>>3713833In the film world, going from ~$50 to ~$100-120 buys you lots of camera. Above that is diminishing returns, for manual focus cameras.
Some general tips are:
• look for a “dead” mount (Olympus OM, Canon FD, Minolta pre-alpha, etc.). Those lenses that can’t be adapted to dSLRs easily tend to sell for cheaper. With mirrorless this is not as profound as it used to be, but the difference still exists
• look for a camera that also offers aperture priority. It will make shooting quicker and your life easier
• if the camera offers also a spot meter, you’re golden
My personal preference is the aperture priority single digit OM bodies. OM-2 and later. OM-2SP is kind of a sleeper, it offers a spot meter (useful), a mechanical backup shutter speed (1/60), and an extended ISO range (12-3200), as well as a Program mode, yet is cheaper than the OM-2.
Check Canon FD bodies (A1 and others). Also Pentax ME Super, and Minolta X-whatever.
