Yes, you’re reading that headline correctly. Vivitar is slinging a brand new all-manual 35mm film SLR and it’s not half bad. In fact, I’ve had more fun shooting with this than I have with any of my DSLRs. What’s most impressive about the V3800N are its specs compared to what it costs, which is only $170. That price includes a 50mm f/1.7 lens.
Before we get to the specs, here’s what you get in the box. Aside from the body is the aforementioned 50mm lens along with a strap, faux leather case, lens hood, batteries for the light meter and a double exposure mask.
Spec-wise, the V3800N is well equipped and a perfect starter camera. It’s film, yes, but it creates a solid knowledge base and instills sound fundamentals, which is something I need to work on myself. In other words, you learn to create images rather than getting lucky.
The viewfinder is a tad lacking, but serves its purpose. As it is a manual focus camera, the Vivitar has a split screen that you’ll have to line up to ensure your images will be focused.
The center-weighted exposure meter pretty much rules and it’s simple to use. In the viewfinder you’ll see one of three values along the right side of the window: +/o/-. Adjust the aperture accordingly or fuss with the ISO and/or shutter speed. Speaking of ISO and shutter speed, the V3800N ranges from 50 to 3200 and 1/2000th to one-second, respectively.
The depth of field preview button is located underneath the lens mount and works as advertised. There’s a timer button, PC terminal, hotshoe and multi-exposure bottom located on the bottom of the base of the camera.
The included 50mm lens is fast and seems to be sharp, but I only took a half a dozen or so test shots. It has a Pentax K-mount so you’re likely to find an abundance of high quality lenses to fit the body at recession friendly prices.
Snapping a photo can be quite jarring the first time with the V3800N. The mirror snaps quite hard and probably added unwanted motion blur to a few of my shots. Unfortunately you can’t lock the mirror so it’s a bit of a gamble each time you snap a photo.
With that being said here are a couple test shots that came out ok. I used Kodak Tri-X film and shot at ISO 400 at 1/60th. With the help of my brother, I actually developed this film in his kitchen and he scanned the film with his Nikon Super Coolscan 9000. I’ve made the originals available for download if you want to see them at full resolution (5904×4000).
Overall, I’m stoked on the Vivitar and it appears to take fairly good images. The body is lightweight and is mostly made from plastic so it feels a bit cheap, but as long as image quality is acceptable I have no issues with the materials used to construct it. It was extremely refreshing to use a film camera and I felt challenged, which is something that rarely happens with my DSLR. For the price I’d recommend the Vivitar to anyone looking to get into photography or those wanting an updated 35mm film SLR.
Orchids
Vase
Octopus
Rolleiflex
Jameson
Bro
Photo Gallery by Picturesurf
You want a REAL fun film camera? Pick up a Leica M7 with a 35mm 1.4 Aspheric lens, and you will be in analog photography nirvana.
And the poor house. ☺
Looks like plastic. ¿Is it?
Sorry, Ivan, part of my hands-on wasn’t published. Most of the body is made of plastic.
that’s for real man – analog and offline and mechanic :-)
and, $170 is quite cheap
or you can buy really cheap (or get for free from a photographer in the family) one of the millions of the Nikons, Canons, Pentax, Minolta, and Yashica 35 MM SLR cameras siting in closets all over the planet. Picture quality will be superb even on a 1960s body with a 50mm manual lens.
The all manual Nikon FM series is great but, beware some honeycomb shutters on some model FM2. Those shutters eventually die and Nikon can no longer repair as the replacement shutter is no longer made.
As I learned a few years ago, after shooting $80 in film and processing and getting mostly really dark or black frames.
Buy a used Olympus OM2S on ebaY. You’ll be better off.
Gotta agree with the other commenters.
The number of amazingly good film cameras available used is astounding.
Check craigslist and you’ll see some incredible deals.
I recently saw a Nikon F5 on craigslist for not much more than what this piece of garbage is selling for.
Vivitar has never made a good camera. Period.
AS a photo teacher, I’ve watched the supply of student slr’s dry up in recent years. Everyone fondly remembers the canons, nikons, and olympus of yore; but the oils are drying, the parts are scarce, and they are costly to repair.
As an alternative, I ordered the Vivtar and am trying it out for my classes—It feels fairly solid, the viewfinder is bright, and it takes the good old Pentax K lenses.
What’s not to like? Who knows? It may “replace” the K1000!
True there are many film slr’s on the web at great prices. But many are a gamble, and others need a renew. They can be a great deal for collectors or those wanting yesteryear (like me)
But these are reasonably priced and accept PK lenses which I have many, so for a fun kick around this does a good job. The mirror slap is annoying more than problematic. For the price of taking the family out to dinner and a movie, the gamble is minimal here.
I should make it clear that I do not own one yet, but checked them out, and have had Vivitars before that worked well. Don’t know the longevity, but that can be said for nay budget camera as well as those commanding top price at times.