Hi all.
Can you tell me something about the Canon L1? There is some info on the internet but insufficient 😉
How is the build quality (especially how do the shutter curtains stand the test of time) ?
Is it fairly easy to repair ? (the one I could get does not always engage the slow speeds).
I just love the simple, clean design.
Thanks in advance 😱
It is one of the best non-bottomloading LTM Canons (along with its sisters the L2 & L3)
High build quality and a much better and larger VF/RF over even the so called improved bottomloader Canons. The rotating tri-finder is very useful with a 35mm lens, so there is no need for a separate clip on 35mm VF
The L1 is really a VT series Canon with out the bulk and weight of the permanently attached "Leicavit" type folding trigger film wind of the VT series, as the L1 has a common thumb wind film advance lever of most 35mm film cameras.
The viewfinder on the L1 and VT series ages well and will have no internal reflections like on the later VIT or VIL or P Canons with their reflected frame lines in the VF
Most L1 cameras will have cloth shutters and most of the ones I seen are well used and well loved but the condition of a 61 year old camera can be all over the place, and most cameras that old would need some servicing to make them reliable machines on the long haul no matter who made them.
The L1 series was not produced in as large numbers as the VT series, which is odd, as most photographers even in the late 1950s preferred thumb lever film wind over trigger wind just like they do today.
Note: Canon did produce an even more improved L1 and L2 later on.. known as the VL and VL2
these had metal shutter curtains and a self timer, but are not that common.
