I have a Retina II rangefinder, made around 1950, that I still use. The Retina rangefinders are generally considered more reliable than the reflexes. It was my dad's and was totally non-operational for several decades. I went online and discovered Chris Sherlock's Retina Rescue in New Zealand. I sent it to him in the fall of 2018 and now have a Retina II camera that is as good as new. Turnaround time with shipping both ways was about one month. You might want to send Chris an e-mail and explore whether it would be worth it to send the camera to him. He is probably the world's leading expert on Retinas and has parts no one else on the planet has. The complete overhaul of my camera plus shipping both ways from U.S. to N.Z. and back came out to about 200 dollars. Even if you don't end up sending the camera to him, Chris could at least steer you in the right direction.

"Outdoor Photographer," Lenswork," and "Olympus Passion," which I receive online. Also, "Click," a publication designed primarily for women photographers, often has some good work in it; I buy it from time to time.

I shoot 35mm and a little bit of medium format (6 x 6). I do not think I have the patience or budget for large format. I shoot color print and slide as well as black and white. I shoot digital as well and have nothing against it but I just personally find film photography to be more fun and satisfying. I hope to go back to black and white printing now that I am retired. I tend to see digital as fast food and film photography as fine dining.

As noted, it is a Canon TLb. It was made in the early to mid 1970s. I owned its predecessor, the TL, which I bought with earnings from a summer job at the ripe old age of 14. It was my first 35mm SLR. It was a stripped down version of the FTb. It was one of the last all mechanical cameras made by Canon and was eventually replaced by the electronic AE-1 line of cameras.

I have switched to Linux Mint, which I much prefer to Windows 10. It is more intuitive and the computer runs faster. It is based Linux Ubuntu but my understanding is that Mint will be more familiar to former Windows users.

Virtually everything I have ordered from KEH has been in better condition than rated. They are my most trusted source for used equipment.

A bit before my time. The first 35mm black and white film I shot was Tri-X at around age 13.

If you turned back the clock 50 years, we would be saying that we only saw a small number of people using 35mm SLRs and that most people were using Instamatics. Smart phones are adequate for those who desire only to take snapshots, which is the vast majority of people. If one views photography as a creative art form as do most people on this site, DSLRs or mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses and adjustable exposure, white balance, etc. are required.

I would recommend the Nikon FM2n. It is fully manual and mechanical and ultrareliable. In my opinion, it is the sweet spot of that line, which started with the Nikkormat. You can probably pick up one in reasonably good shape for about $300 to $400.

Kodak Portra 160 has amazing skin tones, IMHO better than any other film or digital. Kodak Ektar 100 is great for scenics and landscapes.

I believe this as much as the rumor a month or so ago that Olympus was selling its camera division. This turned out to be a hoax.

I believe this as much as the rumor a month or so ago that Olympus was selling its camera division. This turned out to be a hoax.

For you, B and H in New York, although I generally order from Freestyle in LA because of shorter shipping times to New Mexico. Both are good sources.

D850 will yield somewhat better image quality, espcecially in low light conditions. However, you will be gaining weight and bulk and losing ease of handling. Your 50mm, which is a 75mm on the D500 and other DX cameras, will actually be a 50mm on the D850, which has a FX sensor.

I still use my Sekonic for film photography only. There is not much need for it with digital, since you can view the exposure in real time before taking the picture.