I rediscovered my first-ever film SLR in the attic. It's going back in the attic.

I was rummaging around in the attic the other day, and behind the Christmas decorations, suitcases, and various unwanted gifts, I came across a box of old electrical bits and pieces that hadn't seen the light of day for decades. And tucked in among the old VCRs, Walkmans, and toasted sandwich makers was my first-ever serious camera, a Canon AE-1 film SLR.

It has seen better days, for sure, but there's no denying that it's a thing of beauty, with a proper solid metal body, the cool ’70s-era logo etched into the casing, and chunky dials and levers to operate the thing. I had bought it second-hand when backpacking around Australia in the early ’90s, and it served me well, as evidenced by the boxes of photos from my travels that were also in the attic.

My colleague Mike, Digital Camera World's How To Editor, is a lover of all things retro and bought a pristine Nikon FM from an auction website recently. His Nikon and my Canon are from around the same era. Perhaps I could try my rediscovered classic out with a roll of film, I pondered…

That was until I checked the prices for 36 exposures these days, and further factored in the developing costs. Then I remembered back to the day of using my camera, when for every decent photo I had taken, there were a bunch of duds, and which, of course, I didn't discover until I received the wallet of developed prints back from the mini-lab.

You see, while I love the look of this classic camera, technology has marched on over the intervening years, and the reality of not being able to instantly check to see whether I'd nailed the exposure and composition, nor having the option to retake a shot if I didn't get it right, doesn't sit right with me. Where the rear LCD should be, the back of the Canon AE-1 is given over to a slot for sliding in a bit of the film packaging as a reminder of what you're shooting on, if I recall correctly. Nope, give me a nice screen so I can instantly see my shots, thank you very much.

So, back in the attic it's going. Because I can have the best of both worlds with modern, retro-look cameras like the Nikon Zf that have all the delightful mechanical dials to twiddle with and cool classic-camera styling, but with the latest cutting-edge tech on the inside.

Film may not be for me, but if you're a fan of all things analog, don't miss our guides to the best film cameras and the best 35mm films to put in them.