Last week I went for an SLR

[raid]

After getting absorbed into rangefinder photography for a few years, it felt good to pick up my trusted F1N with a 17mm 4.0 FD lens. The viewfinder added a spotmeter, which was handy for photography at a beach with white sand. I used Fuji Reala 100 negative film without any filter.

Dana and Lina were having a blast running after birds at the nearly deserted beach that day. The wind was blowing and the waves were wild.

I have used this camera for over 25 years now. It is an amazing image making machine; the BMW of SLR cameras!

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[peterm1]

Raid I am shocked. An SLR!!!!!

I am joking of course. All variants of the Canon f1 are superb. I owned the first model and loved it but did not use it enough due to competing cameras (too many toys) so eventually traded it on a Contax T2 as I felt the need for a high end compact that I might carry and use more often. While I still have and love the T2 I have regretted the sale ever since. If anything the later version is even better. I had something of a fetish for the FL lenses at the time and used my body with those. (I felt them to be more classic in design and better built than the FD mount lenses.) But on reflection this wwas just a passing prejudice. I am sure you will have fun with it.

 

[iamzip]

Really gotta love those old FD body canons. I put my A1 down for maybe 5 or six years, then rediscovered it again last year. Now I have a nice assortment of glass - including an FL 55mm f/1.2 in questionable condition which has just been won off the 'bay and not yet arrived.

 

[splitimageview]

I just received a 55/1.2 FL...really like the solid build of these old lenses.

 

[raid]

I started out with "serious" photography with Canon A-1, and then I got the F1N and I was hooked. I have Canon FD lenses from 7.5mm to 500mm. It is fun to use the wide angle lenses on a M body with Adapter B.

 

[raid]

Raid I am shocked. An SLR!!!!!

I am joking of course. All variants of the Canon f1 are superb. I owned the first model and loved it but did not use it enough due to competing cameras (too many toys) so eventually traded it on a Contax T2 as I felt the need for a high end compact that I might carry and use more often. While I still have and love the T2 I have regretted the sale ever since. If anything the later version is even better. I had something of a fetish for the FL lenses at the time and used my body with those. (I felt them to be more classic in design and better built than the FD mount lenses.) But on reflection this wwas just a passing prejudice. I am sure you will have fun with it.

Peter,
I also have the first model (second version) F1n. I use it with mirror lockup for very long exposures and for macro photography. The T2 feels like a toy camera in comparison with the F1n or F1N.

 

[raid]

Really gotta love those old FD body canons. I put my A1 down for maybe 5 or six years, then rediscovered it again last year. Now I have a nice assortment of glass - including an FL 55mm f/1.2 in questionable condition which has just been won off the 'bay and not yet arrived.

I sold my A-1 and then I went back and bought another A1. Mine has a meter that if off by two stops. I sold the 55mm/1.2 SSC and got in place of it a 50mm/1.2L which is superb.

 

[raid]

I just received a 55/1.2 FL...really like the solid build of these old lenses.

There is a guy who modifies this lens into M. The claim is that it is better than the RF Canon 50/1.2.

 

[iamzip]

I started out with "serious" photography with Canon A-1, and then I got the F1N and I was hooked. I have Canon FD lenses from 7.5mm to 500mm. It is fun to use the wide angle lenses on a M body with Adapter B.

7.5!!! 😱

My widest FD lens is a Vivitar 24mm.

 

[bmattock]

Canon FX for me - with 55mm f/1.2 of course. The camera my father gave me, purchased in a pawn shop when I was a teenager. I wanted a 'better' camera at the time, had no idea just how good mine was. I appreciate it much more now.

 

[raid]

7.5!!! 😱

My widest FD lens is a Vivitar 24mm.

Canon FL or FD lenses can be picked up at bargain prices if you are patient about it. I highly recommend the Canon FD 28mm 2.0 and the 24mm 2.8 [the 2.0 is even better I am told].

 

[Al Patterson]

I still have two A-1s, which I use with the 35-105 F3.5 and 70-210 f4 zooms. I shot a roll of B&W in Chama NM back in October. Sweet!

One of these days though I need to get the 50 1.4 to go with it.

 

[bmattock]

Canon FL or FD lenses can be picked up at bargain prices if you are patient about it. I highly recommend the Canon FD 28mm 2.0 and the 24mm 2.8 [the 2.0 is even better I am told].

Oddly, you can often get the lenses cheaper if you buy the camera and lens together than if you just buy the lens. I guess there's a business model in there somewhere.

 

[raid]

I still have two A-1s, which I use with the 35-105 F3.5 and 70-210 f4 zooms. I shot a roll of B&W in Chama NM back in October. Sweet!

