i really love shooting film, but it's getting way too cost prohibitive at this point - especially since i shoot mostly b&w and to get the negatives developed/prints made is a small fortune each time.
so...
i am an amateur, and i dont really need anything incredibly fancy...
but if i were to go looking for something better than regular old consuemr grade, what could y'all recommend?
i dont see myself spending 1200 bucks on a body alone, just to give an idea of where my head's at...

You can decent cameras for about $400-500, but if you want something with interchangeable lenses, that's another price altogether. It really depends on what you wanna shoot.

Unfortunately still, price point is a big factor with pro and pro-consumer grade digital cameras. Personally, being a B&W guy myself, and looking and looking and reading about digital cameras, I came to the conclusion that getting a digital camera I was happy with (read: to use as my 'serious' camera) just wasnt going to happen. Others will say differently, and sure listen to them..but in the end, there still isnt a digital substitute for B&W at any reasonable pricepoint.

So a few other suggestions:

1) Only have your lab develop the negatives and buy a negative scanner for about $300. Then scan all your B&W negatives. If you find anything that you like, then have your lab print it from the negative.

2) Dont know if this is feasible, but you could start a home darkroom for the price of a midgrade digital camera. And nothing really compares to printing your own B&W unless you have a professional lab that listens to your every want and need.

Anyhow, my 2cents

i hear you, and what i usually do is have the negatives developed & then scanned/burned on a cd for me. most of the pics i have on my site were done that way & i dont think they came out half bad.
i think the only problem is that i do sort of envy the versatility that digital offers in terms of being able to switch back & forth [let's say yr shooting b&w & then suddenly you find something that demands color - do you just waste the rest of yr b&w roll to get to the color film??] and i also like the ability to compose a shot & then see the results. it seems like it is easier to really learn that way, whereas now i usually have to try and remember what i did, what the light was like, and then judge how well the shot came out after i get everything developed. the lag time usually means i dont progress as much as maybe i should.

All wise words, and of course I agree --the accelerated learning curve was a huge reason I wanted to buy a digital. But ok then, Id say a digital for learning purposes might work.. but Im still tied to my good old Nikon 6006.

And for B&W to color, I have an extra body Nikon N80 that I use for color- just switch my lenses.

Really the thing that killed digital for me was that I couldnt use my Nikon lenses on a Nikon Digital..there was no way I was going to go out and buy all digital lenses *just* to get back to where I was with my analog setup.

So back to your question, what about a Nikon D50 or D70, depending on your budget?

you do raise a very good point - having an extra body with film loaded & ready to go would be the obvious and smart thing to do - especially since the camera i'm currently using is something i am comfortable with. it's a fuji stx-2 i've had for about 20 years at this point, and although the timer [for self-portraits] doesnt work anymore, everything else on the camera functions really well. plus it's a metal body and i know it's quality in terms of overall construction. maybe i should scour ebay for one of these...

Don't forget that when shooting b&w, you should use filters (either red or yellow) to obtain sharper images.

t, if you want to see some of the stuff ive shot, you can look here:
http://www.slownerveensemble.com/pics.php
i know the composition is funky on some of them, but the b&w cityscape [maybe the 6th row down] that has the two folks sitting on the rocks in the left foreground is perhaps my fave.

Nick, I've gotta confess...I've checked out your photos before and have always meant to comment. They're great shots!

I disagree with this a lot.. A LOT I SAY.

Never use filters unless you know why.. red/yellow filters will do more than 'sharpen'your image (and only sharpen if/when it is doing its job right). Even though the images might come out B&W, using color filters will effect the grayscale values of the objects. I.e. can make red stand out or fade into green.

But carry on, I love the look of a red filter on a lense.

EDIT: and that was my 1000th post. Jesus, I thought Ive been here longer than that.

Probably lower scale than what you're looking for, but I just purchased (got it in yesterday) the Canon S3 IS megazoom. I chose it over the dSLR route because I wanted something easy to carry around and still give me some versatility. And at $450, it's a cheaper alternative.

Has 12x zoom, macro, super macro modes as well as a ton of other features.

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/contr ... elid=13077

EDIT: There are accessory lenses and attachments which allow the use of filters, etc. available for this camera as well, which was another plus for me. I'm ordering a wide-angle attachment and Lensmate later today probably.

thanks, t. i try.

the fact that i could use my old nikon lenses on my D70 is what sold me on it. i guess all of the nikon lenses are not compatible though?

i've had my D70 for a year and a half now, and i guess the only thing that bugs me is that i can't seem to get a really true looking black and white. i'm sure if i spent more time, or looked more into some of those programs out there, i could do it.

you can get a D50 for $600.

Only F-mount lenses

if you're not sure of what you're looking for, go to calumet on 19th street (between 5th and 6th ave) and speak to Ron. he's one of the sales people there and he's super cool. he could give you some advice on what might work for you.

thanks, tt, i know that place. i work about 2 blocks away, and actually i'm working right across the street from alkit. theyre the ones who do my developing [well, color anyhow, they send out the b7W] and scanning for me.

i hate alkit. i went to look for my 20d and the guy wouldn't even let me look at the camera unless i was going to buy it. what an idiot!

i actually work right next door, between calumet and the card shop. LOL!

you know, i use alkit because theyre convenient, but i have to say they have given me back the wrong prints TWICE, and didnt apologise either time. one time they gave me someone's medium format [i'm guessing] wedding photos when i gave them 35mm film of coney island. i was like 'umm, this is the second time this has happened', and literally, not a single 'we're sorry', or a 'this one's on us'. nothing. i havent used them since, but then again i havent gotten film developed since, either.

on a diff't note, who do you work for? i'm on park south bet 18th/19th, working for ask.com/IAC

fyi...don't go to adorama either for prints. the guy in the lab department is a jerk. he's absolutely disrespectful to every customer. it's a "he's right and the customer's wrong" policy/mentality with this schmuck. the other department's are cool though.

i work at index stock. its a general stock agency, not celebrity crap like my old job.

ask.com? i like the commercial with that kid "you're just getting confused, google's not better, it's just more popular" (LOL!)

i havent seen that commercial...the last ones i saw were the 'use tools. feel human' series with the monkey-people.

i haven't seen that one. and i still use google.

hahaha, that's ok, i still use yahoo most of the time.
shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.