Different Canon P bodies? True???

[wallace]

I'm looking for a second Canon P body. Now there is a seller on evilbay who claims that the earlier Ps are" significantly higher in build quality, heavier, and, most of all, have far better fit and finish!"
Is that really true???

Wallace

P.S: hope nobody else from the forum is interested in this P.......

 

[HuubL]

Never heard that...? Who says?

 

[rogue_designer]

complete and utter bull****.

 

[stesm]

The build quality and fit and finish of the late model Ps I have is excellent. This one is "significantly better"? Sounds like a used car salesman.

 

[dexdog]

I used to own three Canon Ps at one time. One of these was part of the first 2000 made, while the other two were later examples. The oldest camera had the old-style black letter ISO reminder dial on the back, while the other two had the color version of the ISO dial. I could see no difference in quality of build, fit and finish or weight bwteen the three. Admittedly a very small sample, but quality seemed to be equal.

Sounds like this eBay seller is making stuff up to distinguish his product.

 

[mr_phillip]

Loose stool water of the very lowest sort. The differences between early and late Ps are minute indeed.

 

[januaryman]

BS - I looked at Canon's historical camera site - the specs for the P do not uindicate changes. They are what they are.

 

[HuubL]

"I would certainly call it *MINT*. There is a small amount of brassing (under the RF window, on the rewind crank) here and there, but that's it."
Too many BIG words.

Cosmetically, it looks like a nice camera indeed, but hey, many of these Ps, look like they came out of the box just recently. I would buy it, but not for more than the usual going price, ~ 300 US$ with that lens.

 

[wallace]

Thank you all for the information! Seems this seller really sells used cars...
Huubl: The item no. is 230257439642. I think that it will be expensive in the end since he says that the shutter curtains have no wrinkles....

 

[HuubL]

Thank you all for the information! Seems this seller really sells used cars...
Huubl: The item no. is 230257439642. I think that it will be expensive in the end since he says that the shutter curtains have no wrinkles....

Yes, we're talking about the same item. It's already over 200 US$ and still more than 4 days to go. The curtains indeed appear without wrinkles. Nice for the collector to put it in a cabinet. But if you want to shoot with it a few wrinkles won't be in the way.

Good luck with finding one. I recommend Jiri. He's honest, describes his stuff in much detail and gets fair prices for it.

 

[stesm]

I'll second the recommend for jiri_e. I just bought a lens from him and am quite pleased. He describes the flaws to the tiniest (insignificant) mark.

 

[januaryman]

You might be lucky, but jiri_e's great reputation makes the auctions run high. I'd recommend him also with no reservation. I did pick up a P with a wrinkled curtain just a few months ago at KEH for $199. It shoots fine. Do not dismiss because of wrinkles. And of course, luck and timing is everything.

Update- jiri-e has a Canon P out there right now, needing a CLA, it seems. Always a good idea to get a CLA anyway for an oldie like this. I just had a CLA done on my P by Mark Hama, less than $200. I hear DAG is excellent as well. This might be a good deal if it doesn't run too high.

 

[john neal]

I think that there could be some confusion by the seller here - I believe that the first few hundred P bodies were actually built using IVT internal parts - but they are so similar that it would take an extremely minute inspection by one of the original build team to tell them apart.

I don't see that attaches any great value to them.

 

[Charles Woodhouse]

The early Canon P's were built on the VI-T (not IVT) or VI-L die-cast frame but the only difference is the lug in the casting to house the rising pin for the viewfinder parallax assembly.All those Canons from the VT to the P are excellent users,but US$200 for a CLA on such a simple camera sounds a bit steep. In Australia I charge around AU$100 for a very thorough CLA.

 

[januaryman]

Charles, I wish you lived here in the States. Postage would kill us.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

I overpaid for my mint P ($310) with unwrinkled curtain--what can I say, I'm fussy--but I only pay $110 for my CLA's, from Allen at Cameraworks in Latham, NY. He did a great job on my Robot and I just got the P back from him the other day--going out now to shoot a roll. You might google that place if you're looking for an affordable CLA.

 

[wallace]

You pay at least 200 Euros for a CLA in Western Europe!

 

[john neal]

Charles - you are right, my attempt at spelling could be better - d*mn this dyslexic keyboard!!

 

[crawdiddy]

The Canon Ps have excellent build quality. Mine has a few bright lines, and even some worn edges. But there's still only chrome showing. They seem to have a very healthy chrome plating that's very tough. Not easily dented or pitted, and superficial scratches do not penetrate the chrome.

They don't make chrome like it anymore.

I suppose mine is within the first 8,000 (of 87,000) units produced, with serial# 707xxx. However, the ISO reminder dial is one of the later types with chrome, orange and pale blue numerals on black dial.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Just developed my roll...pics look GREAT...I can definitely recommend that place here in upstate NY. Shutter bounce is gone!