One of these days though I need to get the 50 1.4 to go with it.

The Canon 50/1.4 was for many years the lens to match in optical performance. It is a great lens.

 

[Al Kaplan]

I used to have one of those Vivitar 24mm lenses. It was a fantastic lens. I had the TX version with interchangeable adapters mounted in a Leicaflex T-4 adapter. Yes the TX and T-4 adapters were pretty much interchangeable. They never made a Leicaflex TX adapter and using stop-down metering wasn't an issue because I mostly use a seperate incident lightmeter anyway.

 

[amateriat]

Spoiled brat that I was back in the day, my first brand-new 35mm camera (after my used and frequently-breaking Yashica 5000e Lynx, and GTN), was a Canon F-1 (first version, sans plastic-tipped film-advance lever), with 50mm f/1.4 and 135mm f/2.5 FD glass...at the tender age of 19. The following year, I went wild: An EF body, 24 f/2.8, 35 f/1.4, MF motor drive, Servo EE and Booster T finders (okay, I bought those finders used...obviously somebody else felt the "need" for those before me and bailed soon afterward), and a 200mm f/2.8 (somehow, I never grokked with any lens longer than 200mm...half a day playing with an FD 300mm f/2.8 Fluorite thoroughly cured me of Big White Telephoto Lust forever 😉). Great stuff. Took a ton of great pictures with it (search for the "Amtrak" thread for an example). The F-1, whichever generation, was possibly the best thing Canon ever made, and one of the best 35mm SLRs of all time.

But, I longed for something smaller and lighter: I traded away the EF body for an A-1, which I didn't get along with at all. The Canon system gave way to a pair of Pentax LX bodies (an early-production disaster for me), shortly followed by a desperate return to full-size SLRs (a pair of used Nikon F3s), then Minolta's Maxxum 9000 (don't ask), then a host of Olympus OMs (1/3/4), then a Rollei SL2000F (for a month), then Minolta's 9xi, which I stuck with for the better part of a decade (until early 2002), after which I decided that what I really wanted was a good pair of rangefinders: hello, Hexar.

The only SLR left in my possession is a nicely-worn black Olympus OM-2n with a 50 f/1.8 (looking to replace it with either a 50 f/1.4 or 50 f/3.5 macro, whichever I find first), and a rather nice Sigma 21-35 f.3.5-4.5 zoom (and if you knew what I've said about Sigma in my distant past, you'd know this is high praise indeed).

But it's really about working with RFs these days for me.


- Barrett

 

[Bill58]

There is a guy who modifies this lens into M. The claim is that it is better than the RF Canon 50/1.2.

Raid:

Who is that guy? 'Got an email address for him?

Thanks,
Bill

 

[oftheherd]

How neat! I didn't know you had SLRs Raid. Somehow you seem more human. 😀 😀

Back when I was looking for a "good" camera, while in Vietnam, I scanned the PX catalog looking for the best camera for the best price. I considered the Canon along with the Nikon and Minolta. I was turned off to the Canon as I thought they disguised supposed added versatility as a marketing ploy to make more moeny. You had to buy separate some things the others built in.

Money was a factor as was brand loyalty. I had previously owned a Yashica movie camera so I ended up with the Yashica TL Super. It was a good camera. I often wonder how things would have been different if I had gone for the Nikon or Minolta. Still, I am happy. Buying into screw mount lenses allowed me to move on to the Fujica while in Korea. I still prefer screw mount to bayonet.

Still, looking back, I realize the Canons were also very good cameras. I just thought they were more expensive if you wanted to expand. Silly since I didn't expand beyond a basic camera and 50mm lens for several years. Go figure.

 

[oftheherd]

I used to have one of those Vivitar 24mm lenses. It was a fantastic lens. I had the TX version with interchangeable adapters mounted in a Leicaflex T-4 adapter. Yes the TX and T-4 adapters were pretty much interchangeable. They never made a Leicaflex TX adapter and using stop-down metering wasn't an issue because I mostly use a seperate incident lightmeter anyway.

I still have several TX lenses, including the 24mm. I got a 300mm, 80-200, and an odd zoom of something like 75-260 or thereabouts. I still have them but haven't used them for a while. I always preferred the 24mm as I like wide, and actually thought all the TX lenses were good.

 

[raid]

Raid:

Who is that guy? 'Got an email address for him?

Thanks,
Bill

Bill,
I just recall a RFF thread about it. He sells these modifed lenses on ebay. He only handles the 50/1.2 FL [or is it 55/1.2 FL?]