Canon A-1 on the way.

[Keith]

A friend of mine recently started working part time at one of the thrift stores (St Vincent de Paul) known as Vinnie's here in Oz. I asked him to keep an eye out for any decent looking camera gear that may turn up.

He's just rung me to let me know he's picked up a Canon A-1 and four lenses for ten dollars from someone who bought it in to sell it. The owner has had the gear a long time and is happy just to see it go to a good home ... all in very nice condition apparently.

I need another camera system like I need a hole in the head but it was hard to say no at that price and though I don't have a clue what the four lenses are they sound like two primes and a couple of zooms from the description over the phone. Should have it in a few days! 🙂

 

[back alley]

i had an a1 and loved it!
most of those fd lenses were pretty good too.

 

[Keith]

i had an a1 and loved it!
most of those fd lenses were pretty good too.

Only ever owned one Canon camera in my life ... an AE-1 Program which was my only shooter when I went to Nepal in the nineties. Never really bonded with it but it was a good camera from memory!

 

[back alley]

ae-1, the first cameras made by robots!
the a1 is a more robust machine, more features too.

 

[farlymac]

What I liked about the A-1 is the LED readouts in the finder. Comes in really handy when shooting in low light. But it does take the 625 battery, so you need to stock up on 1.3v cells, Keith.

I've been avoiding mine since you got me hooked on Olympus. I should be getting an OM-1 soon.

PF

EDIT: Wrong on the batteries. Got confused with the FTb. See Caveman's post below.

 

[Greyscale]

The A-1 is like an AE-1 on steroids. The LED info display in the viewfinder is nice for use in low light (I wish the F1 had that), and I like how you can select the aperture via the speed dial in aperture-priority mode.

 

[Greyscale]

Great minds think alike - 😀

 

[Greyscale]

Phil, the A1 takes 6-volt 4SR44 or 4LR44 or lithium 28L batteries, available almost anywhere.

 

[Maiku]

I am interested to know what lenses are with the kit. If you have any of the following you really got a smoking deal:

28/2
24/2
20/2.8
50/1.4 FD
35/2 FD
100/2.8 FD
135/2.5 FD
85/1.8 FD
200/2.8

All have amazing IQ.

I prefer the older breech mount FD over the plastic nFD lenses.

SO WHAT DO YOU HAVE?

 

[farlymac]

Phil, the A1 takes 6-volt 4SR44 or 4LR44 or lithium 28L batteries, available almost anywhere.

You made me dig it back out. I wish this scrambled brain of mine would work right. I forgot about the design change-over on the A series. Had FTb on the mind.

PF

 

[Greyscale]

I swap the same batteries between the A1, Yashica Electro 35, and Yashica TL Electro X, so it is always fresh in my mind. The 28L Lithium batteries last forever.

 

[mervynyan]

sooner or later, you will want a F-1-🙂

 

[BW400CN]

Canon A-1 fully loaded von Michael Relguag auf Flickr

I realy love my old workhores and when things get rough where all the old beauties are feared, this one does the job!

 

[Taipei-metro]

handsome machine

photo by taipeimetro
Canon dslr, efs lens

 

[MiniMoke]

I love my Canon A series cameras too, A-1, AE-1 and AT-1. Above all the lightly brassed, classy looking black A-1.

I got a 70-210 f:4 FD zoom lens off ebay recently in a near new condition. Seller advertised it a very good, and when it arrived, it came in it's original packaging (unmarked, unopened?), complete with warranty cards, manual etc. I wondered if I should not send in the warranty card to Canon..... they might be suprised.

But I still lust for an OM1 or 2, so perhaps the Canons will have to make room.

Problem is the FD lenses are so darn cheap, much cheaper than the Zuikos

 

[Coopersounds]

A friend of mine recently started working part time at one of the thrift stores (St Vincent de Paul) known as Vinnie's here in Oz. I asked him to keep an eye out for any decent looking camera gear that may turn up.

He's just rung me to let me know he's picked up a Canon A-1 and four lenses for ten dollars from someone who bought it in to sell it. The owner has had the gear a long time and is happy just to see it go to a good home ... all in very nice condition apparently.

I need another camera system like I need a hole in the head but it was hard to say no at that price and though I don't have a clue what the four lenses are they sound like two primes and a couple of zooms from the description over the phone. Should have it in a few days! 🙂

Nice work!
any chance you are in Adelaide? There is a St Vinnies here that gets some nice bits on occasion.

 

[CliveC]

The A-1 sure is a nice design. Here is mine.

 

[Gid]

Great camera especially paired with a 50 1.4. Most consistent meter of all of my SLRs, including my OM4. Enjoy.

 

[Monz]

They are solid, heavy cameras... But beware the "squeak" or "wheeze." Very different from your OMs 🙂

 

[MiniMoke]

The 'wheeze' can be easily remedied by applying a drop of oil (just a tiny drop) to the mirror flywheel with a syringe.