Best 35mm camera?

i am starting photo classes in the fall and will need a 35 mm camera! i own a digital canon rebel now, which i LOVE!

i also have a nice zoom lens? would that work on a canon 35mm?

Try the ELAN? Hope your lens isnt a EF-S lens or you wont be able to use it on it.

If you really want to learn everything from basic (without all that automatic that pamper you) try AE-1. It's not expensive.

1 tip for you before going to class. The good thing with learning with film is you're forced to learn framing because each bad frame will cost you film, processing, time and money (total loss). With digital it won't and it's the main advantage of digital right? 100% wrong. People take mistake in digital easy as it won't cost you. But you missed the moment and you can't recreate it. So with film people are framing more carefully and hopefully you take this experience to digital (which will lower your cost) and won't miss any of that great moment.

Imagine you're telling your kids to fall from trampoline again(great moment sometimes painfull) I bet he throw some rock at you

I agree that something like the AE-1 would be a good choice. And your lens would mount on that camera. However, your lens may not have an aperture ring, and there would be no way to control the aperture from the AE-1. I would suggest buying a manual camera with it's own zoom lens (can be had for cheap these days) or even just a prime lens to learn "sneaker zoom" technique. Something like a Pentax K1000 with a 50mm lens comes to mind. Or a Nikon FM2. These cameras were built in a much earlier era when mechanical dinosaurs roamed the earth...

By learning the basics of exposure (the relationships between shutter, aperture, light and film speed), framing (as stated in the other response above), perspective and distance (by using a prime lens), you'll be way ahead of those that just rely on their camera to make every decision for them. Then when you go back to your digital rebel, it will be such a joy to use!

I can't understand why ANY photo course still uses film cameras.

Digital gives you immediate feedback and costs next to nothing. The principles are all the same -- composition, focus, perspective, aperture, shutter speed etc.

The only thing digital lacks is the smelly chemicals -- no loss.

I suspect these courses persist because "that's the way the professor learned" or some such rubbish.

If you want to learn specifically how to operate a film camera, fine. But if you want to learn photography, ditch the course and find one based on digital.

BTW the finest film camera ever made is the Nikon F2 ;-)