No love here for old Canon SLRs?

Don't tell me they're ugly!
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In the late '60s when I was looking for a professional camera I consulted several professional photographers and to a person they all recommended Nikon, which is what they were using. I think this goes back to the Nikon rangefinders that were very popular during the Korean War as opposed to Canon. Nikon also captured the field in Vietnam. You need to go back to that period and compare what Canon was producing during the early days of the Nikon F. The only real choice was between the Nikon F and the meterless Leica M.
 
Well, let's see, this is a gear forum... I suppose you would get the same kind of reactions with a general automotive forum where people are fervent users of particular brands. It's not the camera so much as what you do with it to get the images. However, each person has different desires in their choice of gear.

So, where are the Canon lovers? Busy with the digital world, I suppose.

There are plenty out there who obviously love their Canon cameras. For me, they just were not a good fit, so Nikons won out. Now, Leica has become my tool of choice.

Rocky Road for me, Chocolate for him, Vanilla for her... it's all good.
 
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mfunnell said:
But, again, where's the love for Canon manual-focus cameras? And why aren't they loved?
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Lots of love here, especially for the Canon FL series paired with a Canon FT or the original F1.
 
Ronny said:
Sold my two Canon F-1.
Nikon F feels much better.
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That´s interesting because it was exactly opposite for me. The nicest Nikon body I used was an F5. The F4 is electro-plastic, the F3 was ok but I did not like the LCD. The F and F2 come with the bulkiest finders on the planet (except you manage to find one rare meterless finder and are willing to pay a lot).
 
Lots of love for the old Canons here, I have an AE1 and an AE1p, my wife has an AV1. Between us we have 3x 50mm 1.8, a 35-70 and 70-210 along with a 135mm and a 28mm. I had a bag of Canons for years till some scum ball robbed it, F1, A1, AE1p, FTb, 28mm 50mm 1.2 a 100mm, a 135mm a short tele zoom and a few off brand lenses. I only really used the primes and oddly enough still do. After the first lot were stolen I tried a bunch of OM stuff and hated it, so I sold it and got a couple of Pentax bodies, I used the Pentax until I became homeless.
 
I use a FTb (my first 'real' camera) and an F-1 as my main SLRs. I'm quite fond of them. my only complaint is that my FTb is really quite clunky...

one thing I find interesting is that alot of the Leica users here use Nikon SLRs... and if I'm not mistaken, the focus and aperture of Nikons is backwards to Leica. Same thing with Pentax. I find it kind of annoying...
 
My first camera was an EF in '75. I loved that camera. A real workhorse.We had fun with the 30 sec. exposures. It really took me back when I just saw the picture of it. Great camera.
 
mooge said:
one thing I find interesting is that alot of the Leica users here use Nikon SLRs... and if I'm not mistaken, the focus and aperture of Nikons is backwards to Leica.
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so true --

homorotation (as opposed to hetero rotation) used to be a criterion old photo mags suggested for people shooting more than one camera brand and needing speed or intuitive control
 
Canon jumped the shark with the "A" and "T" series cameras. They may have been good cameras and made the company a lot of money, but, compared to the older "F" style cameras, they looked and felt cheap.

My Exact feelings Too many of the Canon FD and EOS series bodies I have seen did not impress me at all- way too cheaply constructed, that not say that Canon has built some great cameras like the F1 or EOS-1 but too much crap in-between, and the switching of lens mounts from FL to FD to EOS You know PLANNED USELESSNESS- just too much!!!!!! and that alone scared me away! never the less some of the canon glass is quite good. I like my Conon Rangefinders but I will stick to my Nikon SLR's for work I have had one Nikon FG (one of Nikon cheaper economy models) For 12 years as a beat around camera and it is still going strong after hundreds of rolls thru it. I am sure one of the cheaper canons would of died long ago!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Kievman
 
The first real cameras I used were an AE-1 and A-1 that still work and I'm a very happy digital Canon shooter, but OMs and FM2s and the like just feel nicer than the very popular AE-1 AE-1P A-1 cameras. I've never used the less mass produced FD SLRs or either of the F-1 cameras, but the AE-1 just doesn't have great haptics.

Another reason people have largely given up on FD Canons is that the lenses can't easily be used with DSLRs while Nikon and OM lenses are much easier to mount or adapt. Many of us shoot film alongside digital and like to have lenses that can serve double duty.
 
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I've had a TX, AE-1, AE-1 Program and now an A1. I also have a Nikon FE and FM. Handling-wise, I think they are much of a muchness - discounting the control dial of the A1.
Nikon just seems to have a mystique that 'there' for Canon - excepting the F1!
Best regards,
RoyM
 
My first real cameras were a pair of A1s then moved onto New F1 still have a couple after that it was Eos 5s (the newspaper I worked for was too mean to buy Eos 1s), I think Nikon and Leica users are a bunch of posers. Mind you I do have a Nikon F F2 F3 F4x3 and Leica M2 and M8.
Canon for work Nikon for gathering dust!
 
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