UKH

I've used digital cameras for ages and have a hankering to go back to film. I want to learn more about photography in general and think that using film for at least some of the time will help. Plus, I think that photos taken with oldschool cameras just look cool.

I want recommendations for a SLR camera that is light, robust, has cheap lenses available and won't freeze on me.

So far I am looking at;

Pentax K1000
Nikon FM
Olympus OM (1?)

Robert

In reply to Roberttaylor:

Pentax MX, much smaller than K1000, solid as a brick

In reply to Roberttaylor:

I should have said, ideally sub £100

In reply to Roberttaylor:

Maybe an old Zenit. They're old Russian war cameras and, anecdotally, can take a bullet and keep on going. They're the ak47 of the slr world.

In reply to Roberttaylor:

Personally I would get something with automatic exposure. This rules out at least the Olympus.

That said, if you don't mind adjusting your aperture or shutter speed in order to get the needle in the "good exposure" bit of its range, I know a Pentax Spotmatic is OK at around 0 to 2 degrees (not tested it any colder)

Nikon FM could be costly.
A Nikon EM might be nice but I can't vouch for its behaviour in the cold (ditto Minolta X700 which might be the best all-rounder for you)

In reply to Roberttaylor:

The Canon FD system. There are lots of A1, AE1progs, and such on ebay. T70 and T90 for electronic versions of those, which came later. I just looked at Ffordes and they not only have a lot of lenses but they have some 'new old stock' as well; kind of wish I wasn't into Nikon.

The Nikon FM will require you to change apertures with the aperture ring on the front, sometimes this is clumsy when wearing winter gloves. The Nikon F3 is heavy and it doesn't like damp cold environments IMO. F4 is super but too heavy.

Any SLR will probably do but as someone says above, one that offers programme mode will be more useful outdoors in my opinion, especially with an exposure lock for bright skies or ex. comp button for snow and water. I don't like to mess around too much in winter weather, just focus, exposure lock and shoot.

But I prefer point and shoot compacts outdoors, just like people do with digital. So an Olympus MJU2 or even an expensive Ricoh GR1, loaded with ASA 400 films like Tri-X for that 'feel' of analogue. A Canon power shot A1 waterproof camera works great with big glasses on. I have used an Olympus MJU in sub zero temperatures where the problem was the film getting brittle, not the camera (this camera is so small, you could take a digi compact as well for colour and back up).

Jon

In reply to Dorq:

Yes the Mju2 works great in the cold. It is just a bit fiddly with winter gloves on, with no exposure compensation and those tiny buttons to put it into spot metering. I made a little plastic "prong" for mine, to handle those tiny buttons.

Much chunkier, but perhaps good for use with winter gloves, is the Pentax PC35AF-M which has a big +1.5 EV button on it. Downside is that you can't properly subdue the flash (and it is a very noisy autowind!)

In reply to Dorq:




Aye, I meant to mention to the OP that the large diameter lenses on SLRs tend to "gather up" a lot of snow, which is usually less of a problem on a compact.

In reply to Roberttaylor:

Nikon FE would be a good option for SLR with auto exposure.

Or a mju/2 compact for something truly pocketable. I've had 3 Ricoh GR1's amazing results but v expensive and not very robust in my hands.

I have a spare mju1 you could have for not a lot of money to give it a try.

In reply to Roberttaylor:
Rather than a SLR system, I would highly recommend a small pocket camera if you want to go analog for your mountain camera.

Olympus XA

Yashica T4 Super

Ricoh GR1

Nikon 28Ti

If you can not be dissuaded from an SLR, the Olympus OM3ti is all-mechanical and small. The Canon F1N (latest style) is also mechanical (actually dual mechanical and electronic.)

In reply to Roberttaylor:

I've got a Minolta X-700 in the loft, been all round the world with me back in the day. I also have a Ricoh Gr1 which like Kai said is a worthy alternative and a superb camera

In reply to Kai:

Ooh....I'll raise you the superb little titanium,'handbuilt' 28mm lens Minolta TC1 .... rare as hens proverbial....

In reply to Roberttaylor:

The pentax MX is a great little camera with lots of good lenses available. It is one of the finest mechanical film cameras ever made. I found mine at a charity shop for £15

In reply to Kai:

Wow, Yashica T4 Super seems overpriced on ebay.

Olympus XA series have a neat backlight/overexposure +1.5 switch on the bottom but it is either the exposure compensation +1.5, self-timer, or battery check; not more than one of these at a time - so no self-timer in the snow (unless there is a manual version in the series?).

In case anyone was wondering, when browsing these 'cult' compacts, the Fuji DL Super Mini (Tiara), which was a titanium, 28mm compact as small as the Mju, is not very reliable and thus not worth the prices being asked.

By the way, the Mju II viewfinder is tiny and not recommended for glasses wearers.

In reply to Dorq:

T4 Super is weather sealed, which is nice.

I owned and used the GR1 and the 28Ti.

The 28Ti was by far my favorite film camera I've ever owned. Superb lens and metering. Beautiful construction that works well with gloves. I really can't find any fault with it other than it was a bit chunkier than the GR1.

Regarding the Olympus XA, the original XA is the only on worth using. The others in the series had inferior lenses to the original.

Here's an old web page I put together on film cameras. May be some information there someone will find useful.

http://www.larsonweb.com/photography/id1.html