The BEST 35mm Film Cameras For Beginners In 2025

I've been shooting film for years and now I'm passing some of me info. These are some of the film cameras that I'd suggest to a mate that was just starting out.

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Thank you all for the time you take to watch my videos!

Max

[gojira]

Thanks for sharing this video! I myself started shooting last May using a Kodak Ektar H35N and an Olympus Pen FT. I keep on learning new things about photography using these half-frame cameras. I have since built a modest collection of cameras, most of which are rangefinders and half-frame units. I’ve since replaced the H35N with an Olympus Pen EF, which has almost the same function and price but has a better focusing mechanism and better lens.

It’s very informative and helpful, though I would like to point out some corrections:

- The Olympus Trip 35 is essentialy a semi-automatic point and shoot camera, since it uses the selenium meter to autofocus. It does not use a rangefinder system, but rather relies on zone focusing, where the user “guesstimates” the distance of the subject.

- The Olympus Pen FT is a half-frame SLR, but its design and structure is borrowed from the Leica III.

- For rangefinders, I would recommend either an aperture-priority camera like the Yashica Electro 35 GSN or the shutter-priority/manual camera like the the Olympus 35RC and Canonet QL17 GIII. Since they are fixed lens rangefinder cameras, they are easy to use and are relatively cheap.

Thanks!

[Maartenols]

Thanks for this. It all started with a $5 Konica Pop for me and an Ultramax Film. Bought some stuff, a lot of stuff. But still in love with this Konica Pop. And my Olympus OM2 N of course. With a 28 mm, a 50 mm and a 135 mm lens. :)

[lexusuk]

Great video and would have been helpful a few years back. I personally started with an Olympus OM-10 SLR with a 50mm f1.8 and a Konica Auto S3 rangefinder. From my experience i'd say the SLR is the way to go as long as you can find something with a working light meter and light seals that aren't toast.

[ericlarson]

I started as a film shooter in the 70s and a Nikon shooter in the 90s before i migrated to digital in 2004. I shot with many film cameras over the years. My go-to camera before my transition was the Nikon F100/ not only a great beginner camera but also a great pro camera. I wish I still had mine. Buyers should make sure their copy doesn’t have a “sticky” rubber grip, as some of these cameras exhibited this issue as the rubber grips degraded over the years

I’d also recommend the Nikon FM, all manual, and bulletproof build, and can be picked up in excellent condition for around $150

[thomasrichards]

Excellent video, mate! I’ve great success with the Trip 35 for travel photography; it gives you the flexibility of zone focusing (as you said), or dialling in an in-between setting thanks to the focal distance being displayed in feet and metres on the underside. Along with the Trip 35, I’ve been using an Olympus OM20 as my manual SLR, and a Minolta 7000af as my electronic SLR. It’s turned out to be a nice combo of cameras to have!

[pdtech]

I'd say the olympus trip 35 is a good place to start film photography.
Just make sure the selenium cell is metering light correctly!

Also for half frame, I can recommend the Olympus pen range of half frame film cameras, I have the EE model, paid just £15 for it but that lens is a beauty !

[NeubauerMM]

One STEP down from the Nikon F100 is my trusted F90x … nice Video 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[petronius]

The Olympus Trip is no rangefinder but a zone/scale focus camera and the Pen FT is a SLR, so your rangefinder category is a little bit messed up.

[mixschrecks]

I’m a cheapskate so I recommend 1. Ask family if they have any old cameras not being used 2. Thrift/ charity shops. Otherwise great video!

[marioarias]

Back in the day a black- bodied camera was considered ‘ professional’ the silver edition were thought as being amateur.

[jeffmurray]

Great video! Even as someone who has been shooting film for quite some time, I would love to try out some of these cameras especially the range finders since I've never shot on that kind of camera.

However, I'm curious as to why you would think that the Pentax 17 is a flop? It seams to be pretty well received, at least among the photographers here in the Bay Area.

[taffpunk]

How is the Pentax 17 a flop? It’s selling boat loads, constantly sold out in japan. Ricoh have said they’re ramping up production because they are struggling to keep up with the demand…

[Jerry]

I look at point and shoot cameras not as good film cameras. Some are good. But to me the phone camera took over the place of a point and shoot camera. You have no control over the shot except composition. For a rangefinder it should be something that you can shoot on manual. But not good for a beginner. The SLR is the best camera to learn on. I agree the K1000 is one of the best to learn on. Any camera with automatic features are amateur cameras. They are those who don’t know much about photography. It’s lazy to use automatic features. You learn best using manual. A pro can use these cameras, but a pro knows what they are doing.