Unfortunately, easy to use in manual mode and cheap don't go together.  You
will find that the cheapest DSLRs are built on the assumption that you will
want the camera to make choices for you.  When you get to the "mid range"
cameras you get controls that allow manual operation with ease.

To make manual work, you must have controls that will work the aperture and
shutter speeds with separate controls rather than through menu choices.  The
major brands all make cameras that will work.  For a start, the Canon 20D or
30D.  Nikon's D70.  Pentax *istD.

L.C.

Having just bit the bullet I got a Nikon D200, expensive but it will
take old nonAF lenses. The Nikon D70 and D50 will accept AIS lenses but
won't meter. Good News in camera meters have gotten way better. So I
have a 24 f2 as my primary lens on my D200, matches the 35 f2 I have on
my old Canon the bad news is to keep the viewfinder bright they have a
fine matte screen, hard to focus a WA lens on it. This camera (D200) is
built like a tank.
Canon makes fine cameras, but they don't accept the old FD lenses, so
all of their lenses are auto focus (EOS mount). Canons will meter with
almost any lens so to get MF lenses folks are adapting Contax lenses to
the Canon cameras. I'd look at the D20 or D30 first, if you find them
to much $, look at the Rebel 350D.
Konica-Minolta have been bought out by Sony, but their 7D is a nice
camera. Has an anti-shake sensor can save a stop or two in hand
holding. I wouldn't consider the cheaper 5D.
Pentax also makes Dslrs, the main claim to fame here is they are fully
backwards compatible lens wise (screw mounts need a cheap adapter).
Again I'd go for the top of the line here.
Olympus has an interesting line of slightly smaller sensor cameras.
Right now the top of the line camera they sent out 2 years ago for $2K
is going for $600 or so. Accessories are expensive, but even their kit
lenses are fairly good.
Sort of it in a nutshell, I went out on a limb pricewise, but I have a
camera whose specs will probably hold up for 5 years, hopefully longer.
Unfortunately to get durability and viable manual controls you have to
buy up in the price range. Itstead of being more manual, cheaper models
give you preprogramed data for selected scenes and more difficult
manual controls.
Good luck,

Tom

Any of them.  At least, any of them I've looked at closely enough to
know.  While they *have* P&S modes, if you put them in "M" mode they
work just like a manual exposure SLR from history -- you set the
shutter speed, you set the aperture, there's a meter reading visible
in the viewfinder giving the camera's opinion of what you've set.  I
suppose it's possible that some of them actually have bad interfaces
for their manual exposure, there are a lot of DSLRs I haven't
handled.  The Nikon D1, D100, D200, and the Fuji S2, and the Canon 1D
mkII and 10D all have good manual interfaces based on personal
experience.

Canon 350D might be a good choice.  It is affordable and flexible in the
manual mode.  You can simply ignore its auto modes.

They say you're only as old as you feel - so from one "old fogey" to another
...

The camera is one issue - but appropriate lenses are another. From the
"Canon camp" the best lenses are "L" (luxury) series - but each one could
easily cost you twice what you'd pay for an entry level camera like the
350D/Rebel XT - but having made the investment then you've got an investment
for many many years to come - not to mention better images right from the
start.

Entry level in the Canon camp is the 350D - but I'd urge anyone who's
serious to invest in a minimum of a 30D (the successor to the venerable 20D)
(or even a 2nd hand 20D). A full frame camera like the 5D will give you
wider-angle - but in my experiance it's just as easy (and a lot cheaper) to
simply stitch several shots into a panorama (I routinely stictch 8 or more
shots into 1 big one - the process is quick and seamless once you understand
a few simple rules).

Unfortunately it's still a case of "you get what you pay for"

Hope this helps.

I've been in that same boat, and am very glad I switched to Pentax after a
Canon Rebel XT died the first day I had it.  Pentax is very friendly to us
senior citizens who began shooting with fully manual cameras before Tri-X
appeared  :^)

I have a Digital Rebel 250XT and one of the comments I would make is
that it is not very convenient in fully manual mode. For example to set
exposure, I have to hold down the shutter halfway; then twirl the dial
to set the shutter speed; then, still holding down the shutter halfway,
I have to take my eye away from the viewfinder, press the Av button, and
then twirl the dial to set the aperture.

It's really inconvenient, and clearly designed by someone who has never
used the manual exposure mode on this camera.

In addition, consumer-grade DSLRS are difficult to manually focus since
they lack cross-hatches, split-screen, and other manual focussing aids.

I think the original poster might consider dusting off the old film
cameras, and buying a good film scanner. That's a way to get into
Photoshop and the digital world, but still have the best quality manual
control over the shot.

Even though DSLRs have manual mode, they are really not designed to be
used that way. Don't know enough about the high end DSLRs to know if
they do a better job in manual mode.

I would also mention that autofocus isn't so bad ... in fact it's pretty
good, and much faster that manual focussing. You start out a purist, but
you get seduced by the gizmos pretty quickly.

A good question, and one whose answer depends on just how selective you
are. Just what do you need to be manual?

