New to film

HISK · Mar 6, 2011

So, I'm been getting an urge to begin photography as a hobby, and I want to start off with something classic like film cameras. I've absolutely been in love with the classic film thing, and is extremely excited to begin. However, I am quite new to everything, I have been watching things on youtube about exposure, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and all that, but I think i've been to excited, i hadn't learned a thing. Haha. Anyways, I was wondering if this is a good start off.

A Canon SLR AE - 1 with a 35 - 105mm lense, for $80. I am still hesitant to buy it, but the camera body and shape looks beautiful, so i'm really really anxious.

Let me know what you think! Thanks in advance.

flea77 · Mar 6, 2011

As long as you are reasonably sure it works, I say go for it!

Allan

dxqcanada · Mar 6, 2011

What are you concerned about ?

Breaux · Mar 6, 2011

I got an AE-1 in 1979, and used it until 200? when I gave it to my son - it's still working. Ergonomically, I still haven't found anything better. You will probably want a better lens at some point, but the 35-105 is a good range for general use. Back in the days of the AE-1, zoom lenses gave you noticeably less sharp images than primes.

HISK · Mar 6, 2011

Haha, well I don't know much about cameras, so I just wanted to make sure I was starting off right. Anyways, thanks for the feedback! I'm probably going to buy it and save up for a 28mm vivitar.

PASM · Mar 6, 2011

If it's in good order, I'd go ahead. Don't be intimdated by the tech aspects - piece of cake

You'll pick it up.

KVRNut · Mar 6, 2011

You really can't go wrong with the AE-1 if it's in good working order. They are a very reliable camera and have shot many rolls of film with the AE-1 over the years. You can get a 28mm Vivitar from KEH pretty cheap but I have a feeling that you'll be using the 35-105 a lot too. A couple other lens suggestions would be the Canon 200mm and 300mm prime lenses. Both are sharp and reasonably fast if you get the lenses 72mm lens opening.

Alpha · Mar 6, 2011

I really dislike the lack of aperture priority mode! YMMV.

djacobox372 · Mar 7, 2011

I personally would buy a nikon FE over an AE1, they cost about the same. The AE-1 often develops shutter problems when not used for a long period of time (evidenced by a squeaky sounding shutter). About half of the AE1's I've seen for sale have this issue.

Alpha · Mar 8, 2011

The pentax super program,me super, and k-1000 are all good options, too. Hell, you can even get an LX for really cheap on eBay these days.

HISK · Mar 8, 2011

Thanks for the feedback guys!
The camera is actually a AE-1 Program, I hadn't realized it until I actually got it.

Anyways, the camera itself hadn't been used for a while, so i'm waiting for a chance to buy film and a battery to test it, so hopefully everything is functional.