canon 35mm film camera wanted

middlearthimages

middlearthimages

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Hi,

I will be starting a film and b&w course in September and I need to buy a film camera with prime lenses. As I already use a canon digital slr I would like to use the same make for the film camera.

Can anybody reccomend a good canon camera I could purchase second hand for this course?

Thanks in advance,

John
 
middlearthimages said:
Hi,

I will be starting a film and b&w course in September and I need to buy a film camera with prime lenses. As I already use a canon digital slr I would like to use the same make for the film camera.

Can anybody reccomend a good canon camera I could purchase second hand for this course?

Thanks in advance,

John
Click to expand...

We have had these sort of questions before and it would help if you could be more specific e.g, full manual camera or semi auto camera, built in winder to wind the film on, auto focus yes/no etc etc etc and of course price range.
 
Use the same make = use the same lenses? Or is it a personal brand thing. Because Canons throughout the years are operationally very different from your 50D.
 
EOS3

EDIT TheBigYin will be along shortly to agree I'm sure :)

It will behave similarly to your 50d and all your lenses will be compatible.
 
Well - if you want a full manual Canon Camera, then for once I'm not going to recommend the EOS-3. (Sorry Bill!) If you wanted to share lenses with the 50D, and have a Canon body that'll work well side by side with the digital, then the EOS-3's the way to go.

But...

Of the old-school Canon bodies - i'd recommend a good Canon F-1n, or maybe get a hold of a Clean Tidy A-1, and send it for a full CLA to prevent/avoid the dreaded "Canon Cough".

Personally, Owning both the A-1 and the EOS-3, I'd get the EOS-3 and shoot it in manual mode of course, any day of the week, and twice on Sundays, but I acknowledge I'm probably a little out of step with most of my fellow F&C denizens.
 
dont forget the eos 3 will take the EF but not the EF-s lenses :)

Also, think about the eos 5 with it's built in flash ! (and same EF lens restrictions)
 
cough. I have still got both (EOS5 A-1) for sell in classified, cheap as chip
 
I can't find it in my heart to recommend anyone a EOS-5, it's the only Canon camera I've had thats failed on me. Got a case of the electrical never-get overs when I plugged it into my studio flash units. When I opened it up, not only had the flexifilm pcb melted in a couple of areas, but the internal flash capacitors managed to discharge through my thumb - burning 2 neat dots into the skin and leaving my arm shaking like a dog ******** razor blades for the next hour.

No - if the OP wanted a EF compatible body then the Either the eos-3 or that nice eos-30 that someone in the classifieds was selling...
 
TheBigYin said:
I can't find it in my heart to recommend anyone a EOS-5, it's the only Canon camera I've had thats failed on me. Got a case of the electrical never-get overs when I plugged it into my studio flash units. When I opened it up, not only had the flexifilm pcb melted in a couple of areas, but the internal flash capacitors managed to discharge through my thumb - burning 2 neat dots into the skin and leaving my arm shaking like a dog ******** razor blades for the next hour.

No - if the OP wanted a EF compatible body then the Either the eos-3 or that nice eos-30 that someone in the classifieds was selling...
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. I think I need to get tha one that has the FD lens as these have the aperture ring on them. I will have to contact tutor about it.

thanks,

john
 
If you're looking at something that takes FD lenses, then it's the F1n, A1, or if you're not fussed by the horrible plastic body, the T-70/T-90's
 
Hey guys you are missing out the manual SLR Canon FTb, VG camera and the only disadvantage is it takes the old 1,35 mercury battery for the meter, but I'm sure a modern 1.5v battery plus adjusting the asa dial would be good enough for exposure readings for B/W and colour neg film.
 
TheBigYin said:
I can't find it in my heart to recommend anyone a EOS-5, it's the only Canon camera I've had thats failed on me.
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It doesn't make it a bad camera just because one failed !

would you give the eos-3 another chance 'IF' one of those failed ?

Things fail ... even good things !
 
Tricky69 said:
It doesn't make it a bad camera just because one failed !

would you give the eos-3 another chance 'IF' one of those failed ?

Things fail ... even good things !
Click to expand...

I said that I couldn't recommend something that failed on me, and I'll stick by that thankyou. If my EOS-3 did fail, I'd probably try very hard to source another that had a good provenence, cross my fingers, hope and give it another chance, but I would stop recommending the EOS-3 unconditionally, as I do at the moment.

I can only talk as I've found something - I may be the only person who's ever had a EOS-5 die on them, I don't know, but I do know, that mine did die one me... It's not my place to recommend the EOS-5, that's someone else's job.