If the answer is everything, meaning *everything* that was manual on
your old cameras, then there seems to be only a pair of options: the
new Panasonic DMC-L1 with the Leica kit lens or Leica's R system with
the "digital-module." The second option is prohibitively expensive (and
has it come to market yet?). The first is one that I'd exclude because
I think the Four-Thirds system chip size is too small (but I also think
that the "APS-C" size chips in most DSLRs are also too small, so I'm
picky that way). In any case, these are the only options you have if
you want a physical aperture ring and a physical shutter speed dial,
and the aperture ring applies on the Panasonic only on that one Leica
kit lens, at least for now.

If you think you can sacrifice that shutter speed dial, your options
open up considerably. You can choose from all of the Pentax DSLRs and
the Nikon D200. The Nikon is nearly $1800, so it doesn't come cheap.
These two options allow you to use older lenses without autofocus and
with physical aperture rings. Shutter speed would be controlled via a
dial on the camera, but the control is electronic and you can't
actually see a physical setting like on old SLRs. It isn't much of a
sacrifice, since there is in both cases an LCD on the camera that tells
you your shutter speed, and you can also verify the shutter speed in
the viewfinder. That it isn't a physical dial with absolute settings
also means that you tend to get more settings since there's no limit
like there is with the number of settings that could fit on an actual
dial. This is probably the option you'd be most comfortable with, and
I'd urge you to look into the Pentax offerings, as they are much less
expensive and have a brighter viewfinder.

If even that is more than you actually meant, then you're really open
to most everything out there. Canon's offerings, *above the Digital
Rebels* (basically starting at the 20d, which is as far as you'd need
to go up the chain), all work terrifically in full manual mode. That's
how I shoot with my 20d all the time. The Nikon cameras (the D50, D70,
and D70s) offer the same functionality. Basically, in these cases, you
get full manual operation simply by turning off autofocus. Shutter
speed is controlled via a dial just like on the cameras mentioned
above, and aperture is controlled via a second dial in very much the
same way. It takes some getting used to the fact that there isn't a
physical aperture ring on the lens (the second dial is on the camera
body), but it is an easy workflow to adjust to and I never feel as if
I'm not using a manual camera, because I am... the interface is just
different. It should be noted that at this point I could only highly
reccommend going to a camera shop and comparing, say, the Nikon D70S
and the Canon 20D. Both offer the same degree of manual control, but
they put the dials in different places. I owned a Nikon D70 for a year
before I sold my Nikon gear for Canon, and in switching I discovered
that I liked the larger dial on the back of the 20D a great deal more
for controlling aperture. Something about it made alot more sense to my
mind. I'm sure that an equal number of people are more comfortable with
Nikon's system, though, which is why I say you should go see for
yourself.

Canon's Rebel and Rebel XT are to be avoided for this kind of use,
however. They only have one such dial, so you control shutter speed and
aperture on the same dial, switching with the press of another button.
It is a system you wouldn't be happy with.

So a bit of a recap:

1. Physical Aperture and Shutter: Leica R or Panasonic L1 with Leica
lens (coming soon)
2. Physical Aperture, Electronically Manual Shutter: Nikon D200 or
Pentax
3. Electronically Manual Aperture, Electronically Manual Shutter: Canon
20D and 30D, Nikon D50, D70, and D70S
4. Not easy enough to work with manually to be worthwhile: Canon Rebel
and Rebel XT

Yes, I'm leaving out Konica Minolta's discontinued line and Olympus'
FourThirds cameras, as well as Fuji's Nikon-mount DSLRs. Call it bias,
but I don't think any of these systems offer anything great for your
uses.

Now lenses are another story. To work manually, you need a certain kind
of glass. Obviously, everything in option 1 is pretty clear (all Leica
lenses have aperture rings for the R system, and  the one lens for the
Panasonic does as well). Likewise, the manual lenses you'd want to get
for the D200 or Pentax cameras are fine. But both of these cameras also
will work with newer lenses, in some cases "digital-only" lenses, and
these lenses will not have aperture rings and will be essentially like
the options from option 3. Even then, Canon, Nikon, and Pentax make
some lenses that work beautifully for manual focus, and some that
don't. All of my Canon lenses have the designation of "USM" which
refers to the autofocus motor, but also seems to suggest nice build and
a nice, dedicated focus ring for manual focusing. The Canon kit lenses
that I've seen, however, would annoy the crap out of me for manual
focusing. The kit lens that came with my Nikon D70 when I had it was
great, just like my current Canon lenses. The kit lens with my friend's
Nikon D50, however, is just as bad for manual focus as the Canon kit
lens I've seen. I haven't seen Pentax's kit lens, but I imagine it
could be the same. For this reason, I'd recommend looking at your
lenses before buying, to make sure you would be comfortable manually
focusing with them.

The last issue at hand here is that of your focusing screen. The new
standard for all digital SLRs seems to be a matte screen that doesn't
offer any kind of prismatic focusing aid like you might be used to. I
don't know about Nikon (sorry, I just don't know!), but I think Pentax
cameras offer interhangable screens so you can get a split-image prism
if you want it. Canon's 5D and pro cameras offer them, but the 20D and
30D do not.

