Best "newer" Film SLR ?

Richard Kelham · Jan 29, 2007

Woolliscroft said:
If I read the original post right, he wants an auto camera, but wants manual focus, which might leave out all the new Nikons and any EOS. Yes I know you can focus them manually, but they often don't have the right viewfinder screens to do it properly and might not have changeable screens. Plus why pay for auto focus when you don't want it.

On that basis, what about the Nikon FM3A. They've only just stopped making it so there may even be new ones still in the distribution line if Dana44 is feeling rich. Choice of fully auto or manual exposure, manual focus and you can hammer in your tent pegs with it should you forget the mallet.

Richard

TheFlyingCamera · Jan 29, 2007

Anything in the Contax SLR line - I have also had 167MTs (a matched pair) and an RX. The RX is a terrific camera - center and spot meter, Aperture, Shutter, Manual and Program metering, and some of the very best glass for 35mm ever made available. It also has that nifty digital focus indicator in the viewfinder with the depth-of-field scale which is very helpful when figuring out hyperfocal distances. It has the ceramic film pressure plate of the RTS III, but without the added weight and bulk.

On the other hand, theRTS III was a terrific camera too. The vacuum film plane and the ttl spot meter for external strobes made it a wonderful studio camera.

If you want inexpensive and light, and have smaller hands, the Contax Aria is a nice option. It offered matrix metering in addition to spot and center. If you have large hands, it may be a bit too small for your comfort.

dana44 · Jan 29, 2007

The main problem I have is exposure control, I shoot portrait alot so I like to keep my Aperture opened up as possible, But I almost never get the friggin exposure right. Either under, or over exposed.

Or, I have this problem with cameras:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/punkrobot/Chibli films shoot/202408-R1-01-24A_002.jpg

That ticked me off, Because I REALLY WANTED that picture to come out.. I am not sure if that's an error with the user (me) or the camera (Kalimar K-90, 80-200mm lense)

Craig · Jan 29, 2007

gr82bart said:
Nikon F6 with Nikkor 28-70 AF-S f2.8D. That should pretty much get you started.

Art,
I looked at that combo when I bought my F6, and I tesed that lens, the 35-70 F2.8 and the 24-85 F2.8-4. It wasn't overly scientific, but I mounted the camera on a tripod, mirror locked up, and shot a brick building across the street. In the window of the buiding was a sign with the store hours. Once I got the slides back, I ran them through my Leica projector and tried to read the opening hours sign.

The 24-85 was a clear winner for shaprness, I could read the sign in the shop window, whereas with the 28-70 I could barly tell there was something written there, and the 35-70's performance fell in the middle. It was a very noticable difference, so I bought the 24-85.

Craig

gr82bart · Jan 29, 2007

Dana,

Give us a bit more. How much are you willing to spend? Do you want new or used?

Asking me versus others will give you very different answers. What's of value to me is very different than most others here. I always go for the best and the latest top of the line equipment - but that's just me. Doesn't mean my images are better, most likely not, but with that said, I have no excuses for poor images but myself.

You can get a pretty good deal on a used Nikon N90 at KEH right now. Much less expensive than an F6 and a decent camera too.

Regards, Art.

mawz · Jan 29, 2007

Nikon FA.

It's got all the Automatic exposure modes you could ask for (PASM), Matrix metering, 1/4000 max shutter, 1/250 flash sync, yet is still small, light and has a superb viewfinder. Only downside is the F3-style LCD display in the finder, this is not the night shooters camera.

Otherwise I'd get an F4 or F90x. These are well suited for manual focus use, although unlike the FA you lose shutter priority and program modes with non-CPU lenses. The F4 matrix meters with AI and AI-S lenses, but the F90x is smaller and lighter, with better AF.

gr82bart · Jan 29, 2007

Craig said:
Art,
I looked at that combo when I bought my F6, and I tesed that lens, the 35-70 F2.8 and the 24-85 F2.8-4. It wasn't overly scientific, but I mounted the camera on ... snip ... ll in the middle. It was a very noticable difference, so I bought the 24-85.

Craig

I assume you had it on the same focal length, same f-stop and on manual mode, right? If so, drats! Don't tell me things like that! Why don't they publish independent MTF curves anymore?

