Canon P: Chrome-Black-Olive

stupid leica said:
i returned my P due to winder problems (it was only a few days after i got it), but plan to get another. Beautiful little camera, a real gem!

Raid, i am truly jealous of your "f1.5 trio of terror"!
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about the winder problems. Such mechanical issues show up in many older cameras but they can be fixed with a CLA.
It took me several years before I got the trio together.
 
Really lovely collection Raid! I don't have a single canon yet in my collection of rangefinders. The P looks really great. Was it Canons aswer to the introduction of the M3?

cheers from Holland

ps, just found my 2.8 LTM Summaron in the mail, might be a nice combo for the P.
 
Ron (Netherlands) said:
Really lovely collection Raid! I don't have a single canon yet in my collection of rangefinders. The P looks really great. Was it Canons aswer to the introduction of the M3?

cheers from Holland

ps, just found my 2.8 LTM Summaron in the mail, might be a nice combo for the P.
Click to expand...


Hi Ron,

Canon has several great RF cameras.



Link: http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/history/canon_story/1955_1969/1955_1969.html
From the Canon Museum:

Impact of Leica M3
By this time, the 35mm rangefinder cameras developed by Canon were considered equal to the Leica, the world's best camera. Shortly before the release of the "IV Sb2," the "Leica M3" was unveiled at the 4th "Photokina," the international camera trade-fair held in Cologne, West Germany in 1954. The "Leica M3" was a camera based on a concept completely different from the conventional development approach to the rangefinder cameras.

It was reported that Canon's engineers who saw the "Leica M3" for the first time were greatly shocked by the level of perfection in the camera as represented by the brightness and visibility of its viewfinder, as well as by the accuracy of its rangefinder. In spite of the fact that their improved model "IV Sb2" had received good acceptance from its users, Canon engineers realized that, with the debut of the "Leica M3," the camera world was about to experience great change. This heralded the era of great changes in cameras, leading the company to seek new directions.


The "VT" camera, introduced in August 1956, discarded the conventional film loading method, in which the film cassette was dropped into the bottom after removing the baseplate (Barnack type), and instead adopted the simpler method using a hinged back cover and threading the film onto the take-up spool. The "T" in the "VT" refers to the "trigger" because the camera incorporated the film advance mechanism with a fast-winding trigger on the camera bottom to improve the shooting speed.

The "P (Populaire)" model was released in l959, which was followed by the introduction of the "7" model in March l961 and the "7S" model in April 1965. The "7" series, which had a built-in exposure meter and were impressive in appearance, were well liked by their users. At the time, the era of the 35mm rangefinder cameras was already giving way to that of the SLR. With the interruption of the production of the "7S" in September l968, the tradition of the Canon 35mm rangefinder camera, which started with the introduction of the "Kwanon," came to an end.




The VT came before the P.


The 2.8 Summaron has a great reputation.
 
Last edited:
I had a Canon 7 with a Nikkor 50f2.0 lens on it and it was stolen out of my car while in a hospital parking garage. I must have left the door unlocked. Someone told me that it is possible to record the door locking device but I don't know if that is true? I remember someone in the area when I left the car. It was the last time that I parked in the garage. I miss the lens more than the camera really. The camera was heavy but what I liked was that it had all of the framelines I use, especially the 35mm. Well I have replaced it with a IIIg that is my primary user now.
Joe

:bang:
 
Joe,
Losing equiment like this must be an unpleasureable experience.
I sold my Nikon 50/2, and I miss it.
The IIIg on the other hand is wonderful.
 
ChrisN said:
I'm still sorry I sold my good one. I saw it again in the RFF classifieds, and wanted to buy it back but lacked funds at the time. I wonder who bought it - serial #747096. If it ever comes up again for sale ... 🙂
Click to expand...

Hi Chris,
There are many clean Canon P's around. I will one day get a mint one and then a CLA for it.
 
Nice to hear all of these positive comments on the Canon P. Got mine, a nice clean example, from another RFF fellow, had DAG do a partial CLA to put the speeds spot on (he did not repair the faulty frame counter), and I hardly ever use it. Not sure why, but it has not clicked with me. So it is available and will be sold in my forthcoming wave of gear reallocation.
 
If the RFF member sees no obvious problems (wipe marks, fungus, shutter speeds, separation of lens elements), then a buy would be OK.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Loovic07
Canon P
2
Replies
27
Views
3K
Loovic07
Loovic07
T
Canon 45mm 1.9 compared to 50mm 1.8
Replies
2
Views
196
Sonnar Brian
Sonnar Brian
N
Canon LTM 35mm f2, Canon 35mm f2.8, Jupiter 12 - opinions on these lenses?
2 3
Replies
42
Views
8K
ACullen
A
8
Help me Choose a 35mm for an Canon RF Article
2
Replies
22
Views
2K
wlewisiii
W
Y
Canon P lens mount question
Replies
15
Views
2K
skahde
skahde
Back
Top Bottom