The best AF film SLRs

My favourite for none of the reasons above: Pentax MZ5n with DA40/2.8 pancake lens. Not much bigger than a Leica M, fits in a coat pocket, quiet, unobtrusive, lightning fast AF with the 40mm lens. I tend to use it more like an FLRF camera than an SLR.
 
Asuming that folks may be viewing this thread for pointers to choice I would say that if you already have a DSLR then of course it makes sense to go with a film SLR that will take the same lenses.
Thus in the past I have had Nikon & Pentax film bodies to go with Fuji & Pentax DSLRs but now owning a Sony which I leave at home when going on holiday, my AF film SLR of choice is a Minolta 600si. Good viewfinder, easy to operate without the manual and best of all - superb metering which gives nicely exposed transparancies.
 
Nikon N70 but can't remember why I chose it. Still haven't used it because I like RF's or medium format better.

I settled on the N70 maybe because of its quietness and size after having purchased a LN F100 and a N5005. The N5005 has has knobs and dials but is heavy, loud and slow. All of this was last year and they were cheap.
 
For me, the Minolta Maxxum 7 offers a hard to beat package. All the features I could ever imagine needing yet amazingly simple to operate. No need to carry a manual with you. Great ergonomics, outstanding viewfinder, good build yet light enough that I actually look forward to taking it with me. At the current prices, it's hard to go wrong with the 7.
 
Roger Hicks said:
Sure. I own and use cameras up to 12x15 inch, film and digi, RF, SLR, direct view, ground glass...

And my least favourites to use are autofocus DSLRs. Because I like the convenience of a digital image, though, I normally use manual focus primes on them instead of AF. Sharper, too.

Cheers,

R.
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Sorry Roger but I will have to disagree with your last point. My Nikon a/f 24-70 2.8 is as sharp if not sharper than any of my equivalent primes at any aperture and the oof is also superb.

As for bodies, I had an F100 and although nice, with fast a/f and a great meter it just didn't have the feel of solidity that I like in a camera. It was a great film partner to the D700 though.
I've recently aquired an F4s and it just feels solid. Old school Nikon with some new technology thrown in. A/F not the greatest, certainly not as good as the F100 but for build quality it's in a different league. It's got great forward and back compatibility with lenses and can also be used as a self defence aid:)
 
Just re-read this thread, as I'm considering a Canon 1V or Nikon F5. Firmly believe there is still a place for 'big beast cameras' :)
 
Just re-read this thread, as I'm considering a Canon 1V or Nikon F5.
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Oddly enough, I finally worked out yesterday what I don't like about my D200 - it follows the F5 design of using the LCD and finger grip wheel to change the mode. This is a big deal for me, because I frequently change between aperture priority, shutter priority and program mode.

If I bought a big beast for film, I'd go back to the F4, just for the dial controls.
 
ebino said:
The most evil of all cameras, the film SLRs with auto focus, not only they look downright mean, but they function with growling, whizzing and all sorts of sounds.
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All sorts of sounds?
Then you have never used a Nikon F80 or the ultimate AF-SLR, the outstanding Nikon F6 (by far the best 35mm film SLR ever built, and still in production).
The F80 is very silent. More silent than most other AF-SLRs and most MF-SLRs.

And the F6 is a class of its own: When shooting you don't hear the motor at all!!
Only a very silent and extremely well dampened "slap" of the mirror can be heard. But not the film winding of the motor!!

The Nikon engineers did their absolute masterpiece with the Nikon F6 (lots of details of this camera are even better than the current DSLRs like the D4, e.g. the viewfinder).
It is the most well-thought camera design I've ever experienced.
Perfect performance.
Perfect ergonomics.
Perfect value.
A camera for a whole lifetime.

Cheers, Jan
 
Nikon F6 and Nikon F5 are the best AF film SLRs I've ever used. The F6 has the edge (just) as it can be used with / without a heavy-duty battery pack. Superb viewfinder and a meter that doesn't seem to be fooled by anything.
 
Paul Jenkin said:
Nikon F6 and Nikon F5 are the best AF film SLRs I've ever used. The F6 has the edge (just) as it can be used with / without a heavy-duty battery pack. Superb viewfinder and a meter that doesn't seem to be fooled by anything.
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And from my experience with both cameras I want to add that the F6

- has much better ergonomics
- is much more silent
- has the better AF-System
- has better functionality with the MV-1 data-reader
- has an improved flash system (with the Nikon / Metz flashlights)

There are some other advantages of the F6 as well.
The F5 had still some design flaws.
Nikon listened to their customers, especially the professional photographers, learned from the experiences with the F5 and improved the not so good details on the F5 with the F6.
The (very few) problems of the F5 are solved in the F6 design.

