advice on picking a film body

Hey, I'll be taking my first actual photography class this semester. Exciting eh? So I'm looking for advice on manual bodies. I think I've narrowed it down to getting either an FA, FE2, or FM2. I'm going to stick with Nikon because I've already got the lenses. And I can find all these bodies within my price range (about $250 max). I'm leaning most toward the FA right now, but I was wondering if anyone had opinions on this. Every thing I read is just about how all the owners of these cameras love them.

If you're leaning towards FA, I'm assuming you prefer it to others because of its features, i.e., more than the other two have?

I beleive all of them are good cameras. I'm sure you know the differences among them by now. I myself use FE2 and so yes, I would recommend FE2 :-) It's been serving me well. I bought this instead of the FM2 because of its auto-exposure mode that I believe will come in handy sometimes. You may find you'd learn more about photography if you get the FM2 though.

Also, get a hand-held exposure meter.

Congrats on the upcoming class. I'm sure you'll have a blast. For me, the decision would be between the FA and the FM2. It's been a bit since reading up on these bodies but, I believe the FA is just a beefed up FE2. The FA will offer better metering and some auto features while the FM2 is an all mechanical (except for the meter) manual only camera. Personally I like the FM2 just because I like an all mechanical camera and 99% of the time I use my handheld meter. Honestly though, you can't possibly go wrong with any of these 3 cameras. If you want to fully learn the ins and outs of these bodies, click the following links:

FM2
FE2
FA

Good luck with the class. Let us know which you end up going with and why and don't forget to post some film shots for us :D

Just a quick update. I ended up ordering an FA from KEH. I've never ordered from them, so I'm interested to see how this goes. And it seems like the FA is cheaper than the FE2, or FM2 for a given body condition. I read on Ken Rockwell's site (i think it was there) that the FA never did terribly well because of the "new" matrix metering. Maybe that's why it's cheaper?

Xia Ke, thanks much for those links. I think they will come in very handy. And I will definitely be posting work, and I'm sure many questions for all of you.

One more thing. You both mentioned hand held meters being useful. I just glanced on B&H and my jaw kind of dropped at the prices. Could you recommend a good "cheap" meter. One with spot, incidence, and flash metering would be nice. But maybe that's why they're expensive. Or if you know someone that wants to get rid of an old meter, I'm always down for free stuff! Haha.

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Originally Posted by WCpilot

Just a quick update. I ended up ordering an FA from KEH. I've never ordered from them, so I'm interested to see how this goes. And it seems like the FA is cheaper than the FE2, or FM2 for a given body condition. I read on Ken Rockwell's site (i think it was there) that the FA never did terribly well because of the "new" matrix metering. Maybe that's why it's cheaper?

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I'm not sure why the FA would be cheaper. I had looked at getting one of those bodies a while back and the FA's I found always seemed to be a little more than the FE2's but, right in line with the FM2n's. I don't see why it would be the matrix metering that would cause it to be less. At the time it was pretty revolutionary and is the basis for most metering nowadays.

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Originally Posted by WCpilot

Xia Ke, thanks much for those links. I think they will come in very handy. And I will definitely be posting work, and I'm sure many questions for all of you.

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Glad the links helped. If you need a manual for the FA, CLICK HERE

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Originally Posted by WCpilot

Could you recommend a good "cheap" meter. One with spot, incidence, and flash metering would be nice.

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If I find one with all of that for cheap, I will be buying it before you...LOL A good meter is not going to be cheap. I suggest for now just to use the FA's meter. Once you get better, then pick up a meter if you find you need one. In the meantime, save your money for film, chemicals, and developing :thumbsup:

Hmm, weird. I'd read that a number of people avoided the FA because they were nervous about the matrix meter being a new thing. But your reply also makes me happy. Maybe I got a good deal. All the FA's were notably cheaper than FM2n's for the same condition. Maybe now is the time to pick one up.

Ya, I figured the meters wouldn't end up being cheap. Oh well, time to find a rich girlfriend.

True, I'm sure many were nervous at the time but, how many cameras do you know of now-a-days that use spot or centerweighted metering? It's similar to my Nikkormat EL. It didn't sell well because the thought of an electric shutter was uncomprehendable. Take a look around now though. How many cameras out there use mechanical shutters?

I've chatted with about a dozen FA users around the boards and ALL love them. My guess for the FM2n's being more is that it is more the "classic" Nikon SLR so collectors prefer them :confused:

Meters can be found reasonably if you keep an eye out. I picked up a Gossen Luna Pro S for $20 something on Ebay. It was slightly off at first but, it was a snap to recalibrate myself. They're about $150 on KEH. When/if you decide you do need one, stop back in, we'll get you set up :thumbsup:

I'm late to the conversation, but I just wanted to add a few things. I don't know much about the specific Nikon bodies you're talking about but I've looked at other old SLRs and found these general things to be true. Sometimes specific models are more sought after just because there are more of them on the market, which means there is more information to be found when researching them. Also, cameras with mechanical shutters are sometimes more popular because they can be used with out a battery, which makes some people more comfortable with reliability.

About hand-held light meters... They are always useful, but it's one extra thing to carry and fiddle with, so you should probably test the FA with it's built-in meter first before deciding if you really want to mess with it. I use a 35 y/o Minolta X-370, and I find it's center-weighted meter to be adequate, even with slide film.

Good luck with your new camera.

Paul

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Originally Posted by WCpilot

Hmm, weird. I'd read that a number of people avoided the FA because they were nervous about the matrix meter being a new thing.

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Recently, there was a thread on another popular internet forum. It mainly was about matrix metering of the newer Nikon cameras. According to some, you get more reliable results simply use the center-weighted average metering. The main reason, from what I gathered, is that you don't really know what the camera meter based its readings on. And apparently they were not happy with the results of matrix metering sometimes.

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Originally Posted by photophorous

Also, cameras with mechanical shutters are sometimes more popular because they can be used with out a battery, which makes some people more comfortable with reliability.

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That's why I got myself a purely mechanical camera; it doesn't even have an in-camera exposure meter.

Incidentally, FE2 can be used without battery. But there's only one shutter speed you can use: 1/250, the same one for flash.

AgingEyes, it's the same with the FA. It has a mechanical 1/250 and bulb works with no battery. That was a big consideration for me. I really like the idea of a purely mechanical camera. But I think I might save up and get the FM3a later on if film becomes a big thing for me. Best of both worlds there. Just a lot more expensive, haha.

As far as the metering things go, from what I've seen there is a better way to meter for different situations. I go between spot and matrix on my digitals. And I'm pretty sure one of my friends has a hand held meter. So maybe I'll just play with their's and the FA meter to see which I prefer. And thanks for all the advice. I really appreciate it.