[ivanvernon]

I travelled the world for 20 years with a K-1000 with no working light meter on camera or otherwise. That was a good experience because it forced me to learn how to judge light conditions using nothing more sophisticated than adjusting aperture and shutter speed up or down based on the Sunny 16 rule. I hardly ever got an unusable exposure except sometimes on slide film. It was a great experience, and I certainly do not regret it. That being said, however, I would not advise a newbie in our high tech world to try to replicate the experience. Getting aperture and shutter speed in usable range is not a very complex concept, and can be grasped without going back to full-manual mode. Please do not understand--I enjoy shooting a full manual film camera myself from time to time, notably the Mamiya RB67 which of course has no batteries and no light meter. On the other hand, I can go to full manual on the MZ-S or PZ-1P, but have all the modern camera features available as desired. You can even shut off AF and do your own focussing. If a friend wanted to start photography from scratch, I think I would point him toward a fuller featured camera, probably the wonderful PZ-1P. The MZ-S is also great, but more expensive. I would show him how to shoot full manual using, say, M series lens and then gradually add A lenses, and finally FA lenses. New concepts and new camera and lens capabilities could be introduced as skills accumulated. I do agree that a simpler camera makes it easier to ignore nonessentials, but a disciplined person ought to be able to ignore them on their own.

[Xmas]

I travelled the world for 20 years with a K-1000 with no working light meter on camera or otherwise. That was a good experience because it forced me to learn how to judge light conditions using nothing more sophisticated than adjusting aperture and shutter speed up or down based on the Sunny 16 rule. I hardly ever got an unusable exposure except sometimes on slide film. It was a great experience, and I certainly do not regret it. That being said, however, I would not advise a newbie in our high tech world to try to replicate the experience. Getting aperture and shutter speed in usable range is not a very complex concept, and can be grasped without going back to full-manual mode. Please do not understand--I enjoy shooting a full manual film camera myself from time to time, notably the Mamiya RB67 which of course has no batteries and no light meter. On the other hand, I can go to full manual on the MZ-S or PZ-1P, but have all the modern camera features available as desired. You can even shut off AF and do your own focussing. If a friend wanted to start photography from scratch, I think I would point him toward a fuller featured camera, probably the wonderful PZ-1P. The MZ-S is also great, but more expensive. I would show him how to shoot full manual using, say, M series lens and then gradually add A lenses, and finally FA lenses. New concepts and new camera and lens capabilities could be introduced as skills accumulated. I do agree that a simpler camera makes it easier to ignore nonessentials, but a disciplined person ought to be able to ignore them on their own.

The OP said first film camera, he or she may well be a DSLR aficionado?
A K or SP user manual has few pages to read...
A film NOOB needs to remember to rewind the film...