A friend of mine just got a Nikon d70, and I’ve got to say I’m jealous. I also can’t afford anything like that. So I’m looking for a cheaper camera that might have similar results, but a film version I guess. I could see myself buying a d70 if I had the money, so I might be more inclined to look at Nikon film slrs because the lenses would be more likely to fit the d70(saving money later). Any personal info or links to good equipment are appreciated.
The d70 is a digital camera, not film, so I’m not really sure what you are going for here, but I’ll try.
Are you looking for a good basic beginner’s film camera? If so, I would recommend this one, the Pentax ZX-M:
http://www.pentaximaging.com/products/product_details?reqID=5004&subsection=film_slr
It’s the replacement for the old K1000, which was my very first camera. I used it through all my photography classes in college and it served me very well.
If you want a basic Nikon, the FM10 would be comparable to the ZX-M, and probably a little more money, but not a lot, say $25 or so.
Take a look at both at your local camera store and see what you think.
If you are looking for a digital camera only, there are lots of good ones out there. I like my Canon a great deal and if I were to get a more expensive one with interchangeable lenses, I’d stick with that brand.
One word: eBay.
So many people are switching to digital that you can pick up some real bargain film SLRs. I bought a Nikon F50 on there a couple of years ago and it’s great as an entry-level SLR. I use it as a back-up, quite a lot recently as my digital camera died and I can’t afford a new one 
I have a slightly older Canon Rebel that I’m very happy with. All the controls you could want for basic photography, but auto-shoot mode as well when you’re lazy. You can probably find a used one pretty cheap.
But I find myself lusting after the D70 myself. 
This is a golden time to buy used 35mm equipment just put any purchase in terms of your long term plans. If you plan on graduating to something like a D70 you’ll want to start with an Autofocus Nikon. I think that an all manual camera is the best choice to learn on but the D70 and even my D100 don’t have any metering with manual focus lenses. I do use my manual focus lenses, particularly an 85mm f2.0 for portraits because it gives such nice bokeh when opened up but I’m using a handheld meter and studio flash. At least you can use manual focus Nikon lenses on digital bodies, the same it not true of Canon.
If you are serious about learning photography do get an all manual camera. It forces you to slow down and make decisions. Consider learning B&W processing too. All this stuff may seem really old school but everything you learn will apply to digital photography.
Still I have to admit my Nikon F2A gathers a lot of dust. I won’t ever sell it but my D100 is my main camera. Once you get over the lerning curve of digital you’ll never want to go back. I don’t mean taking snapshots, I mean photography where you control the whole image.
I won’t BS you about digital being cheaper in the long run. A D70 is about $700 more expensive than an N80 body and add maybe $100 to that for a decent size memory card. You’ll still have printing costs so the only savings is from film and processing. You won’t use that much film in all likelyhood. Ihave found that going digital allows me to shoot more and get more opportunities I might have missed before. No more missed shots while changing film, etc.
Big fan of the Canon Rebel series here.
My vote goes for the Canon digital rebel. They are sweet for a decent SLR digital. Great autofocus, and you can get a variety of lenses for them that aren’t all that costly.
I faced the same decision a few years ago, when the choice was between a new auto-focus film body, or the then recently released $2K D100. I decided to stay film for a while longer, and use the money I saved for lenses that would work with a digital body in the future. I ended up getting an N80 body, which has served me well.
A nikon film body comparison chart
If you do go nikon, a good first lens is the 28-105. It’s a good compromise zoom lens, with great sharpness.
I now own a D70 too, and when I go out shooting, I usually bring both bodies and end up with about the same number of good shots from both. I have to say, though, that somehow I enjoy the film process a little more.
Speak for yourself. I’ve gone through at least 8000 pictures in the past couple of years, not counting the ones I’ve just deleted from the camera. Maybe I’d have been more frugal if I were shooting film, but at even a couple of dollars for a roll of film and another three or four for just developing, I’m pretty sure I’ve saved some money in the long run.
I take several thousand images per year, and only print a few dozen or so. Digital has more than paid for itself for me.
But if you want a film SLR, there probably has never been a better time to buy one. Choosing a brand now will (in all likelyhood) allow you to use the lenses when you eventually go digital (and you will). I’m partial to Canons, both for film and digital SLRs, but you can’t go wrong with Nikon either. Any camera body will do, spend the money on the glass.
What’s wrong with a non-SLR digital camera? I have a Canon S1, a 3-megapixel digital camera that sells for about $400. It has a 10x zoom lens equivalent to 38-380mm F/2.8-3.1. It has a full set of manual and automatic exposure modes. It even has optical image stabilization. And it’s much smaller and lighter than the D70. Admittedly it has some shortcomings, e.g. the electronic viewfinder isn’t sharp enough to judge focus in real time, and electronic zoom and focus are harder to control than manual controls. But I’d much rather use this than a film camera.
