I have a 6006 and I'm pretty sure it is polycarb over a metal chassis. In other words, it's still got metal where it counts: lense mount and chassis. Still, you could probably club someone to death it and then take their picture with it.
The focus of the 6006 is a little slower (and it hates horizontal lines) than with newer Nikons (N70's come to mind and shouldn't cost much more on the used market).
I've only looked at about 45 of the posts on here, so I might be repeating some of the stuff already mentioned.
About the Pentax K1000: It is a great camera and you saw a lot of students using these. They stopped making it in about 1996 or 1997 because it was time to remanufacture the molds used in assembling (casting) and Pentax wasn't turning enough revenue off of the K1000 itself. That's the story I got from another sales guy when I worked at a camera shop in high school and college (late 1990's).
Anyway, you could buy this thing at just about any department store or camera shop up until then. Lots of other companies made lenses for the Pentax K-Mount. Ricoh made some pretty neat bodies to accept K-Mount lenses and some lenses of their own also.
It would be an okay system to go with, but if you are serious (even a serious amatuer) about photography, you do not want to touch any brand except Nikon or Canon. The other brands make some good stuff (Olympus OM series, Minolta, Pentax) and some REALLY good stuff (Contax, bow your heads). But if you want availability in both new and used lenses and bodies, you will have the best luck with Canon or Nikon.
And here is why Nikon might be a little better. Nikon's manual and autofocus gear is reasonably interchange-able. That is, any lense that is an AIS lense (I think that's the right acronym) will work on a modern body or an older one. I guess the difference has to do with how the apeture position is fed back to the camera body. The oldest Nikons use a big silver shoe that connected to a lever in the viewfinder prism assembly. This was how the light meter 'knew' what the setting of the apeture.
The later AIS lenses use a little notch in the aperture ring itself.
Anyway, too much information on a tangent that we need not explore on this website. In summary, when Canon created their autofocus stuff, their bayonet mounts basically reversed. Nikon's mounts have always stayed the same. Manual focus Canon lenses will not work without a convertor.
I've seen a lot of suggestion for the good old Nikon work horse bodies. But really, even those bodies might cost more than $200 with a F1.8 50mm. You might be able to get an F1, but that is getting too old (and out of the AIS lenses).
Something to consider is the Nikon FM10. It is a manual camera with an electronic shutter. Really, as far as Nikons go, it is a cheap piece of plastic, but it will get you in the system and teach you everything you need to know about f-stops and shutter speeds (even depth of field preview I think) without breaking the bank. Keep it in your camera bag after you get your F100 and give it to your kids to learn photography. It might look and feel cheap, but if you take care it, it will last.
I think that looking at F3's and FM2n's is worth it, but don't expect to get one for under $200 unless it is: 1.) broken 2.) the person selling it has no idea what it's worth. For Case 2, BUY IT AND EVERYTHING ELSE YOU CAN GET!
Other things to consider:
I know I just tried to create another Nikon convert, but I would seriously consider looking into which company (Nikon or Canon) is presenting a better (for YOU!) variety of digital SLR bodies. Canon has one for about $1000 right now called the EOS Rebel Digital something. Nikon has the D100 (either D100 or D10, I can't recall) in the same megapixel range for about $1400 or $1500. If Canon is going to be the brand putting more digital bang for the buck in the hands of the serious amatuer, you should consider giving them a look.
Sigma has some cool digital stuff with their purchase of the patent on FEON CMOS chips, but it's Sigma and well... it's Sigma.
Try this site for more photo infomation: http://www.photo.net/
I recommend the articles by Philip Greenspun in the beginners and equipement sections. He is a geek (I mean this most kindly) and a photographer. Good stuff. Good luck!
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It sounds as if you are describing a Nikon F3. Very nice description and very nice outfit.
I have a 6006 and I'm pretty sure it is polycarb over a metal chassis. In other words, it's still got metal where it counts: lense mount and chassis. Still, you could probably club someone to death it and then take their picture with it.
The focus of the 6006 is a little slower (and it hates horizontal lines) than with newer Nikons (N70's come to mind and shouldn't cost much more on the used market).
I've only looked at about 45 of the posts on here, so I might be repeating some of the stuff already mentioned.
About the Pentax K1000: It is a great camera and you saw a lot of students using these. They stopped making it in about 1996 or 1997 because it was time to remanufacture the molds used in assembling (casting) and Pentax wasn't turning enough revenue off of the K1000 itself. That's the story I got from another sales guy when I worked at a camera shop in high school and college (late 1990's).
Anyway, you could buy this thing at just about any department store or camera shop up until then. Lots of other companies made lenses for the Pentax K-Mount. Ricoh made some pretty neat bodies to accept K-Mount lenses and some lenses of their own also.
It would be an okay system to go with, but if you are serious (even a serious amatuer) about photography, you do not want to touch any brand except Nikon or Canon. The other brands make some good stuff (Olympus OM series, Minolta, Pentax) and some REALLY good stuff (Contax, bow your heads). But if you want availability in both new and used lenses and bodies, you will have the best luck with Canon or Nikon.
And here is why Nikon might be a little better. Nikon's manual and autofocus gear is reasonably interchange-able. That is, any lense that is an AIS lense (I think that's the right acronym) will work on a modern body or an older one. I guess the difference has to do with how the apeture position is fed back to the camera body. The oldest Nikons use a big silver shoe that connected to a lever in the viewfinder prism assembly. This was how the light meter 'knew' what the setting of the apeture.
The later AIS lenses use a little notch in the aperture ring itself.
Anyway, too much information on a tangent that we need not explore on this website. In summary, when Canon created their autofocus stuff, their bayonet mounts basically reversed. Nikon's mounts have always stayed the same. Manual focus Canon lenses will not work without a convertor.
I've seen a lot of suggestion for the good old Nikon work horse bodies. But really, even those bodies might cost more than $200 with a F1.8 50mm. You might be able to get an F1, but that is getting too old (and out of the AIS lenses).
Something to consider is the Nikon FM10. It is a manual camera with an electronic shutter. Really, as far as Nikons go, it is a cheap piece of plastic, but it will get you in the system and teach you everything you need to know about f-stops and shutter speeds (even depth of field preview I think) without breaking the bank. Keep it in your camera bag after you get your F100 and give it to your kids to learn photography. It might look and feel cheap, but if you take care it, it will last.
I think that looking at F3's and FM2n's is worth it, but don't expect to get one for under $200 unless it is: 1.) broken 2.) the person selling it has no idea what it's worth. For Case 2, BUY IT AND EVERYTHING ELSE YOU CAN GET!
Other things to consider:
I know I just tried to create another Nikon convert, but I would seriously consider looking into which company (Nikon or Canon) is presenting a better (for YOU!) variety of digital SLR bodies. Canon has one for about $1000 right now called the EOS Rebel Digital something. Nikon has the D100 (either D100 or D10, I can't recall) in the same megapixel range for about $1400 or $1500. If Canon is going to be the brand putting more digital bang for the buck in the hands of the serious amatuer, you should consider giving them a look.
Sigma has some cool digital stuff with their purchase of the patent on FEON CMOS chips, but it's Sigma and well... it's Sigma.
Try this site for more photo infomation:
http://www.photo.net/
I recommend the articles by Philip Greenspun in the beginners and equipement sections. He is a geek (I mean this most kindly) and a photographer. Good stuff. Good luck!