Ask what to buy as a first film camera and three names come up again and again. The Canon AE-1 and the Pentax K1000 both arrived in 1976, and the Minolta X-700 followed in 1981. All three are 35mm SLRs with a built-in meter, and you'll usually find them sold with a 50mm-class lens. They teach you photography in very different ways, though, and they fail in different ways too. Pick the one whose habits suit you.
First, make sure an SLR is what you want. If you'd rather carry something pocketable, or you like the idea of a quiet camera with a fixed lens, read SLR vs rangefinder vs point-and-shoot before going further.
The Pentax K1000 makes you learn
Asahi built the K1000 from 1976 to 1997. Production started in Japan, moved to Hong Kong in 1978 and to China in 1990, so you'll see all three on the back of bodies for sale. For years photography and art courses recommended it, and some required it, because its manual controls force you to learn exposure.
That's the whole idea of the camera. You set the shutter speed and the aperture yourself, and a needle in the viewfinder tells you if you're over or under. Center the needle and you're at the meter's suggestion. The shutter is a horizontal cloth focal-plane design running from 1 second to 1/1000 plus Bulb, and it's fully mechanical. The camera works without a battery at all. The little LR44 or SR44 button cell only runs the CdS meter, so a dead meter won't stop you shooting.
It's a plain camera. There's no self-timer and no depth-of-field preview, and the meter reads an average of the whole frame. The late K1000 SE swapped the standard focusing screen for one with a split-image rangefinder and a microprism collar, which some people find easier to focus. Lenses use the Pentax K mount.
The Canon AE-1, where millions started
The AE-1 ran from 1976 to 1984 and was the first SLR bought by millions of amateur photographers. It was also the first SLR with a digital integrated circuit inside, which let Canon fit more automation into a compact body. You pick the shutter speed and the camera picks the aperture, shown by a needle against an f-stop scale on the right of the finder. You can also set everything manually.
The shutter is a horizontal cloth focal-plane unit, electronically timed from 2 seconds to 1/1000 plus Bulb, with flash sync at 1/60. For a beginner, the big difference is power. The AE-1 does nothing without a battery. It takes a 6 V 4SR44 or 4LR44, and if that cell is dead or missing the shutter won't fire at any speed.
The AE-1 also has the most famous fault of the three. The Canon squeal is a high-pitched noise from the mirror mechanism when you fire it, put down to wear in the mirror linkage. The battery door is fragile too and breaks often. Our common faults guide covers how to hear the squeal in a seller's video. In 1981 Canon added a program mode and called it the AE-1 Program. Both use the Canon FD mount.
The Minolta X-700 can do it for you
Minolta made the X-700 from 1981 to 1999, and it was named European Camera of the Year in 1982. It has three modes. Program sets both speed and aperture, aperture priority lets you choose the aperture, and metered manual hands you everything. Program mode was a big deal then, since it let someone with no photo knowledge get a good exposure from a serious SLR.
In program or aperture priority the electronic shutter runs steplessly from 4 seconds to 1/1000. In manual you get 1 second to 1/1000 plus Bulb. One quirk catches people out. In manual mode the finder shows the speed the camera recommends, not the one you've set, so you check the dial. The viewfinder itself is very bright, which helps when you're learning to focus.
Like the AE-1, the X-700 depends on its battery. There's no mechanical shutter speed at all, even on Bulb. Its known weakness is a pair of aging capacitors, one of them buried deep inside. On the closely related X-300 the symptom is a camera that works for a dozen or so shots, then goes dark and stops responding. Lenses use the Minolta SR mount, and the program mode needs MD-series lenses. Older MC lenses still work in aperture priority and manual.
How they compare
- Without a battery. The K1000 fires at every speed. The AE-1 and X-700 won't fire at all.
- Automation. The K1000 has none. The AE-1 has shutter priority. The X-700 has program and aperture priority.
- Known fault to check. AE-1 squeal and broken battery doors. X-700 capacitors. The K1000's main enemies are the ones every old camera shares, like tired light seals and a lazy meter.
- Shutter. All three use a horizontal cloth focal-plane shutter with a top speed of 1/1000 and flash sync at 1/60.
Other good first cameras
If you want the K1000's battery-free shutter in a faster body, look at the Nikon FM2. Nikon built it from 1982 to 2001 with a vertical metal-bladed mechanical shutter that reaches 1/4000. It runs without batteries, and the cells only power the LED meter. Lenses use the Nikon F mount.
If you mostly want to take pictures and don't care about learning exposure yet, the Olympus Trip 35 is a different kind of first camera. Olympus sold over ten million of them between 1967 and 1984. A selenium cell sets the exposure with no battery anywhere, and you focus by choosing one of four zones. It's not an SLR, so you can't change lenses, but there's very little to break.
You can see every SLR in the catalog on the 35mm SLR page, or start from the Canon, Pentax and Minolta brand pages.
What to check before you pay
Even the youngest of these is decades old, so the camera in front of you matters more than the model's reputation. Ask the seller for a photo with the back open so you can see the light seals and the shutter curtain. Ask for a short video firing the slowest speeds and the fastest, and on the AE-1 listen for the squeal. Ask whether the meter needle or display moves when the lens is pointed at a lamp and then covered. On the AE-1 and X-700 that also tells you the battery contacts work, since nothing happens without power. Our guide to what listing words mean covers the rest, and the battery guide explains which cell each body needs.
What we'd buy
If you want to understand exposure, buy the K1000. A dead battery never stops it, the controls are simple, and every mistake you make teaches you something. If you want to shoot a roll this weekend and learn as you go, buy the X-700 and start in program mode, then move to aperture priority. Ask whether the capacitors have been replaced, and treat a camera that cuts out mid-roll as a repair job. The AE-1 sits between them. It's a fine camera, but pick one whose seller shows it firing without a squeal, and check that the battery door closes and latches. Whichever you choose, the lens matters as much as the body, so look for a kit with a clean 50mm.
