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Recommend an SLR film camera

Nic Robinson

Nic Robinson

Moderator
Can you recommend a reliable s/h SLR for an enthusiastic 20-something who's interested in film photography. Ideally not too cumbersome/heavy. Around £200 perhaps with lens (maybe a zoom)?
 
Nic Robinson said:
Can you recommend a reliable s/h SLR for an enthusiastic 20-something who's interested in film photography. Ideally not too cumbersome/heavy. Around £200 perhaps with lens (maybe a zoom)?
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You have several choices driven by features

early SLR manual focus/manual controls require external lightmeter
late 70s/early 80s SLR manual focus/manual controls built in lightmeter
mid/lete 80s as above but some have aperture priority modes
90s/00s auto focus, auto modes etc

Personally I think the 90s/00s SLRs are fantastic value for money, can obviously be shot in manual modes as well as auto modes, decent lightmeters, reliable, but are so cheap its easy to buy another. Plenty of zoom lenses about - comfortably under budget allowing a second lens to be bought (or some more film)

I the last year I have acquired 5 Canon SLRs from this period (one of which I have given to my wife (EOS3000) and another to my stepdaughter (EOS300)) - I have kept an EOS30, EOS1000F and EOS500N - total outlay for all 5 bodies is less than £100!!!

The EOS300 was £50 boxed with a zoom lens and in immaculate condition, fully working no faults, and of course takes any EF fit glass.

They (and the Nikon , etc) counterparts obviously don't look as cool but are an absolute bargain.
 
Thanks everyone. That's the thing...there are a few bullet proof brands and always were.

I've always been an Olympus man (10 and 1, never 2 alas).

Is there a brand/range which is known to be fairly compact and light?
 
Olympus om are small, the pentax mx possibly more so, but being metal bodies, they are not light, and being old, they will need a service to be reliable. I prefer the pentax spot spotmatic-f but I like a larger body cos I have hands like shovels! A decent spot-f with the 50mm f1.4 is a very capable and tactile combination.
The Canon Eos are a bargain if you already have glass from a digital body. I've has the eos 1v and 5, both amazing (coming from a 40D body) and stupid vfm (the 1v was £200 and only shot 18 rolls). I imagine the smaller resin plastic bodies may suit small and light well, and be very effective.
 
Puggie said:
The Canon Eos are a bargain if you already have glass from a digital body. I've has the eos 1v and 5, both amazing (coming from a 40D body) and stupid vfm (the 1v was £200 and only shot 18 rolls). I imagine the smaller resin plastic bodies may suit small and light well, and be very effective.
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£200 for a 1V with 18 rolls! Was that at gun point? These typically go for £600. I was lucky enough to get a very late model 1N for £100 two years ago, but these have increased significantly recently, now more like £200. I also have a 30V but it is nowhere near as nice as the 1N. The viewfinder info is too dim to read when outdoors, whereas the 1N is fine. The 1N still very much feels like a solid pro body despite the plastic outer shell.
 
Oh this must have been 8years ago probably more, when film camera prices had really tanked. The 18 rolls comment was the camera had only done 18 rolls from new, they have a film counter in there being a pro body. The EOS5 was about £175 and seen much more use, the eye control focus was very cool on that one when you got it dialled in. Yes they go for a bit more now!
 
For around £200 for a compact SLR including lens my shortlist would be:
- Pentax MX or KX. Get it serviced by Harrow technical. The 50mm f2 is a great compact lens that can be had for around £30.
-Minolta XD7 (nicest) or X700 or X500 (most of these can be had <£100 but factor in a service.
- Olympus OM 1n or OM2n. The N models have the early bugs ironed out, and these were designed for professional use, so very reliable. The OM10 does not have a great reputation for reliability.
- Yashica FX3 or Contax 139. Get one that has been serviced from Peter Robinson.
 
Puggie said:
Oh this must have been 8years ago probably more, when film camera prices had really tanked. The 18 rolls comment was the camera had only done 18 rolls from new, they have a film counter in there being a pro body. The EOS5 was about £175 and seen much more use, the eye control focus was very cool on that one when you got it dialled in. Yes they go for a bit more now!
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I wish I bought more film cameras 8 years ago! That was pretty much the bottom of the market, but there has been a significant resurgence lately. There are still a few bargains, but most of the classics are not cheap any more. I think the biggest bargain right now is the Contax RX which can be had in close to mint condition with a service for around £200 body only.
 
andrewd said:
£200 for a 1V with 18 rolls! Was that at gun point? These typically go for £600. I was lucky enough to get a very late model 1N for £100 two years ago, but these have increased significantly recently, now more like £200. I also have a 30V but it is nowhere near as nice as the 1N. The viewfinder info is too dim to read when outdoors, whereas the 1N is fine. The 1N still very much feels like a solid pro body despite the plastic outer shell.
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Never had a 1V but 11 happy years before that with the EOS-1HS and before that, T90 and a pair of A1's that were nicked in Portugal.
 
Is there a sweet spot in the line of lesser Nikon SLRS: FM-FE-FG-FA-FE2-FM2-FG20-FM2t-FM10?
 
Yank said:
Is there a sweet spot in the line of lesser Nikon SLRS: FM-FE-FG-FA-FE2-FM2-FG20-FM2t-FM10?
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For me the sweet spot from the above list is the original FM. The FM2s and FE2s are nice but too expensive now.
FG and FG20 can be had cheap and get good reviews, but I haven’t tried one.
The F3 can still be had for a ‘fair’ value now, but no bargains like there were a few years ago.
 
andrewd said:
For around £200 for a compact SLR including lens my shortlist would be:
- Pentax MX or KX. Get it serviced by Harrow technical. The 50mm f2 is a great compact lens that can be had for around £30.
-Minolta XD7 (nicest) or X700 or X500 (most of these can be had <£100 but factor in a service.
- Olympus OM 1n or OM2n. The N models have the early bugs ironed out, and these were designed for professional use, so very reliable. The OM10 does not have a great reputation for reliability.
- Yashica FX3 or Contax 139. Get one that has been serviced from Peter Robinson.
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I replaced my dad's old Pentax Spotmatic, my first camera, with the Minolta X-700, followed by the Contax 167mt and finally the RX.

Thanks for mentioning Peter Robinson, he's local and my RX needs servicing.
 
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