canon F1...heavy

[Roger Hicks]

Let's not exaggerate. Theses aren't pocket cameras but one body with lens and one or perhaps two additional lenses would not be terribly large or heavy.

Chris

Dear Chris,

Well, yes. And decent cameras are, after all, the tools of the photographer's trade. What would we think of a plumber who complained that his tool-bag was too heavy?

Though most professionals would't rely on just one body unless they are in the studio or close to home.

Cheers,

R.

 

[back alley]

Woodbridge, Ontario

thanks...i'm in edmonton.

 

[Uncle Bill]

I have a couple of F-1s, a first generation with the metal long throw film advance lever and a pair of New F-1s from the 1980s that are entirely different beasts. I would love a late 1970s F-1n with the plastic tipped film advance lever at some point to complete the collection. They are heavy bodies, nothing push-ups and CrossFit can't fix.

 

[Nokton48]

Along with my two original F1 bodies with MF Motor Drives, I had the 17mm F4 FD, the 24mm F2.8 FD, the 100mm F2.8 FD, and the 200mm F2.8 FD.

It was a really dynamite photojournalistic outfit at the time.

 

[raid]

Among my favorite lenses were 50/.12L, 85/1.2L, 35/2.8TS, 500/4.5L, 300/4, 200/2.8

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

bit off topic.......as my second SLR after a crappy Zenit, I 'only' had the A1, but at the time I liked the flashy leds of the lightmeter in the viewfinder.
Do these F types have the same led metering as the A1?

 

[raid]

The F1N allows you to change the metering system by changing the screen. I had average, partial spot, and spot metering screens. The F1 and F1n may not have had such options, I think. Using an A Finder gives you aperture priority. A well kept "secret" is that you can use the non-A FN Finder and set the F1N to A, you will get aperture priority.

 

[Mackinaw]

Along with my two original F1 bodies with MF Motor Drives.......It was a really dynamite photojournalistic outfit at the time.

Now that's a heavy combo, an F-1 body, lens, and Motor Drive MF. Pounds and pounds of camera gear.

Jim B.

 

[raid]

The MD for the F1 took 10 batteries, I think.

 

[Mackinaw]

The MD for the F1 took 10 batteries, I think.

Just checked, yes indeed, the MD took ten batteries.

The Power Winder F was nice, small and relatively light. That I still use.

Jim B.

 

[oftheherd]

Not exactly. I spent quite a few happy hours with Marty Forscher (not Foresher) and he certainly said that Nikon Fs were built like hockey pucks, but I never heard him say the same about other Nikons or any Canons, nor have I seen references to his saying this.

As for breaking a Pentax lens by dropping it 18 inches onto your bed, all I can say is that you must have been very unlucky indeed. Pentaxes were quite widely used professionally in the early 60s, before Canon learned how to make professional SLRs.

Many reckoned too that Pentax quality declined when they moved factories in about '67. I started to work professionally as an assistant in the 1970s and people I worked with (up to 30 years older than I) certainly didn't regard screw-mount Pentaxes as "consumer junk".

Cheers,

R.

I would never worry about dropping any lens I have 18 inches to a bed unless the blanket was a concrete slab. I'm not saying didn't happen as I have no reason the disbelieve you. But indeed how unlucky!

My unit in Korea must have had some extra money. They bought a Spotmatic kit with lenses. I think it was 28mm, 50mm, 135mm, 300mm, and a 600mm. A jeep was sort of needed as a tripod for the 600mm. 😛

But it sure was an improvement over the Kodak Instamatic, or whatever cheap Kodak it was I was given when I asked for a camera at my first crime scene. But that was what got me back into photography.

The Pentax was not as popular as the Nikon I don't think. But if one believed the magazines of the era, it certainly had its professional following. And I always preferred M42 mount lenses anyway. I did a fair amount of available light photography and if I needed to change lenses, I seldom had the luxury of using a light of any kind to look for the dots to mount bayonet lenses. With the screw mount and darkness, I could just insert it into the mount and turn it counter-clockwise until I felt it drop into the threads of the mount, then screw it down. Worked for me.

 

[raid]

Just checked, yes indeed, the MD took ten batteries.

The Power Winder F was nice, small and relatively light. That I still use.

Jim B.

I had such a MD! It was very heavy to lug around the F1n with MD + batteries. The MD or PW were very useful for very cold weather photography for the F1N. The F1 and F1n were manual cameras. I used my F1n exclusively for very long exposure shots with mirror lock-up.

 

[dxq.canada]

Ah, dug up an old photo of my Canon stuff when I listed it for sale ... that was a sad day.


Canon stuff by Dennis, on Flickr

 

[bennyng]

A well kept "secret" is that you can use the non-A FN Finder and set the F1N to A, you will get aperture priority.

That's interesting! Good of your to share, Raid. I never knew that.

Cheers,

 

[Fraser]

The F1N allows you to change the metering system by changing the screen. I had average, partial spot, and spot metering screens. The F1 and F1n may not have had such options, I think. Using an A Finder gives you aperture priority. A well kept "secret" is that you can use the non-A FN Finder and set the F1N to A, you will get aperture priority.

Are you meaning you can do this on the New F1?

 

[raid]

I meant the F1N or the "new" F1. Canon did not announce it that you could keep the manual FN finder and just set the camera to A for aperture priority. The only disadvantage for this approach is that while you get aperture priority, you cannot tell which exposure you got.

 

[Fraser]

I meant the F1N or the "new" F1. Canon did not announce it that you could keep the manual FN finder and just set the camera to A for aperture priority. The only disadvantage for this approach is that while you get aperture priority, you cannot tell which exposure you got.

sure enough just tried it and you can hear the shutter speed change!

 

[raid]

I know 🙂
I have done it many times.

 

[Fraser]

I know 🙂
I have done it many times.

I've had my two new F1s for almost thirty years and never tried that, all this talk makes me want to start using them again I never really had any exciting lenses thats what probably stopped me using them just the bog standard 28mm, 50mm, 135mm, 200mm f4 (which I did like) 70-210 and a Tokina 400mm f5.6.

 

[raid]

The F1N was and is a great camera.