Best make for manual SLR camera?

I'm starting an art/ photography course in september and am wondering which make of camera is best. I've a fujifilm point & shoot digital camera which takes great photos but I must get a manual SLR and would like to here peoples opinions on the different makes- nikon, olympus, canon, etc.before i make a choice.
Any helpful comments would be much appreciated.

What do you mean manual? All SLRs are capable of being operated in a completely manual way.

The best make for SLRs are Hasselblad and Mamiya (now MamiyaLeaf). For a photography course, you will need a film based camera, and I would say a Mamiya 645 would be affordable, but more than you would need.

Clarify with your course tutor what the exact requirements are, but I would imagine it means you need a 35mm film SLR.

No need to go for Mamiya 645 which is medium format - if you are required to shoot in this format, it's likely the college will have medium format cameras for students to play with.

Good 35mm SLR's include the Olympus OM1 or OM2, Canon AE-1, Nikon FM2 (or F2-F4 if you can get them), or a Pentax ME.

Back in the days of 35mm film SLR cameras Pentax was the market leader, it lost the plot when digital came out.

You should be able to get a good working example from £40 to £100 depending on model and cosmetic condition. They are cheap to repair and light seals (which age on all these cameras) are easy and cheap to replace.

Loads of cheap, but high quality lenses are available, older models (of any make) used M42 screw mount for the lenses later models (after 1973 for Pentax) use a bayonet mount and became manufacturer specific. Pentax is usually the cheapest as there are so many of them in the market.

The classic Pentax students camera was (is) the K1000, the longest production run of any SLR camera, over 20 years. They are a manual camera with TTL (Through the Lens) metering. Solidly built they were designed to last, and they have. The ME Super (lot's around) was an automatic camera and (as all automatics do) need a battery to operate, Manual mode is available with most of them.

With film running cost are ongoing, to get your 36, 35mm exposures processed, scanned and printed 6" X 4" will cost around 0.50p every time you press the shutter, film costs extra (£3 - £4).

Costs rise dramatically with a medium format such as the Mamiya that has been suggested, film cost processing and scanning to a reasonable file size is around £2.00 for every shot (good or bad) you take, printing extra, with the photo lab I use it costs me just under £20 for 15 frames processed and scanned at 24Mb files, high res scans (38Mb) cost £37 but image quality goes up just as dramatically.

Any DSLR currently in production will offer all the options you need and take outstanding photos.

I recommend you find a used D40 on craigslist. They go for 200-300 bucks, and will allow you to get familiar with a DSLR, find out what you like or don't like, and get you ready to upgrade. And when you do you'll still be able to get 200-300 bucks for it.

You didn't say whether the course required a film or a digital camera. Some of the answerers assumed one or the other. Most courses now require digital cameras. But there are still some holdouts that require a film camera. In any event, there's no "best". If you need film, you will have to get a used one. Canon stopped making film cameras some time ago. The other major manufacturers have probably followed suit. You can get new film cameras for 35mm film. However these are mostly cheap plastic toy cameras that are all the rage now with the hipster set. They do not have the features necessary for a photography course. As for digital cameras, any entry level SLR will serve you well in your course. Go into a camera store and handle them.

Just one point to add (or four). CANON have NOT stopped making film SLRs http://www.canon.co.uk/...index.aspx

and neither has NIKON http://www.europe-nikon.com/...-camera-f6

nor Olympus: http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/208_563.htm

And finally. Stating a "Manual SLR" is not enough information - all SLRs are capabable of Manual settings - and all DSLRs are SLRs, but not all SLRs are DSLR. You need to find out from the course tutor if you need a film camera, or a digital camera - before you go wasting your money.

The Pentax K-1000 was the most used 35mm camera for photography classes. I'd go with the Nikon F3-HP myself. Or the Nikon Fm2n.

Best 2 types of DSLR are Canon & Nikon.

Personally I think the quality in mainly from the lens.
I use a Canon EOS 550D and I'm saving up for a 2.8L 100mm macro lens.