If you eventually move up to a SLR, I think you’ll still find use for the more compact non-SLR digital camera. I actually have a D70 but bought the S1 later for camping and bicycle rides. The S1 uses Compact Flash II cards, so I can use the same memory cards on both cameras. (I use a 1GB Microdrive.)
I have to second the recent rash of film based SLR cameras on the market at some very good prices. E-bay is a good place to look.
In high school, I had a Pentax ME-Super, which met a tragic end off of a cliff. I replaced that with a Cannon AE-1, which is a nice camera, but I was spoiled by my Pentax. I replaced the AE-1 (which I have loaded with black and white film now) with a used Pentax ME-Super, which, with lenses (2 zoom, 35-70mm and 70-210mm) for about $150 shipped. I can’t recommend this camera enough. Simple enough for a beginner, but having powerful features, and ease of use for and “expert.”
I love my Pentax, and though I’ve no idea if it will allow me to transfer my lenses to a Pentax digital, it’ll be my film camera for as long as it lasts (hopefully a good long time).
That said, we recieved a new digital camera for x-mas, which will be our “snapshot” camera moving forward.
-Butler
Thanks for all the info.
Sorry I wasn’t more clear in my original post, but I’m looking for a film slr to start off with since I can’t afford a digital slr right this minute.
I’ve had a Sony DSC-P8 3.2 mp digi for 2.5 years now, and although it does take some surprisingly good pictures, the shutter speed can lag tremendously, plus bigger cards for sony cameras are a lot more expensive than sd or cf cards. I am considering getting another small digital camera too, and giving the sony to my little sister, though, so I’ll check out the normal digital someone linked.
Reading through the nikonians.com link posted, I realize that I forgot to ask one question. I’m not entirely familiar with all the features of even the film slrs I’ve been reading about, are there any books for begginners to aperture, isos, and all that jazz?
Thanks again.
Well that was my point. Would you have shot ten rolls of film a month for two years straight? Probably not and if that is the case it’s an invalid comparison. Don’t forget that you still have costs of printers, ink, photo paper and all the other stuff that goes with serious digicamming. You’re shooting more and that’s a good thing but I doubt if you saved money.
Vaioman, if you get a camera with the intention of staying in one system take your time and do some research as your choices are wider than Canon and Nikon. Pentax, Minolta and others have DSLRs that can use lenses from film SLRs. AFAIK Nikon and Pentax are the only two that can use manual focus or autofocus lenses on DSLRs. Canon and Minolta adopted new, incompatble lens mounts when they introduced autofocus so no manual focus lenses from the older cameras. Any of these cameras can be a good choice.
Some of my reasons for choosing a D100 may be a bit esoteric for you. Nikon has in camera curves to provide complex tuning of response curves in all three colors for JPG images. Think of it as a super sophisticated contrast control. Lots of digicams have this control of RAW images in post processing but I don’t know of any other that allows uploading a custom curve. Ergonomics was important too, the Canon 10D felt like a brick but the D100 feels very natural and the front/back dials give me extremely good control when shooting manual. YMMV big time and yes, more pros do use Canon.
If you go Nikon the D80 is a very capable camera. It will shoot in manual and several automatic modes. It has a depth of field preview button. This is, IMHO, a critical feature for an SLR. When you are focusing the lens will be open to it’s widest aperture even if the shot will be taken at a smaller aperture to get correct exposure. This makes a bright image that is easy to focus on but does not show the depth of the field of focus. Controlling this depth of field and knowing what the final image will look like is the biggest advantage of an SLR camera over other types.
I went through all this a few months back, since my daughter started a photography class at school. I found it hard to get hold of a decent film slr. Relatively few are made, now so it will likely be a used model. Many of the ones on sale will have been high-end slrs so still won’t come cheap.
Whilst there must be many, many old slr’s gathering dust in cupboards, there aren’t that many on the market. The “starter” ones especially will be snapped (no pun intended) up by schools and colleges. I tried getting a Pentax K1000, as recommended by paulberzerker but with no success. The cheapest I found on the internet was £160 . I tried a fair few local camera and second hand shops and was told by most that they rarely came onto the market.
However, my research suggested as romansperson said the ZX-M is similar. There is also a centon(?) K100 that is a clone of the K1000.
When I was faced with this same question, I bought a used Canon, from the manual FD system. All of these are quite old now, but they’re built like tanks. For the same money, you get a much better camera than the modern new one.
I actually ended up getting two different bodies, in two different ways:
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Canon AE-1 through keh.com, the best used equipment dealer. You know it will work, but it will be relatively expensive and will come with nothing. No caps, no straps, no manuals. Bought a 50mm lens there too. No complaints.
