In your opinion, what are the best modern 35mm film SLRs ever built?

[Paul Howell]

With all the competition in Portland wonder why he moved.

 

[madNbad]

With all the competition in Portland wonder why he moved.

Opportunities to learn new skills from more experienced technicians. Some will come, work in a shop for a year or two, then move on to hang out their own shingle.

 

[Huss]

With all the competition in Portland wonder why he moved.

1. The weather.
B. Most shops get their work from mail-ins. So it doesn't matter where you are.

 

[gone]

This is evolving into a thread where the regular posters argue among themselves and the OP disappears.

It's the way of the world when it comes to internet forums, regardless of their topic. I'm not so sure it's evolving though, more like devolving....and that gives yet another opportunity for things to go sideways.

 

[flavio81]

If you want to get into Nikon, the N8008 is a killer bargain. Does 95% of what the pro cams (F4, F5 -- overrated if you ask me) and N90 can do, and it's still a bargain. Plus it uses cheaper lenses (AF-D, I believe). For MF Nikon, the unloved FG is, I think, a great camera -- detested by the Nikonisti (most of whom would never deign to pick one up) and beloved by those of us who actually use them. And while the FM2/FM3 are highly regarded and way overpriced, the FM actually isn't crazy -- though I think clockwork-shutter cameras (as opposed to electronic shutters) are also overrated.

I agree 100% with you in this quoted part.

The FG is a great little machine in many respects however the build quality is not nice.

 

[Huss]

I love the feel and form of the FG and really wanted to get one until research shows these things are starting to drop like flies now. The old electronics failure story.
I had an N2000 - which had a 1/2000 top speed and auto wind built in. No AF. Noisy but nice! Sold it because I had too many cameras.

 

[Bronson Dugnutt]

I love the feel and form of the FG and really wanted to get one until research shows these things are starting to drop like flies now. The old electronics failure story.

Keep my FG-20 in your thoughts and prayers... What are the symptoms? Stone dead or something more fiddly?

 

[MultiFormat Shooter]

Interesting. I have both an F4 and F6 and I haven't noticed that difference.

Check it out. I have recently had 2 F4s, F100 and the F6 which I still have

Here is a (very) back-lit image, of one of my sister-in-law's cats. I took it with an F6 using matrix metering, with Kodak Portra 800 (shot at EI 800), and a Sigma 50mm ART F/1.4 lens. I think it the exposure is "pretty good." View the image at full size, rather the thumbnail.

 

[Nicholas W]

Since I'm shopping around for a new-ish 35mm film SLR, I figured that I'd ask some of you more experienced professionals about this. (I've been shooting large format and medium format film for about 8 years and am working my way down to 35mm film!)

What 35mm film SLR camera systems do you think are the best to get into right now?
Which system do you think has the 'best' lenses?

I did a little research myself and settled on three cameras that I think might qualify:

-Minolta Maxxum 7 (also known as the 'Dynax 7' or 'Alpha-7')
-Nikon F6
-Contax N1

I prefer the Nikon F5 to the F6

 

[Sirius Glass]

I prefer the Nikon F5 to the F6

But for the price of one of them, you could but several F100s.

 

[Paul Howell]

The FG is a very capable consumer grade camera. When I bought my F3P I also bought a FA, the shop I used had to order both. I was assignment for a month when I returned to London the F3 was in, but salesman sold my FA to a PJ from the London Times. To make up for it I was offered a FG and motor drive at cost. My thinking was that I could use the FG for a couple of months then upgrade to the FA. Part of the trade in for the F3 was my F2 and Leica IIIG and Canon 7, so I needed a second body. I used the FG as my back up body for years. Its light, the shutter and meter was excellent, the TTL flash came in handy. I though the weakness was the film advance and rewind, with the motor drive it wasn't an issue. Sorry to hear that the electronics are fading.

 

[Nicholas W]

But for the price of one of them, you could but several F100s.

The F5 has gotten quite cheap. If you watch eBay you can get them for under $200. I paid $175 a year or so ago for mine. The F6 is still expensive though. Probably because of the smaller form factor + they made less of them.

 

[Paul Howell]

F6 are of course newer and still serviced by Nikon.

 

[AtticusMI]

Obviously, the Canon EOS 3.

Ignore anything anyone else says.

Lol, I fully support this statement. Really a fantastic camera

 

[CMoore]

Ssssssooooooooo...............what is "the best" modern SLR.?
Did anybody keep score....................

 

[flavio81]

Lol, I fully support this statement. Really a fantastic camera

Let's keep it under the radar... Hush hush

 

[cooltouch]

The FG is a very capable consumer grade camera. When I bought my F3P I also bought a FA, the shop I used had to order both. I was assignment for a month when I returned to London the F3 was in, but salesman sold my FA to a PJ from the London Times. To make up for it I was offered a FG and motor drive at cost. My thinking was that I could use the FG for a couple of months then upgrade to the FA. Part of the trade in for the F3 was my F2 and Leica IIIG and Canon 7, so I needed a second body. I used the FG as my back up body for years. Its light, the shutter and meter was excellent, the TTL flash came in handy. I though the weakness was the film advance and rewind, with the motor drive it wasn't an issue. Sorry to hear that the electronics are fading.

Way back in the early 90s I took a camera repair class at a local community college. One of the cameras I worked on was an FG I picked up for cheap because it had gotten wet. So I removed the top and bottom covers, inspecting them for corrosion (there was none), then after putting it back together, I decided to check its shutter speeds for accuracy. We had a digital shutter tester at the class. I was amazed to see that the FG's shutter speeds were precisely correct. Like 1/1000 was showing 0.001, 1/8 was showing 0.125, and 1 second was 1.000. I mentioned this to my teacher and he told me it was no big deal, that the modern electronic shutters tended to be very accurate. Nonetheless, my appreciation for the lowly FG increased by a sizeable amount after that day. I currently own a chrome one and would like to pick up a black one someday, along with the FG-specific motor drive, the MD-14.

