Suggest me a film slr

[anerjee]

Here are my criteria, in order of importance:

1. Excellent auto-focus (required)
2. Excellent fast 50mm and 35mm/28mm prime, need to support af
3. Bright viewfinder
4. Small in size
5. Traditional controls (nice to have)


I have 2 in mind. Nikon F100 and Canon EOS 30/Elan 7. For people who have both, which one would you choose form the above?

Anything else I should be considering?

 

[mfogiel]

I never shot any Canon cameras. Nikon F100 is great, but it has no traditional controls, and can hardly be defined small. Given the continuing availability of new glass though, I think Nikon will be hard to beat.

 

[mervynyan]

EOS 3, it is cheap and does the job

 

[anerjee]

I never shot any Canon cameras. Nikon F100 is great, but it has no traditional controls, and can hardly be defined small. Given the continuing availability of new glass though, I think Nikon will be hard to beat.

I came to film much after these cameras, so I dont really know. Hence the need to ask 🙂

The F100 seems very popular, but it is not small. What about previous versions F80 etc. -- are they any smaller but equally competent in AF?

I realize that a lot of these cameras have stuff pros need but I wont -- rapid frame rates, weather sealing etc. I just need something that can shoot reliably.

EOS 3, it is cheap and does the job

EOS 3 -- how much bigger is it than the EOS 30?

 

[Frank Petronio]

I think traditional controls and auto-focus hardly ever cohabited ~ the early 90s vintage Nikon F4 is the only one that comes to mind that has an auto-focus screw drive and a traditional raised shutter speed knob (other than the Nikon DF digital's saccharine attempt at nostalgia marketing). The Nikon F4 is a great camera but I wouldn't say the AF is great. Actually none of the film cameras, even the latest Nikon F6, have AF that is as good as the latest and better digitals like the D3, D4, even the D700 or D300....

If price matters I'd get a mint Nikon F100 with a clean, dry covering, working back, and rectangular rewind forks (known flaws) (>$200). If you have extra money get an F6 (over $1000). If you want small and light then a N80 in mint condition ~ they are dirt cheap and hard to break, very good cameras, maybe the best deal ever really ($50 for a nice one). I think it is harder to make a good inexpensive camera than an expensive fancy one. However N80s often age out to develop bad, tacky body coverings and compared to the F100, their finders are smaller and dimmer. But if you never compared the two then you might just as well be happy with either. When you think about it, the F100 and N80 were the height of Nikon's engineering and manufacturing, the final optimal best 35mm SLRs ever made....

If you want traditional controls, you won't do any better than a F3 or meterless F2. Many people here flog the FM or FE series and those are good cameras that I've used extensively myself... but at today's prices the far superior and robust F3 is such a bargain compared to the lightly built FM/FE.

I buy these kinds of cameras from a place like KEH which offers easy returns. Then you can cherry pick.

IDK Canon but some of them are highly regarded.

 

[furbs]

Nikon F100s can be found quite cheaply nowadays. If you get a Nikon, their 28m f/1.8 AF-S lens is a good buy. Focuses to a few inches in front of the lens, nice fast autofocus, and even a few aspheric elements.

Additionally, if you go with Nikon's AF-S lenses, it doesn't matter what body you use them on. F100, N80, either one will focus at the same speed because the autofocus is driven by the lens itself, not the body. That said, I would go for the F100 because of its controls. I owned an N80 and it was a great camera, my first SLR.

Also, the F2, F3, FM, FE...they're all great cameras, but they are manual focus only.

 

[Pioneer]

The best autofocus SLR I ever owned was the Canon EOS 1V. It can still be picked up new I believe, but the size is not really that small. Think Canon EOS 5D.

But it will autofocus fast and accurate.

 

[Swift1]

Minolta Maxxum 7 🙂

 

[John Bragg]

Nikon F5 is a joy to use and built like a tank ! Not small, but ticks all the other boxes, so a clear favorite for me. Also available at a fraction of its true value, so lots of bang for the buck !

 

[lynnb]

I have an F80 and an EOS300 (the latter probably not nearly as well put together than the EOS30). The EOS300 is significantly smaller and lighter (cheap plasticky). I prefer the Nikon's ergonomics and vf. Both autofocus well but not as good as a 5D.

Nikon's AF 50mm f1.8 D is screw-drive af, excellent IQ and ridiculously cheap (around $100 new). I have the EF 50mm f1.4 on the Canon, it has much faster ultrasonic af but it's also a much more expensive lens. Great IQ stopped down a little, still very good at f1.4 in the centre. Neither lens has an aperture ring.

This is not a fair comparison because I've never handled an Elan and the lenses are unequal. I'd probably go with Nikon as I've always liked their ergonomics.

 

[thegman]

One of the Contax models? Never used one, but the Contax NX would appear to be a traditional style SLR which has autofocus.

 

[Joe Vitessa]

KEH has a bargain grade N90 for $27. Twenty-seven dollars! I bought one used years ago for $500. Sure, the AF ain't as great as the F100, but it's pretty darn close. And it's $27! Did you hear me? $27!!!!!!

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Nikon F4. It's modular so it can be small without the MB-21 and simply an F4 or it can have the expanded battery power and functionality of the MB-21 and be an F4s or even further with the full-blown MB-23 to become the F4e.

Phil Forrest

 

[BW400CN]

If you think about the F100 - think about the F90 too.
You get a good F90(x) for less then 50,-€ when you shearch a bit.
The Af is fast and good and the metering of the F90 is just perfect.
My F90 is my last Nikn I would give away.
You wanna save more money? Get the F80 same body as the F100 (nearly) and no big difference in the use to the F100 makes the F80 a money saving secret ;-)

 

[Archlich]

I second the Maxxum 7.

I was on an almost identical task to the OP searching for a small, functional semi-professional AF SLR with a 50mm lens stuck on. After EOS-5, EOS-3, EOS- 1v (these two are far from being "small") and a F100 I deem the Maxxum suits my demand best.

It's basically a smaller, faster, better-featured yet more intuitive (more convenient dials than any of the cameras above) EOS-5. Focuses without hesitate and comes with the patterned AF-assit light so that you could lock focus on a blank wall in pitch darkness.

The only drawback being occasional sticky back cover, and the aging Minolta/Sony lens lineup should you be looking for features like in-lens motors. The older Minolta AF primes are very well made and pretty cheap though.

 

[Michalm]

I would choose glass first. My bet goes to minolta 28mm f2 , 35 f2 .These lenses have no competition in quality/size department . They are hard to find though. I use dynax 5 x3 loaded with different films when traveling . AF is very quick and reliable , it has dedicated nice spot metering button , package is very compact and results are great.

 

[Particular]

If you were in New York you might consider this F100:

http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/pho/4202751179.html

 

[Coopersounds]

maxim 7000 or contax G1/2

 

[samtr87]

Minolta Maxxum (Dynax) 5. They're inexpensive and the Minolta 50 f1.7 is really sharp.

 

[jarski]

been eying used markets for EOS 30V, which was last Canon prosumer film body. supports E-TTL II flash. probably not as speedy focus as single digit-series, but lighter.