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Canon A-1 full kit through eBay. Someone selling their whole system (3 lenses, filters, body, flash, and bag), to get money for a digital. These are the best deals on eBay. You will end up with some stuff you don’t want, and maybe duplicate stuff, but the price usually works out to be significant. And people usually throw in all their extra toys too, that would cost you money to buy.
Anything from the mid-70’s should have automatic exposure, which is all the auto you need. Not autofocus, but I love manual focus for the things I use my SLR for.
The only thing I wish I had was autoloading. I’ve lost a couple of rolls to inept film loading on my part. Did you know an A-1 can actually snap a roll of film if you wind it wrong?
To learn the basics, I took a class at a community college. Was very good.
Too much to read on too little coffee, so I’ll just post.
My first 35mm SLR was a Canon AE-1 Program. Worked like a charm! No idea how many photos I shot with it, but there were a few that I went to the trouble of blowing up.
For some reason, I wanted something ‘better’. There’s nothing wrong with the AE-1, but what did I know? I got an Olympus OM-4. That was a nice camera with a sexy black body.
I was getting lazy. I never used the OM-4’s manual mode. Bollocks to that! I’ll get an OM-1. The OM-1 is an all-manual camera. That is, you have to read the matchstick meter and set the aperture and shutter speed yourself. Unfortunately there were no OM-1s available. Looks like they’d been discontinued. I found a used one somewhere for $100. This is the 35mm camera I use now. The only problem is that it used mercury batteries, which are banned. I have some mercury-replacement batteries that have a little tab you have to pull to let air in. These match the performance of the mercury batteries, but they lose power after about a month. I’ve heard there’s an adapter that will allow me to use modern batteries in my OM-1.
Anyway, the OM-1 only uses the battery to power its light meter. Everything else is mechanical. So if you have a separate light meter, or if you can gauge lighting conditions well enough, you never have to worry about not being able to use any shutter/aperture combination when a battery dies.
I also have a Pentax K-1000. I haven’t gotten round to using it yet, but it’s pretty much the same thing as the OM-1. It’s bigger though, and the OM-1 has a better ‘feel’ to it.
Off topic a little, but I also have two Nikon Nikonos cameras; a IV-A and a V. Both of these are viewfinder cameras, not SLRs. The special underwater lenses on them have little knobs for setting the focus and aperture. Both have automatic modes so that all you have to do is pick an aperture and focus, and the camera will figure out the shutter speed. (The IV-A will always pick a shutter speed, unless you want to use its single 1/90 manual setting.) I have yet to use them underwater, but I’ve taken them out in the zodiac and kayak and they take good pics.
The Asahi Pentax K-1000 used to be sold in discount stores such as K-Mart. It really was a ‘starter’ camera. But a friend of mine who was very big into photography swore by his.
The Canon AE-1 Program was a great little camera. I never had any trouble with it. It was about twice the cost of the K-1000 (in the 1980s). Still, it was an excellent camera at a good price. Unlike many cameras I looked at, the Program would set both the aperture and shutter speed for you. (Of course, it also had a manual mode.)
My Olympus OM-1 is quite the little workhorse. I love it. It feels good, and it looks good, and it takes good pictures with its Zuiko 50mm lens or the Kalimar zoom. The only thing ‘wrong’ with it is that you’ll need to get an adapter for the battery. (Or have the meter recalibrated to modern batteries, which will probably cost about $100.)
The OM-4 was also a nice camera. Too nice for me, since the auto mode was too tempting and I never used the manual mode. It also didn’t have an off-switch.
IMO any Olympus, Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Minolta, etc. 35mm SLR will be a good camera that can be had fairly cheaply (well, not the Nikons) from eBay. You’ll have to decide whether you want an all-manual camera that forces you to learn about setting the aperture and shutter speed, or an automatic one that is ‘focus and shoot’ that will tempt you to ignore the manual mode.
IJM Incorporated might have a Pentax K-1000 new-in-box for $189. That’s where I got mine, and he had at least one more. The best thing to do would be to phone him at 818-365-0385. He’s getting on in years, and I don’t know how often he checks his e-mail.
Of course when you figure international phone calls and shipping, plus Customs duties, it might be better to find one locally. But a NIB K-1000 is not something you find every day.
I have gone through thre K-1000s since 1976 (loses due to theft, damage, and divorce.) I could not find a better, basic SLR that worked as well. I’m sorry that I no longer have my last one, since they’re not made anymore.
Sigma, Fujifilm and Kodak also make DSLRs. Sigma has their own mount but it’s compatible with their film cameras. The Fuji and Kodak cameras use Nikon lenses.
By the way, on low-end (<$3000?) Nikon and Nikon-compatible bodies, the light meter doesn’t work with manual-focus lenses. You have to use manual exposure with no metering. This isn’t as big a problem with digital since you can take a test shot and immediately look at the histogram to see how far off the exposure is, but it’s not exactly convenient.