 

[Paul Howell]

I got the motor drive with FG, not bad capable of 3 1/2 FPS, which took some of the stress of the manual film advance. My only grip was I could not use my AI converted lens, was limited to a 50, 35 to 70 that came with the camera, and later a Kiron 80 to 210. I think it was only in production for a few years and was out of production when I was just about given mine.

 

[manfrominternet]

I wanted to rejoin the conversation and ask about these two cameras in particular. Do any of you guys have any opinions about the following cameras?:

-Contax RTS III (100% viewfinder coverage | vacuum back device holding the film flat)
-Leica R8 (what's the difference between the R8 and the R9?)

I've heard that the Contax RTS III was the camera that advanced photographers wanted the most, particularly in the early-mid '90s, due to its unique solution for film flatness and outstanding Zeiss lenses. The Leica R8/R9 originally seemed more like a rich person's show off camera, but when I saw how amazing the developed slides and negatives are, I was blown away. (Thank you, Huss, for including those wonderful works you took!)

So far, I'm seeing some consensus for the Nikon F6/F4/F3/F2/F100, FM2, FM3A, Canon F1, Eos 1N/1V, Pentax MZ-S, Spotmatic, Olympus OM-1/OM4, Minolta Maxxum/Dynax/α-7/9, Leica R4/R7/R8/SL2

Perhaps I should have asked this (as this is, in a nutshell, the precise issue I'm facing): If you didn't already have a 35mm film camera with lenses and had $2250 to spend on a 35mm film camera body (SLR or even a Rangefinder) and lenses (say roughly 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 80mm - or even a good 28-80mm zoom), what camera and lenses would you go with for landscape photography?

(By the way, I want to say that pretty much everyone's comments on this thread are thoughtful and very useful. So a very big thank you to you all!)

 

[abruzzi]

Perhaps I should have asked this (as this is, in a nutshell, the precise issue I'm facing): If you didn't already have a 35mm film camera with lenses and had $2250 to spend on a 35mm film camera body (SLR or even a Rangefinder) and lenses (say roughly 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 80mm - or even a good 28-80mm zoom), what camera and lenses would you go with for landscape photography?

well, that amound gives you a lot of flexibility, but the more you spend on a camera, the less you can spend on lenses. For that much you can get a Pentax MZ-S and the three FA limited lenses (31, 43, 77), but they've gotten to the point that you might not get all three with the camera for that much. (The FA limiteds are a point of obsession for Pentax digital users.) I've never liked any other 35mm autofocus camera I've used.

However an Nikon F2SB (I prefer the older pre-AI lenses) would leave you enough for 6-7 great lenses, maybe more. If you prefer newer lenses the F2AS would be the ticket, though AI and AIS lenses aren't quite as cheap as the pre-AI lenses. If you prefer smaller and lighter, the FM2n would be my next choice for manual focus.

 

[Huss]

As much as I like good old fashioned manual focus, there is something to be said about slapping an 85 1.8G AF lens on your F6 and just nailing focus wide open every time, all the time.
I like RF cameras more than SLRs, so you almost opened a can o worms by introducing that into the mix. But the only RF cameras worth talking about are Leicas (there's a reason why they are still made and in demand while all their rivals are dust in the wind)... and your budget limit is $2250 for camera and lenses so that puts us back to SLRs!

So $2250 for camera and some lenses? F6 w/ the most recent version of the 24-120G and a Sigma Art 50 1.4.

 

[Huss]

F6 w/ Sigma Art 50, C200

 

[BradS]

I think I agree with Huss (yes, shocking, I know). The key being the OP's stated desire for "advanced metering"....that means Nikon matrix metering...so, Nikon FA or newer, I think??? The best of 'em being, hands down, the Nikon F6 (or maybe the F5 if you're a gorilla, or have a mule to carry your kit). If one wants to spend a little more on lenses and a little less on the camera, maybe an F100 would be an acceptable choice but as far as "The Best" modern film SLR with "Advanced Metering" goes, no question, it has to be the F6.

Of course, The Nikon F2 is The Best small format film SLR ever built ...or maybe it's the Nikon F3HP...but neither of these has advanced metering and nobody today would call the F2 "modern".

 

[benjiboy]

The Nikon F, and the Canon F1, you can knock nails in with them and they still work after more thirty years, and they are relatively inexpensive.

 

[flavio81]

Do any of you guys have any opinions about the following cameras?:

-Contax RTS III (100% viewfinder coverage | vacuum back device holding the film flat)
-Leica R8 (what's the difference between the R8 and the R9?)

I've heard that the Contax RTS III was the camera that advanced photographers wanted the most, particularly in the early-mid '90s, due to its unique solution for film flatness and outstanding Zeiss lenses.

If the Contax RTS III was the most wanted, it would have had better sales.

The vacuum device is ingenious, however lenses don't focus to a flat plane. They try to do that, but it's optically difficult, if not impossible. Lenses can be easily designed to be focused on a curved plane (see, for example, the Agfa Clack). Most SLR camera lenses focus on a curved plane, that's why they have some degree of curvature of film. I understand they try to reduce curvature of film to match the natural curvature of film in the film gate.

So, basically the idea, to me, is more a marketing gimmick than something that will give you actual benefit in most cases. Still, kudos to Yashica/Kyocera for making such a machine.

Leica R8

Leitz manufactured some of the most beautiful cameras in existance (i.e. Leicaflex SL), so they naturally had a debt with the world -- to create the ugliest high-quality camera. They succeded with the R8.