7 Classic Film SLR Cameras Worth Buying Today

It truly warms my heart how much people are gravitating towards film photography. Don't get me wrong, I'm not naive to think that film is winning the battle of film vs. digital photography, especially with everyone having a smartphone camera in their pockets. However, there is still a rise in people harkening back to the days of analog. My background is in filmmaking, which means my love affair with film photography began quite early as it often served as excellent training ground before getting into moving pictures. For many, many years, I have been shooting my own photographs, and I can firmly say that there is no better way to improve your skills as a photographer than by utilizing film. Because your stock is limited, it forces you to put far more care into your images than you might if you're just snapping countless photos with your smartphone.

A great way to get into film photography is by using a single-lens reflex, or SLR, camera. This is a camera designed with a mirror and prism allowing the user to see what is being captured through one lens rather than multiple. We are very familiar with SLR cameras today because of their digital counterparts in DSLRs, making the transition to the analog much smoother. If you are someone wanting to purchase your first film camera or want to upgrade the equipment you already have, I have selected seven SLR cameras that you should check out. These have been chosen through a mixture of my own personal experience and the opinions of other sites and photographers as well.

There is no list of great SLR cameras that does not include at least one entry from Canon. For many decades, this company has been producing high quality pieces of equipment that are relatively easy to use. Out of all of the classic SLRs it has produced, the one that arguably stands tallest among the rest for 35mm photography is the Canon New F-1. This first hit the market back in 1981, and if you are someone who either has the basic mechanics of analog photography down or want to be thrown in the deep end to learn, this makes for a great grab-and-go option.

This is a totally manual camera, allowing a photographer the most control over their image. However, there are attachments available that can turn it into an aperture priority or shutter priority camera. It also features a terrific internal light meter, allowing you to get just the right exposure you want for your image. The New F-1 utilizes an FD lens mount, which was the common Canon lens mount for all these older models. Nowadays, Canon utilizes an EF mount for its DSLRs, so if you want to use those more modern lenses that you might already have, you will either need to get an FD to EF adapter or just manually switch out the lens mount yourself. The Canon New F-1 is a terrific workhorse of an SLR camera.

The only drawback to the Canon New F-1 is the price, which can run people several hundred dollars secondhand. For those looking for something a bit cheaper, then the best Canon offering for you is the A-1. The A-body Canon cameras make for some of the best entry points to film photography out there, and in my experience, it is the A-1 that stands above models like the AE-1 or AE-1 Program. What separates the A-1 from these other models is its flexibility, and as a photographer, being able to manipulate the settings to your preferences could not be more important.

The Canon A-1 allows for fully manual operation, but if you are new to photography and are a little hesitant about that, the camera also offers shutter priority and aperture priority modes that can help guide you in crafting the image you desire. This also has what is known as a Program mode that will automatically adjust your exposure settings based on the information gathered by the internal light meter. Having this range of options also allows beginners to gradually work their way from Program to manual before moving on to cameras that are more solidly made with higher quality parts. Like the New F-1, it utilizes an FD lens mount, and there are plenty of lenses out there to purchase. The Canon A-1 was the first 35mm camera I ever bought for myself, and it remains one that I use quite often.

Canon is not the only major player in the camera game, and depending on who you ask, they aren't at the top of the pyramid either. The other brand you should be looking out for is Nikon. While the company's most recent entry in its F-series of SLRs called the F6 is a terrific camera that somehow managed to stay in production until 2020, the classic model that you should be looking at is the Nikon F2. This was Nikon's camera of the 1970s, and many would consider this to be the top of the mountain when it comes to 35mm SLRs, such as The Phoblographer.

Unlike the previously mentioned Canon cameras, the Nikon F2 is entirely mechanical, and you do not need a battery to operate it, unless you want to utilize its light meter or the detachable motor drive. Even if you were using these features, you can continue to take photographs after your battery dies without worry. All you need to do is figure out what exposure settings you require another way.

What also separates it from Canon is the F lens mount. While Canon basically makes you use only Canon lenses, Nikon lets you utilize lenses from companies ranging from Zeiss to Schneider to Sigma and more, including Nikon's own lenses. The Nikon F-series had four more models after this, but there's just something special about the F2.

While the Nikon F2 is a phenomenal camera, people may want to have something a bit more modern, and for that, they should go with the Nikon FM3A camera. This is by far the newest camera on this list, first hitting the market in 2001, but even though it's nearly 25 years old, it has become a bonafide classic already and ranks as one of the best SLRs ever by sites like Casual Photophile.

Despite being a newer camera, its build is very much indebted to the Nikon's of old, such as the aforementioned F2, and it has the ability to be fully manual without the use of a battery. For some cameras, this can limit the speeds you are able to shoot at, but the FM3A has no such limitation. However, if you do want to utilize an electronic auto-exposure setting for your shoots, it is also capable of performing that as well with a battery.

