Vivitar V3800N Manual SLR Camera with 50mm Lens & Case

Ace Photo Digital is the type of company that goes on vacation for almost a week, has no intentions of selling you an item, and blows you off until you call them. They used the bait and switch tech on me saying that the package I bought was a mistake of amazons (which it wasn't) and they wouldn't honor my purchase. Very unprofessional company. Asked for a manager to call me, and never did. They do not care about their customers. It was a $150 camera w/ 2 lenses, tripod, flash, and case. They ended up canceling my order when I told them not to. DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM!

This is a great camera that anyone can learn to use. Everything on it works well; I've had no problems with it whatsoever. There are no regrets with this purchase!

I've bought over a dozen of these cameras for a high school photography class, and I can tell you it is rare to find a fully manual 35mm SLR camera (though the light meter is battery operated with illuminated green and red plus and minus signs. Old people will remember the manually operated circle that you would manipulate over the meter needle with the aperture ring or shutter speed knob). The camera is simple, the user actually understands what's going on with the settings, and it holds up to student use. It reliably exposes film to a prescribed amount of light, and that's what it's all about.

I bought this camera for a photography class I was taking (I had to drop the class because of problems with the camera). The first camera Vivitar sent to me had a broken light meter, so I contacted the company to send it back and have it replaced. The company (Ace photo and digital) made me pay the postage to send back a camera that came broken, and then sent me a second camera that once again didn't have a functioning light meter. I would send it back a second time, but I think I'll just buy a light meter that works with the money I would have spent on postage.

I intentionally got an all manual film camera to force me to learn the basics of photography. This little beauty performs perfectly with its real pentaprism, DOF preview, and fast 50mm lens.

A brand-new all-mechanical camera is a rare thing these days and I'm glad someone still makes one.