Canon LTM OT: Canon SLR AE-1

[bob cole]

OT: Canon SLR AE-1

[As others have said, one of the problems with it -- easily corrected -- is that the black foam light baffle dries up and has to be replaced...Also the black foam that cushions the mirror also dries up and soils the mirror and also has to be replaced. ]

Assuming that the battery works [6-volt PX28A or PX28L], you can often make the shutter-advance lever work by adding a few drops of Lighter Fluid around the advance lever...

Canon has always made good cameras and the AE-1 , in my opinion, is a very good camera and the lenses are also very good...

Ruben, here's what McBroom's Camera Bluebook said [6th ed., 2000]:

 

[rxmd]

My first camera was an AE-1P. I still have and use it. It's been dropped into wells, survived a car crash, has taken bumpy 48-hour rides on cross-country buses in various 2nd world countries and has never failed me. In terms of return on investment it's probably the best camera I own, with a superb 50/f1.4 lens for which I paid about EUR 60. Together with a 24/f2.8, a 90/f2.5 1:1 macro and an 135/f2.5 it's still my SLR workhorse in 35mm format. The only gripe I have is that I can't use the lenses on digital cameras in a meaningful way; on the other hand this has kept me using analog to some extent.

Chris: I don't know what you mean by "fighting the automation". Set the shutter wheel to any setting except "A" and turn the aperture ring to any aperture except "A" and you've got no automation whatsoever, except automatic diaphragm which doesn't hurt. What is the problem?

Philipp

 

[ruben]

Did you run a roll of film through it? I have an AE-1 from back when and just recently used it to shoot IR film - all the functions worked perfectly as on day ONE. I think you are one step aheah of yourself. Test the camera first - these cameras were built like tanks compared to today's DSLRs and they last a very long time. It is a great camera for someone who wants to get into photography. Buy a roll of slide film (it is easiest to see the real results with slide film - labs can screw up too much with print film) and see what the outcome is.

Well, I must confess a big Mea Culpa, as the overhaul idea was mine, after looking at the dirt out there, far from what we all would admit for our cameras, but the smart friend of my son raised himself the idea of first trying a roll of color film... That's life.

And yes, he seems very enthusiastic about the camera. He and my son, that one, are of the kind of fans of the seventies in music, liking Long Plays and their stereo diamond needle players.

 

[anselwannab]

FD glass is so cheap nowadays. You can get some pretty some super-teles for some low coin, at least relatively so.

I think the AE-1 is a great gateway drug to an F1 or a T90.

All this talk made me pull my F1NEW out and fondle it a bit. Two things are amazing. One, how small it is compared to even a 20D, and how great the viewfinder is.

Have the dad buy the kid some film development so the kid won't balk at shooting due to cost.

Mark

 

[ChrisPlatt]

Great for millions, but not me...

Great for millions, but not me...

Chris: I don't know what you mean by "fighting the automation". Set the shutter wheel to any setting except "A" and turn the aperture ring to any aperture except "A" and you've got no automation whatsoever, except automatic diaphragm which doesn't hurt. What is the problem?

1) In AE mode (lens on "A") depth of field preview does not function.

2) For manual exposure, meter indication in finder must be transferred
manually to aperture ring. This is equivalent to an uncoupled meter.

I don't want to dredge up that ancient shutter priority vs. aperture priority
debate, but I was much happier with my Nikon FE and Pentax K2 cameras.
These designs managed to integrate autoexposure and manual exposure
modes seamlessly, with no loss of functionality...

Chris