The FM3A also utilizes the F lens mount, giving you access to all of those older lenses that a camera like the F2 would use. As this is a newer camera, you can also use more modern autofocus lenses as well, that are a bit easier to find, though you'll still need to manually focus them on this camera. There's little to dislike about the Nikon FM3A, outside of its typical $700 to $900 price range.

Canon and Nikon are not the only companies out there that produced quality 35mm film SLR cameras. The marketplace was filled with them in decades past, including companies like Minolta and Leica. The one with arguably the strongest fanbase is the Olympus OM-1, which is a contemporary to the Nikon F2. This is a fully mechanical, fully manual SLR camera that works fairly similarly to the other cameras mentioned thus far. The biggest advantage this has is its size. Olympus' goal with the OM-1 was to make the smallest 35mm SLR it possibly could, and it succeeded. At just 136mm wide, 83mm tall, and 50mm thick, this is an SLR that could actually fit into people's pockets (if you take off the lens). For comparison, the Nikon F2 is 152.5mm wide, 98mm tall, and 56mm thick. The small size of the OM-1 also means that it only weighs 510g, compared to the Nikon F2's 730g.

The Olympus OM-1 does technically take a battery if you want to use the internal light meter, but it was designed to take a mercury battery. Obviously, mercury batteries have been banned for many years now, so you will need to do some digging in order to find a replacement that works. If the internal light meter doesn't appeal to you, everything else that the camera can do can be accomplished mechanically. You can usually find an Olympus OM-1 anywhere from $50 to $175.

When most people talk about film photography and SLRs, the conversation usually just surrounds 35mm film. This is the most popular and affordable celluloid out there, so that makes sense. However, there are other film formats that photographers love to use, such as medium format film. Unlike 35mm, medium format actually encompasses several different sizes of film stock, but the one you are more than likely going to find nowadays is 120. The actual aspect ratio of that film will be determined by the camera you put it in, and for the first medium format SLR camera on this list, we are looking at 6x7 ratio for the Asahi Pentax 6x7.

This is a camera that is much larger than the previously recommended 35mm SLRs because it needs to accommodate the larger film format. Although it features a wooden handle attached to it, you really need a tripod to properly operate it, as you need both hands to adjust things like focus, exposure, etc. Plus, it is quite heavy. Unlike the other cameras here, you need a battery to work the shutter properly. You may also find that you have to change the battery often thanks to how much power is needed to operate it. Other than that, its functionality works remarkably similar to a 35mm SLR, so if you are transitioning your way into medium format photography, the Asahi Pentax 6x7 is a great starting point.

If there is a company that you need to know when it comes to medium format cameras, it is the Swedish company Hasselblad. This is a company that has been around since the early 1840s, but it was not until about a century later that it started manufacturing cameras of its own, rather than just distributing photographic materials from companies like Kodak. Its medium format cameras have been used in everything from World War II planes to the Apollo space missions. Hasselblad's 500 series began in the late 1950s, but in 1970, it released what is arguably the best in that line, the Hasselblad 500 C/M.

This is a 6x6 square aspect ratio camera that can take either 120 or 220, though 120 is probably what you will be using nowadays. The C/M modifications that upgraded it from just the 500 C included a built-in exposure meter, along with an interchangeable focusing screen. Being able to change what kind of focus screen you use can be massive for a photographer, allowing you the best displays for a variety of different photographic situations. Photographing a landscape requires a different focus style than a person's portrait.

The Hasselblad 500 C/M is also completely mechanical. There is no battery required to operate the metering or shutter. This camera was on the market for 24 years in its production run and remains one of the high watermarks for medium format SLR cameras.

There are hundreds of SLR film cameras that have been made overtime. Making this list came down to a few different factors. First off, I wanted to have representation for both 35mm and medium format cameras. Lists like this can so often focus on just one type, but photography is a very wide-ranging art form. You need to have many choices. Secondly, I have personal experience using some of these cameras, particularly the 35mm models, and I wanted to infuse this list with my own history and preferences. However, I am just one person, and I also wanted to take into account the opinions of other photographers and sites, including Casual Photophile, The Phoblographer, Analog Cafe, Shotkit, Emulsive, B&H Photo, and more.

I also wanted to give different brands time to shine. This list could have been exclusively Canon and/or Nikon, but there are other companies with worthy SLRs out there. Lastly, I wanted to have a wide price range. Not everyone looking for a film SLR camera has the same budget or needs, so having something that can cost $75 like the Olympus OM-1 or one that can cost thousands like the Hasselblad 500 C/M was important. Taking all of that into consideration, these seven cameras were selected.