A cheap used camera with manual controls?

[CamGuy]

Camera Type

• I'm looking for something that I could control. I don't like all those "automatic" settings, they take away the fun from photography. I do have a SLR, but the film and development costs are too high for me to handle... I think that would be a DLSR?

• I've took a few shots with a SLR, and I enjoyed doing it a lot.

• As I mentioned earlier, I want as much control over the camera as possible. I don't want any automatic settings that I can't control.

• More versatile lens, as that would allow me to take a bigger variety of pictures for a cheaper price.

• I don't care about compactness, I wouldn't sacrifice any features for that. In fact, I like the camera to be a bit stuffy, a small camera associates with a point-and-shoot to me.

Budget

• Best would be around $40, but if that's impossible, I guess I could go as high as $60-70. Although this wouldn't reflect very well on my savings.

• Preferably no. I get $200 a month. It's hard to get $40-70 as it is.

• As long as possible. That also means that I am looking to get an enjoyable camera that I wouldn't hate, and wouldn't hate myself for thinking that I've wasted the money.

Usage

• Macro photography, landscapes and portraits. No events, only city and nature.

• No.

• I'm not planning on that. Although, since we have long winters over here, it would be nice to be able to shoot during the night without phone quality pictures...

• Since prints cost, I will be viewing them on my PC, and likely sharing them on some site.

• I prefer the natural look of the pictures.

Miscellaneous

• I would like to be able to shoot what I mentioned in the usage section. Of course I'd like fancier lenses, but they cost a lot.

• My preference would be Nikon and Canon.

[Anthony]

I think a DSLR may be very difficault to find for that money as even the old ones seem to hold their price for a few years. The other way is to go for a more advanced compact like a Canon A650 which has a lot of manual functions. But again they are probably twice your budget; you can not change lenses but DSLR lenses would probably be more than you can afford.
It is a hard situation to be in but I think you are just going to have to keep a lookout for someone you know selling some equipment or perhaps a carboot sale?

[CamGuy]

I think a DSLR may be very difficault to find for that money as even the old ones seem to hold their price for a few years. The other way is to go for a more advanced compact like a Canon A650 which has a lot of manual functions. But again they are probably twice your budget; you can not change lenses but DSLR lenses would probably be more than you can afford.
It is a hard situation to be in but I think you are just going to have to keep a lookout for someone you know selling some equipment or perhaps a carboot sale?

I see, I was afraid that would be the answer - my friend's too positive... We don't have carboot sales around here, and I don't know many people, or any people who are interested in photography.

Thanks for letting me know, I'll stop looking.

[raven15]

Yeah, that's pretty hard. I see an Olympus E-300, possibly the least respected DLSR ever, going for about $90 on eBay. But add a lens and it's $150. Every other DSLR I thought of was more expensive. The Nikon D-40, possibly the most over-rated DSLR of all time, is still going for outrageous prices that would have been more reasonable for when it was introduced.

There is a hyper-old Olympus E-20 in your price range. It has the manual controls, but it's antiquated and possibly does not have better image quality than a smart phone. Actually it probably does, but only to a discerning viewer who looks at more than just noise (it should have a much nicer lens, for example). It also does not change lenses but that shouldn't matter for your budget. Probably there are other similar cameras of that era.

[kgosden]

Hmm, at the very low price point I would suggest looking into one of the older C series Olympus cameras. They were probably the original enthusiast compacts and all had full manual controls and very bright lenses in some. I still have my C5050Z even though I no longer use it. They also took AA batteries meaning there is no problem finding new batteries for a very old camera which is much more difficult for proprietary batteries.