Anyway, I've had my 28-70 snce it came out and bought it plus the other two zooms (17-25 and 80-200), to replace my 20 or so prime lenses and older zooms (remember the barrel zooms? those things never maintained their folcal lengths and I went through dozens of thick rubber bands to keep the damn thing at one focal length, only to curse when I needed to zoom fast!) I've been pretty happy with the results, but then again, I didn't do any testing and just took the 'reputation' verbatum. Probably naive on my part.

Anyway, off topic.

Regards, Art.

dana44 · Jan 29, 2007

gr82bart said:
Dana,

Give us a bit more. How much are you willing to spend? Do you want new or used?

Asking me versus others will give you very different answers. What's of value to me is very different than most others here. I always go for the best and the latest top of the line equipment - but that's just me. Doesn't mean my images are better, most likely not, but with that said, I have no excuses for poor images but myself.

You can get a pretty good deal on a used Nikon F90 at KEH right now. Much less expensive than an F6 and a decent camera too.

Regards, Art.

Between 200-400 (400 maybe)

Craig · Jan 29, 2007

gr82bart said:
I assume you had it on the same focal length, same f-stop and on manual mode, right? If so, drats! Don't tell me things like that! Why don't they publish independent MTF curves anymore?

I did a series at max wide angle, 50mm, and max tele (70 or 85), wide open and at F8. I metered using aperature priority, but it was a cloudy day and I filled the frame with the building, so the light was constant.
Nikon does publish their own MTF charts, located here: http://nikonimaging.com/global/products/lens/af/zoom/index.htm
so at least you can compare within the Nikon family.

Craig

snegron · Jan 29, 2007

dana44 said:
eBay? Because there is only 1 camera shop around me

KEH is in Georgia! Many people have been lucky with ebay, but I like the peace of mind you get when you buy used from KEH.

As for what newer camera, there are plenty of great choices out there. It all depends on your budget. If you are lucky enough to snatch up a used N80 grab it! Next to the F6, the N80 probably has the most advanced electronics available in a 35mm camera today. It is truely an amazing camera.

The F100 is also great but more expensive, built with tougher materials. As many have mentioned before, invest in good glass.

willie_901 · Jan 30, 2007

dana44 said:
The main problem I have is exposure control, I shoot portrait alot so I like to keep my Aperture opened up as possible, But I almost never get the friggin exposure right. Either under, or over exposed.

The Nikon F3 has a center meter where the center 20% of the frame is responsible for 80% of the reading. Put the subject's face in the center of the frame and you should be ready to go. Or you can use manual exposure on the subjects face and then re-compose so their not in the center. Also, the Nikkor 105/2.5 is a lovely portrait lens.

reub2000 · Jan 30, 2007

The main problem I have is exposure control, I shoot portrait alot so I like to keep my Aperture opened up as possible, But I almost never get the friggin exposure right. Either under, or over exposed.

Bracket your exposures.

dana44 · Jan 30, 2007

reub2000 said:
Bracket your exposures.

What do you mean?

reub2000 · Jan 30, 2007

dana44 said:
What do you mean?

Meter, and then take a picture a stop slower, and a stop faster. So if your exposure is 1/60 @ f/4, take another one at 1/125 @ f/4 and 1/30 @ f/4. Many cameras can do this automatically, and it's called Auto Exposure Bracketing, or AEB.

Woolliscroft · Jan 30, 2007

dana44 said:
Or, I have this problem with cameras:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/punkrobot/Chibli films shoot/202408-R1-01-24A_002.jpg

Looks like a sticking FP shutter, or flash used at too high a shutter speed. When you say you have this problem with "cameras" rather than "camera", do you mean it?

David.

Lee L · Jan 30, 2007

dana44 said:
Or, I have this problem with cameras:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/punkrobot/Chibli films shoot/202408-R1-01-24A_002.jpg

Looks to me like overlapping frames and a sticky vertical travel shutter. So you may want to have your film advance and shutter both checked. Is this at all shutter speeds and on all frames?

Lee

dana44 · Jan 30, 2007

Lee L said:
Looks to me like overlapping frames and a sticky vertical travel shutter. So you may want to have your film advance and shutter both checked. Is this at all shutter speeds and on all frames?

Lee

It doesn't do it on all pictures, Just a few of them.