I am so satiesfied with my F6 with MB-40 vertical grip (and MV-1 data reader) that I am considering to buy a second one (one loaded with BW, the other with colour film).

Cheers, Jan
 
HHPhoto said:
And from my experience with both cameras I want to add that the F6

- has much better ergonomics
- is much more silent
- has the better AF-System
- has better functionality with the MV-1 data-reader
- has an improved flash system (with the Nikon / Metz flashlights)

There are some other advantages of the F6 as well.
The F5 had still some design flaws.
Nikon listened to their customers, especially the professional photographers, learned from the experiences with the F5 and improved the not so good details on the F5 with the F6.
The (very few) problems of the F5 are solved in the F6 design.

I am so satiesfied with my F6 with MB-40 vertical grip (and MV-1 data reader) that I am considering to buy a second one (one loaded with BW, the other with colour film).

Cheers, Jan
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I don't really use my F6 a lot but when I do I'm completely blown away by it's performance and build quality. Phenominally good camera! :)
 
I'd love to own a F6 too but at the moment I'm happy with my F100 after I learned a couple of tricks about custom settings and proper metering.
 
Nice about the F6 over the F5 is:
- much smaller build
- just a tank as the F5 in build quality
- even smoother and more silent film transport than the F5
- a lot more user-friendly settings via the menu and self-explanatory functions over the F5's secret agent codes
- much improved buttons (I always dreaded the tiny, hard to press external buttons of the F5)
- missing are a few of the annoying interlocks of the F5 for much faster operation (on/off switch interlock the most obvious and most dreaded on the F5)
- leader in/out film rewind isn't a locked option with modification at the factory but a user settable custom function
- much better AF system
…
and the list of small refinements goes on and on
- nice also is the inter frame imprint, you can customise with the F6 (several options can be chosen - used lens or exposure data or date (from my remembering)
This is very nice for people like me, who often leave half rolls for weeks in a camera and finish them later.


The F6 is nowadays about 2 − 3x the cost of a F5.
In my opinion all those little refinements make it worth it.

My reason to get one was that I love the F5 but found myself not schlepping it around as of it's bulk and weight.

Btw - I just got a Konica Hexar AF.
People rave about how silent this camera is.

If it's about silence, the Nikon F6 is the Hexar AF of SLRs.
It is truly amazing, how silent and smooth Nikon got this camera to operate!
 
EOS 3 for me!
Less expensive version of the 1V... but great!
Her little sister EOS30 or Elan7 is also wonderful!!! ...small and genius and the eye focusing system is just great! Unfortunately I have to sell it... :-(
 
EOS 3, eye controlled AF plus large AF points array.
Purchased it last month, played with it and sold it to pay for IIf.

The AF isn't really big deal for me. Never was. BIF, sports, I have DSLRs for it.
Proper focusing technique and fast focusing lens are far more important.
 
I would say Leica R6.2 but damn it's only AF, isn't it? ;)

OK:

1. Nikon F6 ("Mr. Perfect")
2. Nikon F5 ("Mr. Big")
3. Minolta Dynax 9xi ("Mr. Unbreakable")
4. Canon EOS 50e (Yep! My fav Canon film SLR! "Mr. Easy")
5. Pentax MZ-S ("Mr. Handsome")

But the only two ones I still have are the Nikon F65 and the Canon EOS500N, just because they would only sell for peanuts if I sold them. So I rather keep them (but hardly ever use 'em).
Film for me is manual. ;) (The only AF film cam I regularly use is the Leica C2.)
 
Interesting thread.

Back in the day, I never felt drawn to autofocus SLRs to supersede my OMs. But I picked up a lowly one a few months ago - a Canon EOS500 - and can't dislike it enough to sell it. I picked it up at the weekend, intending to photograph it for eBay, but, instead, I got taking photos with it.

I never liked how big and heavy most SLRs were, but this is small and ridiculously light, and the kit lens is annoyingly usable.

If asked, I would say I'm not a Canon user. But I have three.
 
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