What is the best camera brand for a 35mm Single lens reflex? (manual) Nikon Nikons, Canons and Prakticas are all great. It's all about the lens though. I use my Praktica the most becasuse I can put my Zeiss lens on it. Any way you look at it, there are so many great film SLRs out there that you really can't go wrong. So long as it all works and the lens is clean, you should be good.
Of course, anything I can put a Zeiss lens on will always be at the top of the list in my book! Best I don't know. There were very good Nikons, Canons, Pentex's and Minolta's. Probably some I can't remember. The only major maker still producing a manual 35mm SLR camera is Nikon, with the FM10. However, there is a good range of secondhand equipment about from Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Ricoh and others. As indicated elsewhere, the key issue is whether this camera will form the start of a wider system with other lenses, flash equipment, etc.
There are currently three major mounting systems.
Nikon's F mount goes back to 1959, and there have been several hundred different lens models produced in that time. There are three generations of manual focus lenses and about five generations of auto-focus lenses from Nikon. This mount is also used by Fuji and some Kodak digital SLRs.
Canon's EF (EOS) mount, which goes back to 1987. There are no manual cameras that use the EF, and I don't think it is used by others.
Pentax K mount goes back to 1975. This mount has been used on about 20 other brands including Ricoh, Cosina, Vivitar and Chinon.
Canon did have an earlier, manual focus mount, known as the FD. It was used from about 1971 through to the late 1980s in two generations (FD and FDnew). The last manual camera to use this was the FTbN or its stripped down clones the TX and TLb. These were made in the mid to late 1970s, and will now be well over 25 years old. This does not mean you cannot get a good example, but it is just a bit more difficult.
Pentax made a manual camera, the K1000, from 1975 to 1997. This was seen as a classic beginners camera, giving access to the range of good quality lenses available from Pentax, Ricoh, Tamron etc.
Ricoh's last manual camera was the KR5. It was introduced in 1979, and upgraded in 1981 (KR5 Super) and again in 1989 (KR5 SuperII). It uses the K mount.
Nikon still produces the entry level FM10. This is produced for Nikon by Cosina, but is still a competent camera. The previous Nikon made manual camera was the FM2n, produced from 1983 to 2001. |