All the EF mount film cameras are getting a little long in the tooth now, with total reliance on electrical circuitry and LED/LCD displays, so in my opinion, which I believe I'm allowed to express (last time I checked), it makes sense to purchase a camera from 2004 (my EOS-3 is date coded 0S1020 - October 2004) or 2002 (EOS-30 TQ0624 June 2002) rather than something from 1992/3 (the EOS-5 body is up in the loft somewhere, and I can't be bothered checking the exact code, but I remember it was a early model, from before they fixed the mode switch knob!)
 
It seems from your reply I might have upset you ? I didn't mean to offend ! honest.

I just wondered from your post if it was 'implied' not to get a '5
If there was something wrong, I didn't know about ,then I might stop recommending them too . That's all :)

I have a 5 as it was recommended by a few people to me. It's been great, and has a built in flash, which is why I keep it. I have a couple of 3's too. All so I can share my EF lenses with the 5D

Rich
 
Rich - there's nothing wrong per se with the EOS-5 - apart from the reasonably well documented problems with the mode switch knob (and people attempting to turn it without pressing the central button) It's just that seeing as the EOS-5 and the EOS-30 go for similar money second hand, and the EOS-30 is a 12 year newer design, with much improved AF performance - while still retaining the pop-up flash and adding the next generation (as in nicked from the EOS-3) eye-control focus that works either portrait or landscape, it's hard to recommend the older one. For an extra £30-40 the EOS-3 is another step up, though you will need a proper speedlite :shrug:
 
is the '30 the same body size as the '3 ?

If so , I might look out for one :)

I have big hands, and the 'prosumer' sizes get s lost in a tangle of fingers !
 
I've got hands like a bunch of banana's myself Rich, and that's the one downside of the '30 - its more the size and weight of the 450/550D, but a little easier to handle as there's more space for the buttons due to the lack of LCD on the back. I tend to keep it as a lightweight EF Film body to take with me if I'm away into the hills for a longer walk, TBH.
 
ah ... that'll be why I've not noticed it before then. I tend to pass by the smaller canons.... but oddly, I love the compactness of my tiny Pentax ME. But then that's apples n pears I spoze.
 
Update,

Just purchased a Canon A1 with 50mm 1.8 lens. Spent yesterday going through the online manual and working out what all the buttons do.

I love the look and feel of the camera and can't wait to use it. Starting college in Sept as full time adult student and will be using this for the first part of the course.

Thanks to you all for your thoughts on this.

Regards,

John
 
A very nice camera; especially if you have one without the dreaded 'Canon squeal/squeak'.
 
Smashing camera, and a decent prime lens, one of my all time favourite combo's. And if you haven't heard any noises, then it definitely hasn't got the cough... you really can't miss it when they have!
 

The Canon A-1 Family Snapshot by The Big Yin, on Flickr

Yep - I bought the Power Winder A for my A1, primarily because it was on fleabay for a couple of quid - mis-described and overlooked. It works well enough, but seldom gets used to be honest, mainly because it transforms a small light camera into something that is as bulky and heavy as my EOS-3. If you're the kind of person that forgets to wind on the camera, then it's handy enough, but in my case it's a bit of a white elephant tbh!
 
Thats right, the power winder A just winds the film on, leaving you to use the normal shutter release. The MA adds a more pronounced "grip" with a shutter release on the top, similar to current cameras, though with an even worse weight and bulk penalty.

The FDn 28mm f2.8 is a cracking little lens, nice and sharp, contrasty, not too large or heavy, and reasonably fast for a 28mm lens. The FF 28mm f2.0 SSC is also nice, if a bit heavier/bulkier if you need faster glass.
 
TheBigYin said:
The FDn 28mm f2.8 is a cracking little lens, nice and sharp, contrasty, not too large or heavy, and reasonably fast for a 28mm lens. The FF 28mm f2.0 SSC is also nice, if a bit heavier/bulkier if you need faster glass.
Click to expand...

..the older, heavy 28mm f3.5 breech lock might be cheaper, that too is a good lens.
 
from a quick glance on MIR it appears that the FD (breechlock) and FDn (bayonet) are pretty much identical optically, yep - I just mentioned the f2.0 because I've actually had one of those - never had the f2.8 breeclock, just the bayonet version ;)
 
when researching Canon FD and FDn lenses...here's a site worth looking...''link''

I have a FDn 28/2.8
but got breechlock FD 35/3.5 S.C. and FD 50/1.8 S.C. - both off eBay very cheap

be aware these 2 lenses use 55mm diam filters against the FDn series 52mm filters
 
Sorry, thought he was still looking!
 
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