Would you buy a new film camera?

robert blu

robert blu

quiet photographer
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There are threads about the reinassance of film photography and it is sometimes pointed out that it would be time for a manufacturer to put a new film camera on the market. Of course on both assumption not everybody agree (it's normal we all have different points of view).

So my question to you film lover would you really buy a new film camera if it should hit the market? And how much would you be ready to pay for it?

Let assume a manual camera well build in the style of a Nikon FM2 or F3 or a Bessa R2/3 ?

Maybe a fiull manual film camera, no autofocus, iso, aperture, shutter speed.

Personally so much I like sometimes to use film I would not buy it, I'm ok with the old but working cameras I have. Money is not unlimited :)

Feel free to discuss your opinion but please do not start in this thread the debate if film is coming back or not, there are other threads for that.
 
As a non-professional, no.

I personally would not buy a new one as there so many wonderful working vintage cameras/systems out there to be had and I have a weakness for them.
 
Few months ago I paid for new Holga, but it never showed up. This was my last attempt to buy new film camera.

Now I'm about to sell some of my film cameras to get another bicycle, frame, parts.
And even if I sell, I'll have something like eight film cameras left. One of our daughters is using three of them.

Buying new film EOS 300 in 2000 for 200 USD was OK instead of buying something like EOS 20D for 2000 USD. We stopped using it for family pictures in 2007 after getting of FujiNoFilm advanced digital P&S for 200 USD.
Paying now 1000 USD for new film SLR, Bessa RF makes no sense to me. I almost have to force myself to use film cameras now...
 
Had you asked me a year ago before I purchased yet another film camera my honest answer would be quite possibly depending on the specifics. However, I get the impression that the average RFF member is not at all representative of the “market” as it applies to those who would be more likely to entertain such a purchase.
 
I would purchase a new Leica MP or an MA if I could justify the expense and benefit over my recently CLAd M6. I can’t see the benefit other than being a new camera, oh and a viewfinder that doesn’t flare.
Whatever happened to the Kickstarter analogue camera that many put money into, the one where it would take a number of different lenses, having interchangeable flange mounts? Money down the drain no doubt. I would not fund dreams, only tangible production cameras.
Eventually the film camera river will dry up, once the serviceable cameras from yesteryear are beyond economical repair, and the last of the technicians take retirement. What then?
 
The problem is that there is such a plethora of used cameras out there for so little money that makes buying a new one more difficult. But obviously, the rate that the old ones break down beyong repair due the lack of spare parts is much highter that the rate new ones are pumped into the market. There will be a need for new film cameras in the future but at this point in time is it difficult for me to buy a new one.
 
Apart from Leica M10, I still keep 3 film cameras: Fuji GA 645 Zi for landscapes, Rolleflex 2.8 FX Expression and Yashica FX 2000 Super with ML 50/1.4 for BW portraits.
 
No. I have too many film cameras as it is, and with the current prices for second hand analogue cameras, I should be selling some of them, instead.
 
I doubt I would spend money on a new film camera. I have too many great used ones and there are so many great used cameras available. If it does not have electronics in it, manual cameras seem to last forever and unless it is a cult object like a Leica, prices are very reasonable.

I really like the M2 or M4, but I can get three or four Nikon F's for the price. And if you don't care for Nikon, think Canon F1 or a Blad.
 
Depends on what is offered. With the right mix of features (obviously catered to my personal preferences) and a reasonable price I could see myself buying a new one.

It would have to offer features that don’t exist in legacy film cams.
 
I didn't buy a new film camera, I purchased a used film camera a Nikon SP.
I still have the film bug and have to shot film now and then.
 
We are a niche group here. A new film camera might sound good but a new OM 1 with lens would not cost $250 like in the "good old days." To 99% of younger people photography equals phone. The support infrastructure for them, one hour labs, is totally gone, never to return. The design and tooling costs alone would stop manufacturers from considering a return to all mechanical cameras. Let's hope that Youxin and Dag never retire.
 
I keep changing my mind as to what I want in a film camera. This week I have been using a Nikomat Ft2 and now I have started shooting one of my Olympus OM-1 cameras, after mostly using the M6. So I guess unless someone re-made classic rangefinders and SLR's, I would not be buying. Nikon could do it, but I wouldn't have the money to buy both. So that is a very long No! Robert.
John Mc
 
I don't see the point of a company developing a new film camera, save for maybe a Leica M (which are already available). My reasoning has to do with the availability of lenses. There are lots of Nikon F, Canon FD, Leica M, and a few other brand lenses on the market, but there are also plenty of used fully functioning film bodies that fit those lenses.

With the glass available for the multitude of digital bodies, there are just too many different mounts, FFD's, and configurations for one manufacturer to create a film body that would work enough of them to make it worth purchasing.

Maybe a point & shoot, but there are plenty of fully functioning used point & shoot film bodies readily available on the auction site.

So again, I don't see the point of making a new film camera.

Best,
-Tim
 
I don't think any of the manufacturers would be interested in making a new mechanical SLR. These companies make money not only by selling camera bodies but also lenses. Only Nikon is still making manual focus SLR lenses, and the fact that the Df in 2013–14 lacked a proper focusing screen with split prism tells you that Nikon is not interested in selling those lenses. (I suspect the manual focus AI-S lenses still in the catalogue are made in Japan at less of a profit margin than the plastic autofocus junk they offshore to Thailand and China.) None of the other manufacturers offers a line of manual focus lenses anymore, and I don't think they'd be inclined to develop new lines of manual focus lenses or sell you a camera body that would only work for lenses they made thirty years ago. They would much rather consumers spend their money on new cameras and new lenses.
 
I'd be most concerned that since everyone here has their favorites, whatever this new camera might be won't please a majority of it's potential market. One guy wants an all-metal SLR, the next guy won't be satisfied unless it's a rangefinder, the next guy wants a high-end highly capable camera with all the bells and whistles and the next guy won't buy anything that requires a battery.

The better solution might be to make twenty different kinds of new cameras, to suit everyone.
 
p.giannakis said:
The problem is that there is such a plethora of used cameras out there for so little money that makes buying a new one more difficult.
Click to expand...

But the very desirable ones are expensive. There is room for a new camera in a niche where prices are currently out of control.
 
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