Greetings, I was a member of this forum a while ago but lost the link to the site when my computer crashed. I am currently contemplating acquiring a Canon film SLR camera.
Welcome back, as Gary asked what camera / lens are you intending to get. Since you absence we now have a monthly comp. just to get people out and about shooting. This month it is shadows and silhouettes.
I'm honestly not sure yet which film camera/lens set I'll buy. I'm planning to stop by my local camera store tomorrow or this weekend to see what they have available in their used case. I also need to see what's available these days film wise. My last film camera was a Pentax ME Super. I learned photography with an Argus C4 rangefinder shooting Tri-X 400 ASA B&W film.
Welcome to the forum, well there are plenty of film cameras over the decades to consider, the AE-1 was a classic of the late 70's and like the pentax k1000 was a go to camera for photo classes. ( I see you had am ME Super, a nice little camera.) There were a number of more electronic cameras with T- designations in the 80s and then Canon also had their flagship pro model the F1 through that time as well. All those cameras used FD mount, but would be closer to the ME super you had. In the 90s canon changed mounts to the EF mount or EOS line of cameras and lenses. Like today the single digit number like 1 and 3 (or 5 were used for their pro or pro-sumer cameras. the 1v was actually just discontinued in 2018. If you go to wikipedia you can look at some specs on these cameras, and there are tables with a hide/show link on them at the bottom of the page where you can see links to others like the eos3 or eos 5. I mention these cameras because you already have eos lenses and it may make sense to pair them with an eos body. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_EOS-1V Film wise there are plenty of the standard go to films Provia/Velvia/TMax/Extachrome/and Porta that you can grab in 35mm. And there are also plenty of interesting not well heard of ones, check out https://filmphotographyproject.com/ they have a podcast i listen to and they are always finding interesting films to play with.
When it comes to film cameras, there is also your op shops for these cameras as well along with lenses and other gear at a reasonable price, You will find the price of film gear has gone up a lot due to the rising popularity in film. where the price of such items were at rock bottom at markets, op shops and boot sales ten years ago, today these prices have risen greatly. While there is no longer the same quantity of paper and film available, there is still a lot of new stock available, Due to the age of many of the cameras, you will find that the light seals and mirror buffer pads have perished or become sticky, replacement kits are available off of Ebay, or cut up a computer mouse pad as the material is comparable, simply glue or use double sided sticky tape for the mirror buffer pad or in the case of the film compartment door push the seals in place. on the door there is a seal that can be replaced with thin sticky backed material available from most craft stores and are simple to replace. Another area of issue will be the battery replacement as the old mercury battery used in many older models is defunct but newer types are available such as those used in hear aids, very similar, you will find that the battery compartment will need to be cleaned to ensure good contact for the battery, clean with "white vinegar" to dissolve any leakage from old batteries and then go over the contacts with a alcohol based spirit such as "metholated spirits". On replacing the light seals, you will find some excellent instruction clips on Youtube. You will find there is a lot of us here on the forum if you need advice so all the best with it.
I stopped by my camera store (Colonial Photo & Hobby) this afternoon and a Canon A-1 with a Canon FD 50mm 1:1.4 lens and a Canon FD 55mm 1:1.2 lens followed me home along with two boxes of Kodak 400TX B&W and two boxes of Kodak UltraMAX 400 Color film followed me home. I found the manual for the A-1 on eBay and ordered a copy. I also found a PDF version of the manual which I downloaded and have started reading.
