pj81156 Loc: St. Petersburg, FL

I expect Paul in Chicago to answer this, but I welcome the rest of you. Paul highly recommends the 1v. I shoot with the Maxxum 9 with a few of their best prime lenses. But like a lot of HOGS I get the urge to try something new. What do you think? I’ve had the Nikon F4 and F5 but they are like carrying around a bowling ball. The F6 is a more than a little pricy. So, help me out. Thanks. Paul, from the sunshine state.

One more thing. I also have an Olympus OM2s and a Minolta XE-7, and would consider a manual focus camera.

RodeoMan Loc: St Joseph, Missouri

Do you expect that the images you have printed from the negatives of whatever camera you choose will be better than those from the cameras you are currently using?

Or

If there is some aspect or feature of the film cameras you are currently using that is not meeting your needs, then look for one that does.

pj81156 Loc: St. Petersburg, FL

No and no. Just the idea that maybe it’s time to try something new. Don’t you wonder about that?

MrPhotog

If you want to try something new, get something currently being made, and get it new.

You don’t have a lot of choices if you are shooting film.

Otherwise, it can be a real waste of money to buy camera systems ( body plus lenses plus ‘necessary’ gadgets) just to try something different. Rent them instead. Film equipment, particularly camera bodies, has mostly dropped a lot in sale price—it is used, there is a lot around, and not a huge demand. But pro-quality gear is still being rented out. So rent some.

You should negotiate as long a lease time as you can get for a reasonable cost. Ask if you can have some ( or all ! ) of your rental fee applied to the purchase price should you decide to buy it, and lock down a purchase price.

So, with a month-long lease you het plenty of time to explore the equipment. Of you like it you don’t send it back, instead you send more money. And if you don’t like it, then back it goes and you don’t need to wait for it it sell on eBay in order to recoup some of the money you paid.

Just a thought.

RodeoMan Loc: St Joseph, Missouri

Actually I do. I used to shoot film and enjoyed using various kinds of film cameras such as the Olympus XA and the Stylus Epic, both compacts. I liked using my Pentax K-1000 and the ME. Then there were the Canon's A1 and the T-90 and many others. I even had some APS cameras that I used for awhile. I still have some 30 rolls of B&W APS film, many other rolls left over from my film days. I often find videos on youtube I enjoy featuring photographer who shoot with film that I enjoy. Good luck with your search.

pj81156 Loc: St. Petersburg, FL

Remember this is a film photography section. It’s film cameras I am talking about.

RodeoMan Loc: St Joseph, Missouri

I presume your reply was for Mr Photog.

MrPhotog

Assuming this is addressed to me: I perfectly understand this is for film cameras. And There are film cameras being built. And they are hard to find.

Last year Pentax announced they would be bringing out a new design, likely a point and shoot model. I haven’t seen one yet. There are also disposable 35 mm cameras from Fuji, and some minor brands. I doubt any of these would satisfy you. So, consider the Leica M-6. You would have a hard time arguing against this icon being an extremely precise, durable, and professional camera. If you haven’t used a Leica, well, you should.

By the way, it ain’t cheap, and it can be rented.

You may want used lenses to go with a new body, just to save a few dollars. They are more reasonable, but certainly not cheap, either.

Cost on Leica equipment is strange. Unlike almost every other brand, which depreciates, Leicas go up in value over time. The M-4 I bought new in 1972 for $450, despite 50 years of use, would fetch me about $2000 tomorrow. The used 35 mm lens I bought with it for $160 is worth about $1300 today. My cost per year to use these? A negative amount. So while the equipment is not cheap to buy, it is an incredible value to use.

If you are considering larger formats, Chamonix and Intrepid are making new view cameras, as is Sinar. As silver prices and film costs, soar the ability to use non- silver processes with larger formats is possibly an alternative. Should something totally destroy the manufacture of all chemical-based photographic film, the raw materials are still available to use these cameras for wet-plate methods. Coat your own glass or metal plates at home. Develop as positives, or make prints with silver salts mixed into egg whites ( albumen prints).

In medium format there are a handful of cameras that accept 120 roll film and can be mostly 3-d printed. You can get the files and print these yourself or order one from the makers.

The lenses are available used, and in abundance, which puts really great glass in your hands for a fraction of what these sold for 10 years ago.

whfowle Loc: Tampa first, now Albuquerque

It seems that your main urge for change is to "try something new". You have dismissed the Nikon as being a "bowling ball". Well, the 1V is about the same. So, to try something new, maybe consider getting some new glass for the Maxxum. All the last film cameras made by Nikon and Canon are complex and require time and study to master. Just remember that old or new film cameras just are holders for the film. The quality of the image is a direct result of your skill and the quality of the glass.

BebuLamar

If you don't like the weight then I don't think either the 1v or Maxx 9 would fit the bill. Manual focus/manual film advance you can consider the F3.

joelbolden

I shoot with the Maxxum 9, in fact I'm using it at the moment, but I also like variety in my film cameras. I've a number of other Minolta, Pentax, Olympus, Konica cameras, both SLR and rangefinder, but the 3 I use the most are the Olympus XA(always in my camera bag), Minolta Maxxum 7, which is as capable as the 9, but much lighter, and my Pentax LX, which is the finest film camera I own and gets used the most. Since I also shoot Pentax DSLR's exclusively, I appreciate the ability to use most of Pentax's lenses, except the PLM types on both cameras.

pj81156 Loc: St. Petersburg, FL

I haven’t been a Pentax guy since the Spotmatic F, but I wondered about the LX. Maybe I should give it a try. Also had and loved the Olympus XA.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I have an Olympus Infinity; it is a fine camera, but accepts virtually no adjustments, so I use it with ISO 800 or ISO!400 film to ‘force’ it away from slowish speeds.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Others have said much the same I'd say. The benefits of the EOS 1v are 1, the level of sophistication of the camera; 2, the use of EF lenses, including the modern IS-enabled models; 3, the rugged 1-series pro-build of the camera.

But, the camera is large and heavy. I actually have the even larger HS version (High Speed) with the integrated grip holding 8x AA-batteries inside the grip.

2nd but, if you don't have the EF lenses, there are no options to enable any other lens into this film body. So, the idea of trying something new depends on your lens options too.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I checked eBay just now. I gave up on page 40 - something like 30 lenses per page. If you were to “limit yourself” to EF-mount lenses, frankly, that is not much of a limit.