Thinking of Buying a New Camera?

I recently bought a used film camera off of eBay. This was an incredibly stressful experience. Would the shutter work? Will there be light leaks? Is the glass scratched? Does the camera even take good images? The fears about my specific camera were reasonable, but there was a lot that I could do in advance to make sure that the specific model of camera I wanted would perform well.

When I started shopping I knew that I wanted to get a medium format camera, and I knew that my budget would not allow me to buy a Hasselblad. I started my search by going to eBay and searching for any variation of medium format camera I could think of, and then narrowing the results by limiting them to my price range. I was then able to see all the camera's that would be available to me.

The next step was to figure out which camera would give me what I wanted. My price range restricted me to Twin Lens Reflex cameras. Photojournalists used these in the fifties and sixties. If you've ever seen La Dolce Vita the "Paprazzo" can be seen chasing everyone around with them. I knew that I wanted the camera to have a 1x1 aspect ratio, and many of the cameras that I was looking at would not provide that. I was able to cross those off of my short list.

I then went to flickr.com, and started searching for the specific model of camera I wanted. I was able to see pictures that people had taken in the last few years with the very camera I was planning on buying. Being able to see that I might be able to get images I would like out of the camera greatly increased my confidence.

The last step I went through was searching photography forums to see what people had said about their experiences with the camera. I was able to see that for a few of the models I was considering that quality was a serious issue, and that some people would get broken cameras right out of the box. That would explain why the camera was in my price range, and helped talk me out of that purchase. For the Rolleicord I settled on the forums all had wonderful things to say. They were well built, lasted, and it looked like anyone who had owned one had fallen in love with it.

When I finally returned to eBay to make my purchase, after I had checked a few local camera shops for the chance at instant gratification, I was able to click the bid button without any fear aside from the normal worries about my specific camera working.

The internet is a powerful tool that can make buying a camera sight unseen a great way to save money, and experiment. What are some other ways you have been able to research cameras online without knowing much about them before buying?