better bet would be to save and upgrade to a point & shoot digital camera. The newer ones do a pretty darn good job. If you are really wanting something you can change lenses on then save for a DSLR. Either way stick with either Nikon or Canon as they have the best reputation, the most compatibility for lenses, and have more varieties to select from.

[jennielynn1970]

Yeah, I kind of figured it wouldn't be worth much. My mom said I could just have it and take it to the camera shop and see if they would even recommend cleaning it and all that, or what they would suggest.

I have a point and shoot digital, I think it's 5.1MP, and I would love a better one that I can actually get decent pictures with (zoom lens and all that), so maybe saving up for a DSLR would be the better idea. Although right now, saving is the last thing I can afford to do on half pay. It's trying to make it through the month unscathed from the pay cut. I was w/out pay for almost 2 months, and it finally just kicked in, as I was about to drown, lol, so I'm thankful for that. My credit cards may not be, but at least I don't have any with limits over $400 at this point (I keep telling them I don't want a higher limit.. it's just too tempting a thought right now).

I did start one of those "Orange Savings Accounts" from ING Direct. I'm putting in $15 a pay period so that will be saving up for any cat problems. Granted it will take a whil to build up, but I can always add to it once I'm back at school full time. It was nice that if you made a deposit when you opened you got $25. So, for my $5 initial deposit, I got $25!

[Catlady711]

That's great that despite your financial hardships you are doing a savings plan! That's how it's done, just one step at a time. Kudos to you.

Don't make the mistake that many people do in believing many photography myths out there.

Camera manufacturers and retailers would LOVE everyone to believe it's the CAMERA that makes great pictures. Nope, it's the person BEHIND the camera that makes great pictures! The camera is simply a TOOL to achieve that in the same way that a painter uses a brush. This doesn't mean that if we all go buy an expensive brush we'll paint better. Photography is a vision and an art.

There is a whole race out there that so many people get caught up in called the megapixel race. Megapixels only really mean how large you can print your pictures. Camera manufacturers would have you believe you have to have mega megapixels to make decent pictures and that's simply not true. Anything over 5-8 megapixels is overkill for people who don't print their pictures or very few.

For reference to both here's a link to a photographer who has a TON of info including myth busting, on his site, as well as a TERRIFIC photo gallery of his work. http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/mpmyth.htm

Unless a fancier (read more expensive) camera has some feature that you absolutely have to have, or need, you can quite easily make very good pictures with a simple point and shoot. Yes there are some quality differences between them because of sensor size, but in most cases with proper shooting/exposure techniques the differences will be minimal or may not even be noticable by many people.

Here's some downsized pix from my first digital camera I got in 2002. It's a Canon A40 point and shoot with a measly TWO megapixels. I still use it occasionally for it's portability, and ease of use, even though I do own a DSLR.

I don't think it takes half bad pix myself, do you?








Don't dissmiss your own digital camera on the basis of it ONLY has 5 megapixels and it's a point and shoot. It's a tool, use it to it's fullest capacity, stretch your imagination. It will open up a whole new world until you have the money for the fancy (read expensive) DSLR's and all the money sucking (trust me I KNOW this from experience) accessories. LOL

[jennielynn1970]

Ok, so let's see how I did with this Macro and Super Macro thing.

Sophie


Sophie being sleepy


Sophie full face up close



Pictures of paws and whiskers

Calloway's panda paw


Zach's big paw



Zach's whiskers



They came out better than I ever hoped close ups would with this camera... now that I know what buttons to push, lol. Lighting still isn't my strong suit with indoor objects. Some of the pics were way too bright (white in cats).

[Taz_Zoee]

Wow, Jennie, those are great pictures!! I guess I need to learn the tricks with my camera too.
I just Calloways paw, that is too cute!!!

[Moesha]

You did a great job!!!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Jenn, these pictures are great. I still haven't learned how to use my super macro setting yet and I was also having problems with the clarity of some of my macro settings. I wish that the handbooks would just be written in plain English so that any one would be able to understand them. I have a Canon Powershot S3IS.