What should one look for when buying a used film camera?

Question

I'm planning to buy a used Nikon F5. I've no experience with a film camera and i want to know what all should one be careful of before buying a used film camera and more specifically an F5.

Thanks.

Answer

Nikon film cameras are practically indestructible so unless used heavily by a professional photographer, who mostly switched to digital five to ten years ago, it should appear to be in pristine condition.

The F5 is old now so you will probably need new batteries. Specific areas to check would be the mirror, film winders, and lens mount. There should be no sign of wear except maybe on the grips. If the camera looks old, tatty, or worn then just walk away and look for another. Lots of owners will also expect an unrealistic price because they were so expensive when new, shop around to get an idea of the right price.

You could also consider the the F80 if you want something lighter and cheaper or an F6 if you want the 'end of the line' camera.

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Are the two generations of Canon PowerShot S100 related?

Question

Looking around for an answer to another question, I noticed that the brand new successor to Canon PowerShot S95, S100, shares model number with PowerShot S100 from 2000.

Is this intentional (e.g. the new one revisits same design principles for same target market), or merely a marketing mishap?

Answer

The model introduced in the year 2000 is referred to as the PowerShot S100 Digital ELPH in North America, but the Digital IXUS in Europe and most of Asia, and finally the IXY Digital in Japan. The model introduced in the year 2011 is referred to as the Powershot S100 and as far as I can tell this name is kept throughout the world.

It is possible to consider that a certain amount of nostalgia is built into this model, as the model introduced in 2000 was the first Digital ELPH camera when it was released, and 11 years later they have reused the North America model name in the new S100. I do not believe that this model name was used for any specific reasoning, such as to indicate some type of anniversary model or flagship reincarnation, rather I believe it is due to the simple progression of the "S" series of cameras naming convention. The S series evolved out of the S10 and S20 from 1999-2000. With the exception of the S45 and S95, each successive model number has increased by a factor of 10(S30,S40,etc). They simply kept with the model and named the newest camera S100. It is possible on the current path, that in a few years we could even see the S200 name reused.

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Which Polaroid camera is used in the Instagram logo?

Question

Below is the logo of the app "Instagram". Does anybody know which Polaroid kamera they used for it?

Photo:

Thank you.

Answer

It looks vaguely like an SX-70. I doubt they'd copy it exactly, more just 'take inspiration'.

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