Recommand a film camera please.

just saw an A-1 with a motor drive MA and a 50mm go for $100 2 days ago. had to resist the urge to grab it myself. I would grab another A-1 in a heartbeat. http://shop.ebay.com …_sacat=See-All-Categories

Probably outside your budget, but a 1V will knock your socks off . . . photographicly as well as literally!

mattograph wrote in post #7278452
The Pentax K1000. You can pick one up for $100 on ebay with a fast 50 included.

Betchya lots of folks here popped many a roll of tri-x through one. I still have mine. (Not for sale.)

I had one and sold it several years ago. I'm currently bidding on a ME Super on ebay.

Go for a Canon A1. I bought mine in the early 80's and it is still going strong. My daughter is going to use it when she starts her photograpy couse at school. These can be picked up with a 50mm lens very cheaply on ebay.
An excellant retro film camera.

madhatter04 wrote in post #7278299
EOS3!

+1 on the EOS 3 from another CSULB photo student

The Canon A-series cameras (AE-1/AE-1 Program/A-1 etc) take FD/FL mount lenses. Great cameras, great lenses and sometimes you can find really good FD lenses for cheap- but if you want to use these older Canon lenses on your DSLR it can be a big pain in the neck because of the FD/FL mount design. Search through the forums if you're not familiar with this and want to know more about using old manual lenses on DSLRs.

(There are some other, less common, A-series bodies- not all of them have AV and/or manual exposure.)

You might want to go for a Nikon to have the option of using their old manual lenses on your DSLR. It just takes an inexpensive adapter, $20 and up on eBay for example, to mount most Nikon/Nikkor lenses on your EOS.

They're not the only manufacturer whose lenses adapt to EF mount very easily, but going with Nikon is probably the simplest option. Just be careful with the 5D mirror- do your research, lots of info is here on POTN.

The FM/FM2 is manual exposure only, no AV.

The EM/FG-20/FG/FE/FE2/FA bodies might be the kind of thing you're looking for: the FE/FE2 for quality construction, FG/FG-20 for small and light (but pretty cheaply built).

madhatter04 wrote in post #7278299
EOS3!

Looks like a nice camera! might be hard to find under $100 though. I picked up a EOS 1000N for $20 + postage which will leave you with enough for a second hand lens also. It's a basic camera, but it does the job.

Nikon N2020 is good too. (made in 1986)

Eos-3.

I have an A2 with grip... its on Ebay right now.

I still have my old 1980s AE1, MANUEL & AUTO, no AV .With canon original canon leather bag, 50mm lens. & tele-plus macro lens, stalingrad exsposure meter,
i dont surpose that i will ever use again.
Sad really , I prefer digital now.

http://cgi.ebay.es …A12%7C39%3A1%7C​240%3A1318

this one looks good - im watching on the zeiss he has...

I notice a lot of EOS-3 users on this thread.. If anyone is interested, I have an EOS-3 with the Power Drive Booster PB-E2, in excellent condition that I would like to sell. If anyone is interested, e-mail me at snaphoto@aol.com

Thanks

Dave

Nikon, Minolta, Olympus, Contax, Pentax all come to mind in terms of cameras that have nice and mostly more-or-less affordable MF glass that can be used (via an adaptor) on an EOS body.

Or go hardcore and get a medium format system. I feel that has a bit more of a point than a film SLR, really. Still orienting myself, but those second hand contax, pentax, mamiya 645s are tempting...

Try: Minolta X700 or X300, Pentax P30, K1000, ME Super, Olympus OM-whatever, any old Nikon...

I don't blame you for wanting something slightly older. Go for anything that is pre-plasticky crap...!