Lee L · Jan 30, 2007

dana44 said:
It doesn't do it on all pictures, Just a few of them.

You can do some checking on your own. Check your negatives to see if there is no gap between frames on occasion, or if the frames overlap to some degree.

Take the lens off the camera and open the back. Look at a light source through the body from the back as you fire the shutter at different shutter speeds. If you look through at a TV or computer monitor using higher shutter speeds, you can see bands as the screen is scanned. Make sure you can see these across the full frame and that they don't change width across the frame. If they darken, disappear, or narrow toward one side, you have a shutter timing problem. It looks to me like one of your shutter blinds (perhaps the trailing one) might be dragging and overexposing at least part of your frame. This might happen only at some shutter speeds, or perhaps intermittently, maybe when the shutter hasn't been fired for a while.

This is difficult to diagnose from what you've posted, but your image suggests these as possibilities.

Lee

dana44 · Jan 30, 2007

Lee L said:
You can do some checking on your own. Check your negatives to see if there is no gap between frames on occasion, or if the frames overlap to some degree.

Take the lens off the camera and open the back. Look at a light source through the body from the back as you fire the shutter at different shutter speeds. If you look through at a TV or computer monitor using higher shutter speeds, you can see bands as the screen is scanned. Make sure you can see these across the full frame and that they don't change width across the frame. If they darken, disappear, or narrow toward one side, you have a shutter timing problem. It looks to me like one of your shutter blinds (perhaps the trailing one) might be dragging and overexposing at least part of your frame. This might happen only at some shutter speeds, or perhaps intermittently, maybe when the shutter hasn't been fired for a while.

This is difficult to diagnose from what you've posted, but your image suggests these as possibilities.

Lee

Yes, It does do that in a BAD BAD way.. At times the frame will be REALLY thick, or BARELY visible at times. Thicker on one end at one shot, sometimes closed almost all the way.

How do I fix this?

dana44 · Jan 31, 2007

dana44 said:
Yes, It does do that in a BAD BAD way.. At times the frame will be REALLY thick, or BARELY visible at times. Thicker on one end at one shot, sometimes closed almost all the way.

How do I fix this?

Never mind Guys... I got really frustrated with something earlier and I threw it across the room... all the shutter blades kinda crinkled.... it's trash now. oh well, i just bought a yashica with 25-80 mm lense.... and I still have my minolta SRT200 that needs some glass

Anyone interested in a Kalimar 80-200 mm lense, and a basic 55mm lense?

eagleowl · Jan 31, 2007

Here's another vote for the canon eos 3.
For what you get,they're good value.
Ok,the eos 1 does have a couple of advantages,but even at current ebay prices I still don't think they're wort the extra price.
Besides,which eos1?
Over the years it's been updated several times.
But there's only ever been one model of eos3-they got it right first time!

film_guy · Jan 31, 2007

If I have a ton of money coming into my bank every month and a stable job, I'll go for Canon's 1V or Nikon's F6 (maybe buy a couple of Nikon's prime lenses too). But since I have neither of those, I can only invest up to maximum of US$300 for a film body, hence a used EOS 3 or a new Elan 7N (was considering the Nikon F100 but then I would have to buy some Nikon lenses so that's an added cost).

I chose the Elan 7N over the EOS 3 because I shoot some church events, and having the loud shutter clicking during worship isn't practical. But I'm kinda missing having a spot-meter.

naturephoto1 · Jan 31, 2007

If you raised your price range quite a bit, you could consider a Leica R7 or R8.

Rich

Paul Sorensen · Jan 31, 2007

dana44 said:
Never mind Guys... I got really frustrated with something earlier and I threw it across the room... all the shutter blades kinda crinkled.... it's trash now.

Nice! I am not alone!

No offense, but this camera would have cost well more than its value to get repaired, so if throwing it across the room made you feel good, it was worth it.

dana44 · Feb 1, 2007

Paul Sorensen said:
Nice! I am not alone!

No offense, but this camera would have cost well more than its value to get repaired, so if throwing it across the room made you feel good, it was worth it.

It was Kalimar K-90... I should have read, or asked about it before I bought it.. apparently those are crappy cameras..

And it would have.. seeing how the flash hotshoe was broken off.. and the shutter was fudged

Best "newer" Film SLR ?

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