What 35mm Canon Body?

68lbs

68lbs

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April 2008
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Looking on eBay, it seems there are loads of 35mm Canon bodies dead cheap.

If I wanted one to use with my existing lenses (70-200 f/2.8 and 50 f/1.4 primarily) shooting purely B&W for fun, and beautiful mono-tones, what body should I be looking for please?

And can you change lenses with film loaded?
 
Go for an EOS3 it looks and feels like a 1 series, has a hugely advanced 45 point AF system, and eye control which works well for me. An EOS 3 is my choice for using my EF lenses for film.

Yes - you can change lenses with film loaded.
 
I have a couple of EOS3's, very nice.

I have an EOS 5 too, Very usefull if you want built in flash.
 
Don't know about Canon cameras but you can change lenses when there's film in.

Andy
 
for me there's pretty much 2 or 3 cameras to go for given that you want something that handles like your 5D. The EOS-3 is the one I went for, and is a fantastic bit of kit, and with a AF/Exposure system thats only really surpassed by the 1D series in todays cameras. A similar, but if anything even better option is the EOS-1V - pretty much a EOS-3 but with marginally faster drive speed 10fps with the PB-E2 grip as opposed to 7fps on the EOS-3. The 1V has a further trick up its sleeve - if you get the optional EOS-link software and cable, it can store and download to your computer all the details you normally get in a digital files EXIF data. It holds up to 100 rolls worth of detail in it's internal memory ready for downloading, so you can shoot a few rolls without having to download the data every roll. The 1V is pretty much the only film body i'd consider trading my EOS3 for.

A further option, and a little further down the price range is the EOS-30 - it's more the size and weight of a modern 450D, but still handles pretty well. It's also one of the last decent film camera designs that canon came out with, so may be a little less well-worn than the EOS-5's for example (I had one that worked for 2 weeks, 5 rolls of film, before getting a spontaneous case of the electrical never-get-overs :( turned out to be a melted flexible pcb - beyond any feasible economic repair unless I can find a donor camera with something else faulty like a busted shutter mech.) The EOS-30 also has a built-in flash, which can be handy.
 
I have an EOS30V, which I do not use. It is in mint condition, still in its box, and has a standard kit zoom lens. I was going to put it on the bay soon, but will of course give folks on here a chance first. I will dig it out of the cupboard later today and post a few piccies of it.
 
Thanks for all the replies and advice guys. Not sure I want to stretch 1V as this is really just going to be a 'toy' and might end up getting very little use. I just like the 'feel' of a bit of film in my hand that I get from the Holga, and fancy moving the quality up a notch to try and produce something half decent.

The 30 looks a good cheap option (though not fussed about flash)... Andy, how much would you be looking for?
 
EOS 3's are wonderful cameras but even now there are not what I would call cheap

The likes of the EOS 600,50,100 & 10 are fine cameras and can all be had on fleabay for £25 or less
 
CaptainPenguin said:
EOS 3's are wonderful cameras but even now there are not what I would call cheap

The likes of the EOS 600,50,100 & 10 are fine cameras and can all be had on fleabay for £25 or less
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I don't think that around £100-£150 for something like the EOS-3 could be considered anything but cheap personally. Considering it's sat on the back of lenses from £400 to a couple of grand, the body cost is peanuts frankly - I mean - it's less than the cost of a decent polarising filter FFS!

Having said that, I can understand not wanting to spend that much on a film camera if it's not going to be a regular shooter, or pressed into use in adverse conditions - and for that the EOS-30V is a belting little body, especially seeing as it was one of the last non-entry-level cameras that Canon came up with (2004 iirc), so it's got good AF capabilities, and as a bonus, shouldn't have been around the block as many times as the older stuff such as the 600 (1989),10 & 100 (1991) and even the 50 (1995).

I like the EOS-30, I even bought one, £25 well spent, but it's not as much of a bargain as a mint EOS-3 at £135 was!
 
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68lbs said:
Thanks for all the replies and advice guys. Not sure I want to stretch 1V as this is really just going to be a 'toy' and might end up getting very little use. I just like the 'feel' of a bit of film in my hand that I get from the Holga, and fancy moving the quality up a notch to try and produce something half decent.

The 30 looks a good cheap option (though not fussed about flash)... Andy, how much would you be looking for?
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I would probably be looking for around the £75 mark (which would include the lens, because I do not have any other Canon kit, and the lens can be used on the DSLRs I think).
I didn't get around to posting any images today, but I will try to tomorrow. It really is in immaculate condition.

Andy
 
jamesb84 said:
:ahem: mint EOS-3 from here for £90. :D

Totally agree with getting one of these. They're fantastic camera's and now form an important part of my lineup for magazine work.
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I think I remember when you posted that you'd picked that one up... absoloute bargainous job that was. I was totally chuffed with mine @ £135 tbh. It was still in the original box, all the paperwork intact - even the sheet of little stickers re: the custom function settings were unused. I think it had been someone's backup camera, and honestly didn't look as if it'd had more than a couple of rolls of film through it. I love it to bits, and wouldn't want to be without it. In fact, when I was using it to shoot my last roll of Kodachrome last year, and taking my time over it, I was so lost without the EOS-3 I had to scrounge another from my mate to tide me over!
 
andy700 said:
I would probably be looking for around the £75 mark (which would include the lens, because I do not have any other Canon kit, and the lens can be used on the DSLRs I think).
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Hmm, tbh i was looking sub-£50 for what is a toy that might get little use.

I know it goes against my original question... but what is a Canon AE-1 like? There seem to be shed loads about. I know they use different lenses and are MF, but for a toy it looks quite appealing (and very cheap!). Am I right in thinking the difference between the AE-1 and AE-1 Program is the inclusion of the 'P' mode. Are there other notable differences? And why don't they have aperture priority?

Sorry for all the questions... I get like this sometimes... the brain has an idea but doesnt think it through before posting. :D
 
68lbs said:
Am I right in thinking the difference between the AE-1 and AE-1 Program is the inclusion of the 'P' mode.
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Essentially, yes.

68lbs said:
And why don't they have aperture priority?
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Because you had to buy the [cheaper] AV-1 (Aperture priority only - no manual) or [more expensive] A-1 (Program, Aperture, Shutter and Manual modes) to get that.

e2a: The A-1 was one of the first SLRs on the market to offer both Aperture and Shutter priority in the same body and the AE-1 preceded it by a couple of years.
 
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Musicman said:
The A-1 was one of the first SLRs on the market to offer both Aperture and Shutter priority in the same body and the AE-1 preceded it by a couple of years.
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Wow, how 'spoilt' are we with digital! I'd never considered having both AV and TV was a 'modern' feature. :)
 
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