Finally, unless you can shell out 3 grand for a Canon 5D, which has a
chip the size of a frame of 35mm film, your focal lengths will be
different than you're used to. Nikon and Pentax cameras have a focal
length multiplier of 1.5, and Canon cameras have a multiplier of 1.6.
The Panasonic camera has a very small chip and a multiplier of 2, and
the Leica R system has a multiplier of 1.3. This is due to the fact
that the chips are smaller than a frame of film, so essentially you
only get the field of view that would have been at the center of the
film frame. On a Nikon or Pentax body, a 28mm wide angle lens becomes
like a 42mm short normal lens. On a Canon body, it becomes like a 45mm
normal. This limits what you can do at the wide end, especially with
older manual focus lenses. All of the manufacterers have made "digital
only" lenses that won't work on film cameras because they only cover
the smaller chip size. These lenses, by and large, exist to give you
back those wide angle focal lengths, so they frequently have wide ends
around 17 or 18mm. They also, however, never have physical aperture
rings and sometimes are of the design that prohibits comfortable manual
focusing. Not all of them, however, so again, look at them and see if
you'd be able to manual focus with it.

Lastly, autofocus ain't the end of the world. I finally came around,
and I use it a little more than half of the time. It's worth giving it
a shot. Which I say only because if you limit your options in that
regard, you might not have any wide angle lenses. Or you'll pay alot
for them, like I did for my Wide angle zoom.

My kit, in case you're curious, is as follows:
Canon Elan 7 film body
Canon 20D digital body
Canon 16-35mm 2.8L USM Superwide-Wide for film, Wide-normal for digital
Canon 28mm 1.8 USM Wide for film, Normal for digital
Canon 50mm 1.4 USM Normal for film, Short Tele for Digital
Canon 100mm 2.0 USM Short Tele for Film, Long Tele for Digital

I couldn't be happier (well, a 5D so that all of my lenses behaved as
they do on the film body... that's my long term goal). That said, I
think you've got a Pentax kit, and plenty of happiness with it, in your
future. Just a prediction.

Hope that helps,

Will

They all have manual control but it does not work mechanically. For example
lens diaphragms are set on the camera, not the lens.

The biggest drawback of moderately, and many more expensive, dSLRs for total
manual control are their utterly abysmal viewing systems. They are dark and
difficult to focus even in normal light because of the type of screen used,
lack of a true pentaprism and the smallish maximum f stop of most zooms. The
classic example of this is the D70, an exemplary, marvelous camera that is
nearly crippled by an absolutely horrible viewing system. I use mine heavily
but it is impossible to visually confirm or adjust focus in most situations.
The LCD panels on all dSLRS are also too small to reliably confirm focus
after the shot is made, even when you magnify a portion of the image.

I'm reminded of a pilot friend of mine who used to fly a commuter turbo-prop
in a 2 crew operation that didn't have an autopilot (ie "manual control") -
the aircraft was eventually retired and he was "moved up" to a bigger beast
that not only had an autopilot, but a flight director as well.

He initially thought that he wouldn't like all of this automation - but when
I asked him what he thought of it a few months later he said "actually, it's
quite nice - makes life a lot easier).

I think todays cameras are much the same - I never use my 20D in "point and
shoot mode" but it's pretty rare that I'm not in Av mode - or letting E-TTL
II take care of some of the ground work for me.

Just look for a camera with an "M" on the mode selector dial.  Which of
course stands for 'master.'

You can also find some advanced point and shoots that will give you all the
various modes like a good 35mm camera.

I also would recommend the Nikon D70, D70s, or D200 (at the high end),
or the Canon 20D, 30D or 5D (at the very high end).

The Nikon D50 and the Canon Rebel series are really not set up for
manual use, though they are very good automatic cameras.

A lot of the newer lenses have no aperture markings on them because you
now manually set aperture with the camera body. Unfortunately, a lot of
them are also pretty skimpy on the distance markings and most are
missing the IR mark entirely. Not only that, but many DSLR viewfinders
aren't what you were used to, although there are some pretty decent
third party focusing screens available.

It has been 15 years, after all. Automation has greatly improved in the
interim, so don't be too quick to write it off just yet. Image
stabilization (Nikon VR or Canon IS) is another new feature on many
lenses that is just about miraculous. Since digital film doesn't cost
anything, it is actually practical to make six or seven attempts to get
a sharp handheld photo at 1/8 second with a 200mm lens -- and you can
just about guarantee success with that.

Digital cameras are different and you will have 'fun' getting to used
to those differences. Personally, the biggest problem I have with
digital vs. film is that it is a lot easier to blow out highlights with
digital. There is no shoulder in digital as there is with film. But
overall I have come to like digital much better. It is cheaper, allows
me to shoot far more for almost no cost, and my photography has greatly
improved as a result.

Most DSLRs have easy to use manual modes. Some easier than others. I
like the Pentax *ist line, for a variety of reasons.

But the real advice is this: Find the lens(es) you want, and then buy
the body that goes with them.

Most SLR's (and many zlr's) can be operated manually.  (focus, exposure).