Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of visual impairment among the elderly worldwide. This study compares deep learning-based and classical feature extraction methods for AMD classification using colour fundus images, a cost-effective imaging modality. This comparative approach aims to evaluate the performance of advanced deep learning methods against traditional computer vision approaches in generating effective feature representation. To achieve this, we compared various classical feature extraction methods alongside deep learning-based approaches, specifically VGG16 pre-trained on ImageNet, RETFound and RETFound-Green, which are foundation models pre-trained on a significant number of retinal images. The results demonstrate that combinations of classical features still obtained notable performance and even outperformed the VGG16 model pre-trained on ImageNet. These results also highlight the need for deep learning models to be trained on domain-specific data to surpass classical approaches. In this regard, the pre-trained RETFound and RETFound-Green models yielded promising outcomes for AMD classification, and the highest performance was achieved using a fine-tuned RETFound model. Furthermore, the best proposed method was compared with the state-of-the-art methods. This approach achieved competitive results on the ADAM dataset, demonstrating its robustness and effectiveness in AMD classification while utilising a significantly simpler architecture.