For years, photographers have thought about how to move from film to digital. But what about if you want to move from digital to film and move back and forth seamlessly? Well, there are great cameras that can do just that with ease. Two of them are mirrorless — but most of them are older DSLRs. When you read this article, you’ll realize that Sony and Minolta were left off the list. And that’s because their cameras don’t really embrace the past as much as so many others. But if we had to choose one, we’d choose the Sony a99 II. Otherwise, our favorites are below.
Leica M11 Series
The single best camera that you can use with film cameras is the Leica M series. Specifically, we’re talking about the Leica M11 series of cameras. This has been the same mount for a very, very long period of time. Obviously, it’s manual focus. But there are loads of lenses that you can use, and you can switch between your digital M11 and your film-based Leica M6 or others with no problems at all.
https://www.thephoblographer.com/2022/01/13/three-great-cameras-in-one-leica-m11-review/
Canon 5Ds
The Canon 5Ds is one of the single best cameras to use if you own older Canon EF mount film cameras. Many of the lenses can be used interchangeably with ease as long as you’re using EF and not EF-S lenses. That means you can use older L glass like the original 35mm f1.4 lens. Additionally, you can adapt the lenses to newer RF camera bodies and still use them pretty easily. One of my favorites is the Canon EF 135mm tilt shiftt.
Nikon D850
The Nikon D850 is one of the last great DSLRs ever released. They can be used with a variety of Nikon lenses from the film era and the early digital era. But there are some newer Nikon F-mount lenses that can’t be used with film cameras anymore. What’s really great about this system is that F-mount film lenses can be used on DSLRs like the D850 and then also adapted onto new Nikon Z mount cameras.
Pentax K1 II
In 2019, this site reviewed the Pentax K1 II. Kind of late for a DSLR to launch when mirrorless cameras were really taking the spotlight, right? Either way, we loved it. This camera is huge, and our review stated that it’s built like a tank. You can use it with older Pentax K mount lenses and swap between your older film cameras. Of course, you’d have to think about things like electronic contacts and all.
Just be careful with old auto-aperture Ricoh lenses on this camera because they might get stuck on.
Hasselblad 907x CFV100C
One of the absolute coolest things about the Hasselblad system is that you can use modern digital backs with several of the older film Hasselblad camera bodies. But there’s something else that’s really unique. Hasselblad cameras use the same TTL flash system as Nikon. So theoretically, you can use the Hasselblad 907X CFV100C with the 500C just by taking the digital back and swapping it. And then, you can also use Nikon cameras to shoot events and such. Just think about having a Nikon Z8 and a Hasselblad camera around to shoot an event. To me, that’s one of the greatest things around.
