The major brands of Japanese 35mm film SLR (single lens reflex) manual focus cameras made from the 1960s through the 1980s are among the best buys in cameras on Ebay today. An advanced amateur 35mm film camera from this era costs on eBay about 1/5 as much as an entry-level digital SLR today and delivers better quality photos. A pro 35mm film camera system from this era costs on eBay about 1/10 as much as a pro digital SLR system and, yes, delivers better quality photos. 35mm film simply has higher resolution and sharpness, as well as better tonal range. The chief advantage of the digital SLR is convenience. If you want to match picture quality with 35mm film SLRs you need to spend a small fortune to get a digital medium format camera.

In my opinion, Nikon, Canon, and Pentax 35mm film SLRs and lenses occupied the top tier in the 1960s. Cameras aimed at amateurs and made by Olympus, Minolta (partnered with Leica), Fujica, Mamiya, and Konica caught up in the 1970s, and by the 1980s Yashica (partnered with Contax) was also making excellent SLR cameras. Each brand has its partisans. As a professional photographer for more than 35 years I've used them all.

How well have the cameras held up? For mechanical reliability, the Nikon F, F2, and the Canon F1, aimed at professionals, were the most rugged. Down a notch in build quality but still very well built were the Nikkormats (FTn and later), the rest of the Canon F series (FT, FTb, FTbn), and the relatively compact Pentax Spotmatic series. Nearly on a par were the Minolta SRT series, the Konica Autoreflex series (the early ones had very rugged bodies, but their meters were a weak spot), the Ricoh Singlex, and the very compact Olympus OM series. In the 1970s, Canon's auto exposure A-series (AE1, AE1 Program, A1) became the most popular advanced amateur cameras, while a some of Minolta's X-series cameras, particularly the X-700, drew even with Canon's A-series in quality if not popularity. The Minolta X-700 along with the Canon AE1 and AE1 Program have held up well. Pentax phased out the Spotmatic and built a series of less rugged but feature-laden cameras, the M-series, along with a more durable line, the K-series, including the legendary K1000, which is often recommended for photography classes. Because more pros used Nikon SLR equipment than any other, some older Nikon cameras (F, F2, F3) and Nikkor lenses show a lot of wear, so be careful about condition. Nonetheless, Nikon's pro cameras were more rugged (if less convenient) than their competitors, and had larger systems of lenses, focusing screens, motor drives, etc. In the 1980s Minolta revolutionized the popular SLR market with its excellent autofocus system aimed at the amateur, and other makers introduced very clever autofocus models; but in that decade the cameras began to be built with a good deal of plastic, and more electronic circuitry--all of which conspired to make them fragile compared to their predecessors, as the era of manual focus SLR cameras came to an end (with the exception of a few holdovers).

Pentax, Nikon, and Canon lenses gave me the best quality photos. I would not hesitate to use any lens made by any of those companies. Nikon and Canon made a number of specialty lenses, in addition to their "ordinary" ones, that are excellent and remain expensive. Pentax did not make as many specialty lenses, but lenses were usually more compact and their optical quality was second to none, particularly in their Takumar, Super Takumar and SMC Takumar series.

To put a finer grid on the lens quality during these years, I've looked back at the test results from the Modern Photography annual photo guides, and factored in my own experiences with these lenses. In the 1960s, the Pentax (Takumar and Super Takumar) and Nikon (Nikkor) lenses tested the best overall, with Canon very close behind. Minolta (Rokkor), Konica (Hexanon), Ricoh (Rikenon), Yashica (Yashinon) and Mamiya were next, though I can testify that all were capable of producing good pictures. Aftermarket lenses by Vivitar, Soligor and Spiratone were good values in the late 1960s/early 1970s, but be careful today buying their automatic lenses as the build quality was not as sturdy; their simpler and less expensive pre-set lenses have held up better.

In the 1970s, Canon's lenses caught up to Nikon and Pentax, while Olympus came in about equal to Konica (whose motto in selling cameras used to be "the lens alone is worth the price"). Vivitar's Series 1 lenses were also excellent in the 1970s, innovative and useful. Tamron and Tokina were making fine aftermarket lenses as well. In the late 1970s, Minolta's lenses caught up to Nikon, Pentax and Canon.

By the mid 1980s all of these manufacturers were making outstanding manual focus lenses. Nikon and Canon were concentrating their design efforts on superb (and expensive) lenses made of special glass and with larger than normal apertures; their "ordinary" lenses, on the other hand, were no better than those by the other manufacturers. Zoom lenses improved in quality and because of their convenience began to be more popular than single focal length lenses, but picture quality is almost always better in a single focal length lens. Each manufacturer had certain lenses, though, that gained outstanding reputations; for example, Nikon's Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.8.

Over the years I've preferred certain camera models: the Nikon F and F2, Canon F1, Canon AE1 Program, and Minolta X-700. I have a great deal of respect (and affection) for the Pentax Spotmatic series and its outstanding Super Takumar lenses, and I support those who favor the Pentax K1000 as a fine student camera, although several other SLR cameras that have a manual shooting mode will serve just as well if not better for photo class. Other professional photographers will have different opinions.

Finally, on Ebay it's always a lot safer to buy a camera from someone who is knowledgeable and therefore able to describe the camera in detail, to describe how well it works in all its functions, camera and lens(es), and to note any defects. Some sellers simply don't know much about cameras and are unable to describe their condition accurately; they may say the camera looks good but they don't really know how well it operates because they don't know how it works. Buyers who purchase from this type of seller are taking a chance.

The manual-focus SLR camera's heyday lasted for nearly 30 years. Ironically, these cameras are capable of producing better quality prints than today's digital cameras selling for up to ten times the price. Many of the instruction manuals that went along with these cameras can be downloaded from various websites. Camera enthusiasts who could never afford some of this equipment ten, twenty, and thirty years ago are finding that they can do so now.