Which modern film camera...

<p>Glad to see that folks are still considering this question...wonderful responses!</p>

<p>I'm going to amend my answer; if digital had never happened, or proved to be a passing fad, film gear would still be expensive. I'd purchased an Elan 7N a few months before the 5D and ultimate acquisition of lots of other film gear, so no doubt I'd still be using the 7N. I would later have picked up a T90 to use as my primary camera, putting the 7N in the closet. All the other gear I listed above would have been out of my price range!</p>

<p>My last big film camera upgrade was the Nikon F100, I bought for $700 used on ebay in 2002. Sold it in 2004 after I bought a Canon Pro1. Bought an F3HP in 2005 and again in 2009. Sold the F3HP earlier this year and won't buy another one. I have a newer F100, bought mint at a pawn shop for $150, late serial number, etc. I love it but it is rarely used as I only shoot film a few months out of the year. It's hard to get motivated here in the Seattle area to shoot film when we're in a dark grey weather period (which pretty much lasts from November to May around here, with some small exceptions of course.<br /> <br />Last night I rounded up all my film Nikon 35mm cameras. I have 3 Nikon F's (one is my late fathers F which will never be sold), an F100, an N8008s, an FE2, an FM, and an FG-20 that I am going to sell shortly. Of all of them I only paid $42 for the FE2 and $25 for the n8008s. Will keep those since they were so cheap. Will sell one of the Nikon F bodies (the 1968 one, will keep my late fathers F and the 1973 chrome Apollo with the standard prism).</p>

<p>I found the n8008s can give me as good of results exposure wise as the F100, but just not nearly as fast of AF, which isn't a deal breaker since I don't need AF for most of my film photography. The n8008s also has the grid screen in it, which I love as I shoot a lot of architecture. So most likely I am going to sell of my F100, as much as I love it, but it just doesn't get used much at all to justify keeping it. I hate to see good equipment sit unused. Before I had an F100 I had an N70, which supposedly was to replace the n8008s, but it is a far better camera, with the HP viewfinder and normal controls. The N70 had a very short lived menu design that took a lot longer to manage than the n8008s did. Also the N70 has a rubber belt as the film drive which tends to break after a while, instead of the normal gears in the n8008s.</p>

<p>Geez, pardon me -- I skipped to the end of the queue. If digital were to never have happened, I would have continued to chug along as I have for the past 20 years or so. I have an EOS outfit for the wife, which includes an Elan IIe, a few lenses, and a 240EZ flash. That's plenty good for taking snaps at Christmas time.</p>

<p>For myself, I have three outfits: Nikon, Canon FD, and Bronica ETR. The Nikon outfit consists of an F, a couple of F2s, and an FE. I have a decent assortment of lenses, ranging in focal lengths from 24mm to 200mm, and I have aftermarket lenses that get me all the way out to 650mm. Canon FD includes an F-1, A-1s, and FTbs, with a lens assorment ranging from 17mm to 200mm, and the same aftermarket lenses as mentioned above (they're T-mount). My Bronica outfit is still quite small -- an ETRSi body with the Speed Grip, a few backs, a prism, and a 75mm and 150mm lenses.</p>

<p>I've been very happy with the quality of film photos I can get with the above cameras, so if digital were to suddenly vanish, I wouldn't miss it all that much, except for the convenience. It does have that going for it.</p>

 

I have enjoyed reading this discussion. I never took a picture until I was thirty, and ever since then, thirty-two years ago, I have

dreamed about improving my photography. Strictly amateur, I shoot b&w film mostly, in large format and small format. I also own a

dslr camera. In small format, I own a f100, which I like a lot. I just purchased a used nikon fe--in fact, I have not received it yet--

which accepts my nikon lenses. Back in the day, when I used my uncle's canon ftb, I dreamed of owning my own manual focus slr

camera. In having just purchased the fe, I am living the dream.

<p>Also enjoyed reading this thread.<br>

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Not sure it applies to me - several years ago I was at a crossroads trying to decide between the Canon 5D and the

Nikon F6. I went down the film route and I'm happy I have, although the 5D still seems to hold its own even now. It

sits alongside my wife's F5, her Pentax MX, and my LX.

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Other films cameras I'd love to try(/own!!): Nikon FM3a, Canon T90, new-F1, 1v. Minolta dynax 9 and the '9'. Pentax PZ1p

and the MZ-S. Olympus OM4.

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It think the concept of the PZ1p is terrific, would love hypermanual on my F6.<br>

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<p>Being a new recruit to this forum I am pleased to have been able to read this revived thread. Having moved to digital eight years ago I always felt nostalgia for the days I shot film. As a result I recently bought a T90, my all time favourite camera that I foolishly sold, and I have started to shoot film again alongside digital.</p>

<p>I asked the same question but with a different slant. What would camera makers be making today if digital never happened?</p>

<p>http://www.photo.net/casual-conversations-forum/00X4hE</p>

<p>If digital had not shown up, I'd probably still be shooting with an OM-4T, an OM-1 and a few lenses. However, the plummeting cost of film cameras has enabled me to indulge in some previously unaffordable SLRs - Nikon F through F4, Canon F-1 and Minolta XK. My "go to" SLRs are an F2 Photomic and an F3HP.</p>