I'm up visiting my uncle in Portland and he's a retired freelance photographer. He has basically talked me into getting a Canon EOS-1n film camera. It's his main camera and he loves it. He doesn't own a DSLR and he says that he never will. No he's not old and afraid of technlology. He has a digital Olympus p&s that he travels with. The reason I haven't gotten a DSLR yet is the money. I don't have much money and can't afford a $1,000 camera. And I hate to settle for a lesser camera and get one of the entry level dslrs. I think this might be the route I should go. I can pick up a used 1n for @ $300 on ebay with a lens or two. What do you guys think? Are there any film guys on here anymore?

Maybe it's me, but I see digital as the way to go. Save your $, buy used bodies and glass.

Picture taking is limited by memory cards and your patience. Everything you've done is recorded in the image or the exif for you to pick through later. Every ISO is available at your fingertips. The results are immediately available for review (histogram is a priceless tool) in-camera and on a computer. You print the keepers if you want.

I guess the question I would ask is why do you want a film body? There are a few good reasons, but I don't see the pros outweighing the cons, especially for someone who is learning.

I would choose a used EOS D60 and tamron 28-300 both through eBay.<ul><li><a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-EOS-D60-digital-SLR-camera-body-D-60-DSLR_W0QQitemZ7594294144QQcategoryZ43454QQssPageNa meZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem">http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-EOS-D60-digital-SLR-camera-body-D-60-DSLR_W0QQitemZ7594294144QQca

Shoot film - you're forced to carefully compose and take your photos, and opportunity to learn how to develop the film and try out various kinds of film. Learning curve - probably slower. Cheaper up front but cost after for film and development, though the time to get to the total you spent for a digital gear and memory will depend on how fast you burn through film.

Shoot digital - instant feedback and faster turnaround of course. Learn quickly as you're able to look at the image and figure out if the exposure is correct, etc. Up front cost is the body. Memory is pretty cheap now.

Cost for lens is going to be excluded as whatever you buy for the film body will work with the digital body.

I'd say, check fredmiranda.com for used equipment there. I'd stay away from everything else.

I'm sure I'll go digital at some point, but I really enjoy film. I also enjoy having film negatives/slides for posterity. I'm still not convinced the CDs/DVDs/file formats are still going to be readable in the far future.

Yes, film processing can get expensive if you shoot alot. And once you throw in a roll, you're stuck with that speed/type until you finish it. One definite nice thing about digital is you can adjust the ISO to fit the need of each shot/setting.

though it was a real waste of money and time...

It may be the point of hobby to waste money and time...

Yeah long term life of CD/DVD/etc. is still questionable. I'll be recreating all of the DVDs after a few years as a second copy... or get a RAID storage, or this and that.

File formats - I'm not too worried about it. Just keep an old copy of whatever RAW converter you have. Plus Adobe's attempt to create a standard RAW format for all camera manufacturers might not be implemented by everybody.

and that's with a 2 week trip to Peru that used up 30 rolls.

I get most of my print film developed at Costco 1hr + Photo CD
1 roll w/cd is about $9

Slide film, I have developed at a lab and then scan the ones I like by hand using a friend's scanner.
1 roll of slide is about $6

I think I shot 10 - 15 rolls of slide this year at most.

So assuming 15 rolls of slide at $6, plus 85 rolls of print at $9, that comes out to $845 in film processing alone. Take into account the actual cost of the film itself, and I'm sure it's well over $1k.

So, if you shoot enough, the costs will definitely even out quickly.

Of course, it's not just the dSLR you're buying, you've got to think about extra batteries, flash cards, cables, hard drives, etc.

DSLR consumables are relatively cheap in comparison. 1GB CF is around $60 I think and that'll hold at least 200pics. I just bought a 250GB hard drive for $120. Throw in the new flash drive that I bought for $35 and I've spent just a little over $200 on accessories to go with the camera.
Batteries I'm not sure on but I don't think a DSLR will eat batteries that much faster than a film SLR. I've been very happy with how many pics I've been getting out of the 20D between charges.

I only did because I had a couple of trips, and I suck at photography, so I compensate by over-shooting.

On the plus side, cleaning my camera is a breeze. I never have to worry about dust on the sensor, firmware updates or the $1500 camera becoming 'obsolete' in 5 months.

I'd say before this year, I shot maybe 2 at most 3 dozens rolls of film a year. If I had a big trip lined up, maybe 5 dozen rolls. So in that scenario, it really wasn't that much money I was putting towards film. Probably less than the depreciation of any new dSLR I would have bought.

Although its mostly B/W and I process and print myself. As good as DSLR's are, its hard to get good b/w prints from the lab with them. Not to mention, a wet print makes a much better conversation piece at a parties in the house....

to make prints.