Looking for a new film camera. Suggestions wanted!!!

[wy2l]

FM3A. A little pricy, but works like the proverbial Swiss watch. Also, decades newer than a F3.

[jnanian]

get a 5x7 portrait camera and shoot paper negatives.
it will be much easier to shoot paper and film in sheets
once rolls vanish, and you can get a 5x7 camera shipped for 100$

[joshua029]

FM3A. A little pricy, but works like the proverbial Swiss watch. Also, decades newer than a F3.

Wow, that is a beauty! It also looks nearly exactly like my K1000! But I don't see me trading $700 for one of those anytime soon.



Chan Tran, yeah. The G lenses wont work due to their lack of aperture ring and DX lenses should also be avoided cause they can't cover. Good advice!!

[Jeff Kubach]

Look up KEH for good prices.

Jeff

[Wolfeye]

The absolute best value in Nikon AF film cameras today, for someone who owns only a DSLR, is the F100. Simple to use, great durability, and uses AA batteries, BUT, you can save yourself a ton of loot and just buy a battery pack to use AA batteries with the Nikon N80. I have 2 or 3 N80's and they're marvelous machines. Light, flexible, CHEAP, works with AF, G, VR lenses, etc. I don't see the point in going goofy on any "when I can't get film, or batteries" preventative strategies. Waste of time. Film's not going away. Neither are batteries. You'll likely experience mechanical or electronic failure before one of these doomsday events happens. So buy a 10 dollar backup from eBay and go on shooting.

Now slide film, on the other hand...

[Oren Grad]

Thanks for the replies! Auto focus means very little to me. I almost never use it.

I have an N90. The focusing screen is optimized for AF and is far from ideal for manual focus. You can use the focus indicator dot, but I find it fiddly and not especially accurate. When I want to use manual-focus Nikon lenses I reach for an FM or an F2. The main reason I don't have an F3 is that I find the shape of the little built-in grip extremely uncomfortable, sometimes to the point of being painful. But if it fits your hand, it's an excellent camera.

Also, which FX lenses do you have? If you're buying the latest G-type lenses without aperture rings, anything older than the latest AF bodies like the F100 will allow you only shutter-priority or program AE.

[rthomas]

Another vote for the F100. I used to have one but use an F3 now. If I were going to buy another Nikon 35mm camera, it would be the F100, especially if I had a collection of G-series lenses. The F4 and N90 are wonderful cameras, but will only allow program and shutter-priority modes with these lenses.

[Les Sarile]

If you used the K1000, then I would suggest you try the Pentax MX as it is not only the smallest manual 35mm but it also happens to have the largest viewfinder with 0.97 magnification and 95% coverage. Compare this to the FM3A's 0.83 and 93% or the F3's 0.75 and 100% viewfinder spec and you can understand why it can be much easier to get critical manual focus with even the fast f1.2 lenses.

[philbed]

I use a Nikon EM. I bought it in 1979. You probably were not born. I still use it. It works, meter is still accurate, the viewer is bright enought and It's a very light camera. Even better, the Nikon EM has analog aperture-priority automation, which means that it makes long automated time exposures much longer than the one second Nikon specifies. I have had all the Nikon camera from the F to the F4. I have all sold them except the EM. I hope you will find a such good companion.

[Les Sarile]

As an alternative to the aperture priority only EM, you might consider the FG which adds full manual and program modes. It also has the smaller viewfinder magnification of 0.84 and 93% coverage.