no batteries camara

Sorry for my ignorance, but I'm new at this, can anyone suggest a newer 35mm cam for astro work that requires no batteries...at all? Does anybody make a new SLR that does this for those on a budget? Perhaps a new cam with a vintage design? Old stuff is great, but has a greater propensity toward failure. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

The only one of the big four Camera manufacturers (Canon, Minolta, Nikon, Pentax) that still sells a fully mechanical SLR is Nikon (the FM10, FM2, FM3A). The FM10 has a Nikon bayonet mount but is built by Cosina in Japan and has an all polycarbonate body, match diode meter, and mechanical shutter that doesn't require batteries. The polycarbonate body is plenty sturdy, though I have seen them crack when an older metal camera would just get dented. The FM2 is an older design that is still produced, and is one of the classic Nikons ever made but is somewhat expensive. The FM3A is a hybrid manual and electronic camera, also expensive. If you want interchangeable viewfinders, the recently discontinued F3 is the best option but is also expensive.
Pentax recently discontinued their venerable K1000 but there are a couple low cost alternatives that use the ubiquitous K-mount. The Vivitar V3000 has similar specifications to the FM10 and is also made by Cosina in Japan ( It is also cheaper, the camera and 50mm lens can be had for well under $200 new ). The Kalimar K90 is the Chinese entry, similar specifications (not sure about the quality). By far the best deal I spotted was on Ebay - Ritz camera is selling Ricoh KR-5sv cameras with the lens and body only dirt cheap. One of the bodies sold for just $61 a while back. The KR-5 series was Ricoh's most popular manual camera until they stopped making them a couple years ago. They have a good reputation - I even know of one professional photographer who used them all the time!

Joplin

George,

The price of OM-1's seems to have dropped into the very competitive range. I picked up two last week for about $100. There are a couple more up there for $80 and $125 right now.

Why do you need new?

Alex