Caledon on my Recently Returned Canon New F-1 AE
I got my Canon New F-1 AE back from Rene at Service Camera Pro, the meter needed a minor repair and I wanted to take it out for a workout. The New F-1 was Canon/s reply to the Nikon F3 in the pro camera market botth cameras have their strengths and weakenesses, I own both and will be talking about that in an upcoming Classic Camera Revival episode.
Speaking as an unrepentent Nikon fan boy who just so happens to own a fair chunk of Canon FD mount gear, and I own three Canon F-1's, a first generation and two New F-1s, one with the eye level prism, the other being the AE head. At first glance if you squint, you would think the New F-1 AE was a Nikon F-3, not even close, it's a different animal altogether.
New Canon F-1's had a hybrid shutter, one that was mechanical above 1/60 of a second, and electronically controlled below 1/60 of a second. The camera was powered by a 4SR44 battery that's in the same spot as the Canon AE-1 (Program) and A-1. The New F-1 was a tough body but jam packed with technology.
So, the achilles heal, the New F-1 with the AE meter head has not one but two meter read outs, one for manual exposure, the other one along the bottom for Auto Exposure. The litle diaphram that covered the manual exposre meter on my camera would not retract properly. Not to throw rocks at glass houses, Nikon went with an LCD readout for the F3's meter, just liek the FA, once that LCD fades, good lucking that fixed. To me the best meter read out for an AE camera is the Nikon FE and FE2, that's perfection.
That aside the New Canon F-1 AE is a a solid tank of a camera that takes FD and FDn lens line along with the accessory motor drive. Canon pitched the F-1 line hard to photojournalists and sports photographers hence the tie in with the Olympics. If you're shooting an A series camera (AE-1 or A-1), it's time to trade up, you will be glad you did.
I took a Wednesday off a few weeks ago to pay my annual dues for the Caledon Ski Club and go for a hike in Forks of the Credit Provincial Park and put the recently returned New F-1 AE through its paces.
Belfountain has an entirely different personality during the week in the Summer as it's much quieter, and I like that. The weekends have beome a zoo, thank you Blog TO.
Camera: Canon NEW F-1 AE, FDn lenses.
Film: Rollei Retro 400S, HC110 B.
Speaking as an unrepentent Nikon fan boy who just so happens to own a fair chunk of Canon FD mount gear, and I own three Canon F-1's, a first generation and two New F-1s, one with the eye level prism, the other being the AE head. At first glance if you squint, you would think the New F-1 AE was a Nikon F-3, not even close, it's a different animal altogether.
New Canon F-1's had a hybrid shutter, one that was mechanical above 1/60 of a second, and electronically controlled below 1/60 of a second. The camera was powered by a 4SR44 battery that's in the same spot as the Canon AE-1 (Program) and A-1. The New F-1 was a tough body but jam packed with technology.
So, the achilles heal, the New F-1 with the AE meter head has not one but two meter read outs, one for manual exposure, the other one along the bottom for Auto Exposure. The litle diaphram that covered the manual exposre meter on my camera would not retract properly. Not to throw rocks at glass houses, Nikon went with an LCD readout for the F3's meter, just liek the FA, once that LCD fades, good lucking that fixed. To me the best meter read out for an AE camera is the Nikon FE and FE2, that's perfection.
That aside the New Canon F-1 AE is a a solid tank of a camera that takes FD and FDn lens line along with the accessory motor drive. Canon pitched the F-1 line hard to photojournalists and sports photographers hence the tie in with the Olympics. If you're shooting an A series camera (AE-1 or A-1), it's time to trade up, you will be glad you did.
I took a Wednesday off a few weeks ago to pay my annual dues for the Caledon Ski Club and go for a hike in Forks of the Credit Provincial Park and put the recently returned New F-1 AE through its paces.
Belfountain has an entirely different personality during the week in the Summer as it's much quieter, and I like that. The weekends have beome a zoo, thank you Blog TO.
Camera: Canon NEW F-1 AE, FDn lenses.
Film: Rollei Retro 400S, HC110 B.
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