Canon F1n 'A' mode.

[muf]

Some help with this setting. Ken Rockwell http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/fd/winder-fn.htm claims that when set in 'A' mode, the shutter locks out. I have one that when set on 'A', the shutter fires. There are no settings to view in the standard FN finder. just what you see through the lens. If I adjust the aperture on the lens, the shutter speed slows or quickens depending on the f-stop. I don't have a power winder of any sort attached.

So I'm confused. If I read Ken's comments correctly, he is saying that I shouldn't be able to fire the shutter. Yet I can.

Anyone use this camera and know a little more. I've only just got this one. The counter doesn't work and the meter works most of the time, but occasionally refuses to register.

Paul

 

[Mcary]

Not sure as I've never used an F1n, but perhaps what he means is that you can't change the shutter speed by physically moving shutter dial when the camera is in "A" mode.

 

[Mackinaw]

The "A" on the shutter speed dial puts the camera into the aperture priority mode. Set the aperture and the camera will set the shutter speed. The shutter is not locked out.

If you want shutter speed preferred automation, you put the lens on the "A" setting and install a motor drive or power winder. The mechanics for operating the camera in shutter speed priority mode are in the motor drive/winder. It was designed this way for reliability purposes.

I believe Rockwell is confusing the two.

Jim B.

 

[Dwig]

...
Anyone use this camera and know a little more. ...

??? Which camera do you have?

Do you have an "F-1n", as indicated in the title of this thread, or do you have a "New F-1" like the one discussed in the Ken Rockwell link? The two are completely different cameras.

 

[FrankS]

Yes, there is a huge difference between the earlier mechanical F1n and the later electronic F1N (new).

 

[Mackinaw]

The OP makes reference to the FN finder so he has the F-1N. Many people are confused by the small "n' and big "N" thing. A common mistake.

Jim B.

 

[FrankS]

I've got the F1n so can't help, but I think Raid has an F1N and he may be along soon to help out.

 

[sevo]

The mechanics for operating the camera in shutter speed priority mode are in the motor drive/winder. It was designed this way for reliability purposes.

... or more precisely, because they did not use the wear-prone but battery-saving mechanical lock-needle aperture control common in shutter priority AE cameras of the era. The more long-lived electrical aperture control system they chose drew too much power for on board button-cell batteries (the previous generation of shutter priority AE add-ons for the Nikon F2 and Canon F-1n had essentially failed due to their extremely poor battery life). But as every PJ was using his SLR with a motor drive, they could offload the AE power to the motor batteries.

 

[raid]

The A mode with the standard F1N is a setting that the Canon manuals ignore.
Not only does it work, but you get aperture priority without any special finder or attachment, but you do not know which speed was chosen. I have two F1N cameras that I have used for thousands of images. Canon may have kept this a secret so that people would buy the AE Finder, which was not cheap at the time. I did not buy it.

Shutter priority comes with the use of the power winder or the motor drive. I have often used the battery cord to power my F1N in subfreezing temperatures from the large battery pack of the high power motor drive. Of course, there are many mechanical speeds that do not require any batteries. At the time that the F1N came out, Nikon did not have any SLR with built-in spotmeter, and I wanted a spotmeter for slide photography, so I sold my Nikon and got Canon SLR equipment.

 

[sevo]

The OP makes reference to the FN finder so he has the F-1N. Many people are confused by the small "n' and big "N" thing. A common mistake.

Things are much easier once you admit there is no F-1N, and use Canon terminology, where it consistently is either the "New F-1" or (in accessory codes) the "FN".

 

[raid]

Yes, there is a huge difference between the earlier mechanical F1n and the later electronic F1N (new).

It is similar to the Nikon F versus F2. Both are bricks (in case of an intruder to your home .....). Both are reliable. One looks more sleek than the other.

 

[Mackinaw]

Reading the Rockwell review in more detail, he's complaining that you can't get shutter speed priority unless you install a motor drive or winder. Common complaint back then, as I recall.

Jim B.

 

[muf]

Sorry about the lack of clarity. It is the F1 New.

I think, has been suggested, Ken has got mixed up. The explanation by Mackinaw makes total sense. Thanks all for your comments.

Paul

 

[sevo]

Reading the Rockwell review in more detail, he's complaining that you can't get shutter speed priority unless you install a motor drive or winder. Common complaint back then, as I recall.

And perfectly right. You don't get the AE aperture display so that you even cannot estimate whether you get accurate AE - which was far from granted, as it overloaded the PX28 batteries available back then, so that it failed on second rate makes as well as with used batteries and in lower temperatures. All that is less of a issue with our current 28L lithium batteries, though, as these maintain their peak current right to the end of their discharge pattern and in low temperature.

 

[raid]

I like your images at your website, Jim. Cool stuff.

 

[raid]

I never worried about choosing between aperture priority and shutter priority since almost all photos taken by me were taken in the manual mode anyways.

The A-1 had program, shutter priority and aperture priority, but the F1N was configured differently by Canon.

 

[mervynyan]

Sorry about the lack of clarity. It is the F1 New.

I think, has been suggested, Ken has got mixed up. The explanation by Mackinaw makes total sense. Thanks all for your comments.

Paul

Tried on my NF-1. Yes, when lens put on A, can't fire shutter, a common misunderstanding as shutter set to A. I am happy without motor, I use handheld meter anyway so works for me, even compensation dial is never used.

 

[grapejohnson]

I have this camera as well (New F-1) and absolutely love it, but I sold my A-1 in order to get it because I didn't want the automated features. However, I can also confirm that it works when the shutter speed is in A, so long as the lens isn't, but I'm not sure how much I'd trust the accuracy of the AE on a camera with a spot or center-weighted meter and no AE lock, depending on what you're shooting at least.

 

[grapejohnson]

Also, one should always take everything Ken Rockwell says with a grain of salt.