

Body is expensive, lenses are insanely expensive (though they hold their value well).It's also worth keeping in mind that these are vintage objects with often-limited repairability, there are notable omissions (Yashica T3/T4, Ricoh GR, Leica M6 TTL) that are excellent cameras but aren't worth investing huge amounts of money in because once they break, that's it, many necessary parts simply don't exist anymore. There are thousands of different 35mm film cameras, but these are the ones that balance usability, modern convenience, build quality and availability the best. This list is a (highly) curated selection of cameras from a 50-year-long era of photography. If you're getting into film photography and are interested in having lots of control over your image: this is the play. They tend to be bigger than rangefinders or point and shoots, but they're less complicated, easier to shoot, cheaper, and have a much broader selection of lenses. Interchangeable lenses and a viewfinder where you're looking directly through the lens. You'll definitely be setting apertures and most likely be manually focusing, but you'll get interchangeable lenses and a reasonably compact size: win/win! Rangefinders: Most of the compactness of point-and-shoots with quite a bit more user involvement. Think of these as the absolute greatest (and reusable) version of a disposable camera that you'd find at a party. Point and Shoots: As the name suggests, these are largely automatic, compact cameras that require just about zero expertise to shoot well. Short answer: start with Kodak Portra 400 and explore from there. We've got a long list of excellent 35mm films, but, practically speaking, your choices are fairly limited as we get further and further from film's golden age.

Also, it's not like they're making any more of them.

Some of the cameras on this list - Contax's G and T line ◊ are insanely expensive these days, but the reason they got expensive is that the nerdy film photographers in 2010 (rightly) said that they were excellent. Sometimes, the price is still justifiable and at least feels rational. Now, there are a small handful that - through the hype, celebrity endorsement, or general excellence - have become quite expensive. Just about all of the mechanical ailments of vintage cameras can be fixed with a reasonably affordable CLA (Clean, Lubricate, Adjust) service from any good camera repair shop.Ĭost: There was a time when all film cameras were fairly cheap. Things that get in the way are finicky electronics (common on compact cameras from the 90s) and age. Reliability: Really the only other thing that a film camera has to do is work. Red flags with those are (generally) zoom lenses and lenses without a fixed wide aperture - think 24-70 f/4.5-5.6. For interchangeable-lens cameras, this is pretty easy, but where you'll have to be savvy is with point-and-shoot or fixed lens cameras. Great lenses: They're basically the only thing that can make one 35mm film camera "sharper" or "higher resolution" or "tonally" better than another. So, what that really means is that all great film cameras (especially when looking for vintage or used examples) share the same few things: At its most basic form, all the camera body really does is hold the lens and provide a light-proof box for the film to live in. The great news when it comes to film cameras (and 35mm cameras especially) is that the "sensor" or the medium actually recording the images is the same across all of them. What to Look for When Buying a Used Film Camera
