Forgot to mention the Pentax K1000 SE, too. It's basically a K1000 with split screen focusing. I wanted a K1000, though, since that's what we used in high school. Maybe we had some SE models, too, I don't remember.
Forgot to mention the Pentax K1000 SE, too. It's basically a K1000 with split screen focusing. I wanted a K1000, though, since that's what we used in high school. Maybe we had some SE models, too, I don't remember.
Also, from Classic Motorsports: Shooting Classic Cars with Classic Cameras.
I'll second the K1000. I learned how to shoot photos on one (actually a K1000 SE), even though I went to photo class with a smartphone in my pocket every day. After moving to digital photography classes, I had my beaten up K1000 SE mechanically restored but cosmetically untouched, and still have it proudly displayed in the house. It's been a decade since I've shot with it, but I have no plans to ever get rid of it.
If you think a K1000 is worth looking at, the K2, K2DMD, and KX are all worth consideration as well. K1000 has hipster tax on it.
Might as well go medium format if you want to mess around with film. Like a Fujifilm GS645 series... medium format camera that is as compact and shootable as old film SLRs. Really liked the one I had...believe it was the W model. But have no desire to go back to film and finally sold it once I was firmly converted to fully digital. One thing I would have loved though is to convert the old Olympus OM-1Ns and OM-2Ns I had to digital with a digital back... love the feel of the mechanical OMs, but honestly film is a time & space waster to me... much prefer keeping the images in the digital domain where they are instant and take up zero physical space. Someone needs to come up with a digital back for the nice old manual SLRs that just has a sensor and 'film speed' setting, saving directly to a memory card...which you download the pictures to look at them whenever you want to actually see them.
The one dream camera I always wanted was the Olympus OM-3Ti... those things are more expensive now than when they were new in the 90's, and they were expensive new. Still one of the most beautiful SLRs ever created to me... Titanium top & bottom with fully mechanical operation, battery only for the exposure system, had a window in the prism housing which made it one of the brightest and clearest viewfinders, and flash able to sync all the way to full shutter speed (1/2000) with the F280 flash unit. One of the last top end 35mm professional cameras made before the digital revolution (Nikon F5 I think was the last big, really expensive top end 35mm SLR made but it was kind of the opposite philosophy of the OM-3Ti.) Hilarious how cheap the F5s are now though... they are like 1/4 of when they were new while the OM-3Ti range from just over its original new price for a good condition one to nearly close to double that for MIB. OM-3Ti is like the original Ford Bronco of 35mm SLRs value and approach... while the F5 is like a used Bentley... LOL
Part of the reason I bought the mirrorless Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II Limited Edition Titanium was how much it took inspiration from the OM-3Ti, along with being about 1/2 the size of a traditional professional DSLR while having all the capability of one.
After reading all your comments, I decided on picking up a K1000 last night–a Japanese-made body, too. It should get here this coming Wednesday.
Thanks again for everyone's recommendations, and I'll probably keep those other models in mind if I want to take this further.
At any rate, I'll let you know how things develop.
Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
Welcome to the exciting world of the k-mount ecosystem! What's the lens situation?
Yes, totally welcome. This will be fun.
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
Just a 50 mm for now until I get the hang of it.
The 50mm is perfect.
You want to get closer to the subject? Walk on over.
Too close to the subject? Take a few steps back.
cough 40mm is perfect cough
This is great, hope we can help. There are lots of resources out there but I think there's plenty here as well (and hopefully the signal to noise ratio makes this a viable place to ask questions and get feedback).
Good luck with it. K-mount is easy and cheap, so I'm sure you'll be accumulating lenses and accessories like the rest of us soon enough - 28 and 50 is a good two lens kit. At least you had sense enough not to go down the eye-wateringly expensive Leica rabbit hole (you'd have found me down near the bottom, clutching my shiny treasures like Gollum).
For now go buy some Tri-X.
Speaking of Leica, my alternative--a Soviet copy from FED. 
I bought it via eBay from someone in Ukraine for like $20. This was a million years ago.
So, I actually picked up the A-1 this weekend. Battery is fresh.
Under bright sky with ASA set to 100, it recommended like 1/60 at f2.8.
So, we'll send that in for service. We have a camera repair shop in Orlando.
Oh, and some rabbit holes that I fell down this weekend:
How to Make Good Pictures, first edition circa 1921. (My copy is from the '30s.)
The Man Ray exhibit is opening soon here in Richmond at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts! I won't be missing this.
https://www.vmfa.museum/exhibitions/exhibitions/man-ray-paris-years/
In reply to David S. Wallens :
Yeah, that's where I started too - FED-2 with an Industar. And yet here I am with four Leica screwmount bodies, three compatible Canon LTM bodies, probably fifteen lenses, viewfinders, filters, and various other nonsense. It's a slippery slope.
I don't have a current photo of the complete pile, but here's a portion.
This is probably my favorite rig of them all - IIIg with a rare Hexanon 50/1.9. It's glorious.
I use a Minolta XE-7. It's a Leica R3 without the price and with cheaper lenses.
Don't go near https://www.shopgoodwill.com/ looking for cheap film cameras and lenses. You have been warned. 
I have a large collection of film camera's By far my favorite is my A-1. Mostly because It was sort of my ultimate dream camera back around 1980. I also ahve an AE-1. a Leica and an Exakta and a Zeiss from the 1950's and 1960's. These came from my dad and it was he that taught me about photography and it was these cameras that I learned on. The Leica and the Exakta and the Zeiss have spectacular glass but shooting with them is so clumsy compared to the A-1. The thing I remember is that after using the older cameras for a while you start to be able to know what the settings should be and you don't really need the light meter as much. I would still use it when I had the time but you will develop an eye for the light and you can dial it in "good enough" if you have to.
My best compromise between film and digital has to be my D700. I recently parried this with a 28-300 Nikor lens (that will also work on my D90) and it is a fantastic camera. What makes it special is the sensor in it is a one-off unit used by Nikon that gives you photos that require little if any post and have a film-like quality to them. Hard to describe but it is a known thing. The D700 and the D3 were the only two Nikon cameras that ever got this sensor. I have used newer cameras and I keep coming back to my D700 if I want to take really good shots. The photos have a vibe/feel that is just better. The downside is it is the D700 is a chonkey boy of a camera and the D3 is even more so. They are built like tanks. They were designed to be used in professional situations where you may not always be treating your equipment with velvet gloves.
If I was going back to the film I would go with an A-1.
If you want the feeling of film but digital go D700.
EDIT:
Good starter Kit. I may call on this as it looks to be a good deal depending on the shutter count.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/677361069889900/
Another thing is the D700 is a full frame camera that uses the FX lens's where as many of the other cameras use the DX lens. You can put the FX on a DX camera but you can not put a DX lenz on a FX camera. Since my d90 is a DX body and can use the FX lenses I have only be looking at FX glass latly so I can use it on either body. Glass for cameras is a whole nother rabbit hole you can go down.
In reply to 02Pilot :
Wow, beautiful collection. These old cameras look like pieces of art.
My EOS 630 might be (very) slightly historically significant as an early EOS, but it lacks the beauty of the A-1 and earlier cameras.
In reply to dean1484 :
Just picking up the A-1, you're right, it has a certain feel to it. I admit it's also nostalgic for me, but the balance and controls just all make sense.
Almost forgot to mention my K1000 came in the mail yesterday afternoon.
It's in fantastic condition, and the light meter works perfectly.
I haven't loaded up any film yet, but that might be an activity for this afternoon after work.
Which 50 came with it? Take the lens cap off and share what it says on the trim ring. Something like "SMC PENTAX-M 1:1.7 50mm"? The serial number and Asahi etc is taken for granted.
David S. Wallens said:The 50mm is perfect.
You want to get closer to the subject? Walk on over.
Too close to the subject? Take a few steps back.
This is the mistake people make. They don't think about the subject of the photo and end up with it being only a small portion of the final product. If the subject is people get close, fill the frame.
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