Thoughts on the Canon NEW F-1
Saw the trailor to Wonder Woman 1984, first thought Gal Gadot looks even better than in the first Wonder Woman, two I really hope someone mates the Blue Monday instrumental with the New Order lyrics, one it has to be in the soundtrack and the band really needs a payday from that song, the original single though it sold tons back in the day, lost money for the band.
I'm seriously digressing. When I saw the trailer my thoughts went to cameras from the 1980s, and I have a bunch and I thought of the Canon New F-1. First thought why didn't they call it the F-2? Canon wasn't all that original with their model designations, in fact the EF lens mount is confused for the camera from the mid 1970s that pre dates the AE-1, again digressing. Back to the camera, Canon wanted to take on the Nikon F3HP with their New F-1, and it was a solid match. Both companies put a ton of money into their respective bodies and had decent production runs. The new F-1 was introduced in 1981 and formally discontined in the mid 1990s while it's rival made to the first year of the 21st century.
The new F-1 had an eye level prism which made the camera strictly a manual focus body, the AE prism head that enabled aperture priority and a really neat sports finder which could also be used for wildlife photography. I personally own a pair of New F-1 AE's and one with the eyelevel prism. As the photo immediately below shows, if you squint you would think Canon made an F3HP clone, no, they didn't. The New F-1 had a hybrid horizontal shutter that was mechanically controlled from 1/60 of a second and up, while everything below 1/60 is electroncically controlled. The Nikon F3 was a fully electroncially controlled shutter providing you both aperture priority and full manual control. With the Canon New F-1 you need the AE prism and the winder to unlock all the features, truthfully I really only used manual with these cameras, personal preference.
Canon took a different tack with metering going through the focusing screen instead of putting two cells either in the prism or really close to the film plane. It works. I've never taken a bad shot with a New F-1, or an original F-1 either. The one thing you have to be mindful of, stock up on 6 volt silver oxide batteries like the 4SR44, the alkaline 4LR44's are ok in a pinch but they really don't last all that long and has a quick drop off in power.
So is a New F-1 right for you? My first question is, are you sitting on fair number of FD mount lenses? Is your A-1 or AE-1 near death and are looking to trade up to a stronger body then the New F-1 is for you. These cameras are climbing in price so it pays to shop smart, buy the best example you can afford and set some money aside to get a CLA.
Camera: Canon NEW F-1, various FD lenses.
Film; Various Film Stocks.
I'm seriously digressing. When I saw the trailer my thoughts went to cameras from the 1980s, and I have a bunch and I thought of the Canon New F-1. First thought why didn't they call it the F-2? Canon wasn't all that original with their model designations, in fact the EF lens mount is confused for the camera from the mid 1970s that pre dates the AE-1, again digressing. Back to the camera, Canon wanted to take on the Nikon F3HP with their New F-1, and it was a solid match. Both companies put a ton of money into their respective bodies and had decent production runs. The new F-1 was introduced in 1981 and formally discontined in the mid 1990s while it's rival made to the first year of the 21st century.
The new F-1 had an eye level prism which made the camera strictly a manual focus body, the AE prism head that enabled aperture priority and a really neat sports finder which could also be used for wildlife photography. I personally own a pair of New F-1 AE's and one with the eyelevel prism. As the photo immediately below shows, if you squint you would think Canon made an F3HP clone, no, they didn't. The New F-1 had a hybrid horizontal shutter that was mechanically controlled from 1/60 of a second and up, while everything below 1/60 is electroncically controlled. The Nikon F3 was a fully electroncially controlled shutter providing you both aperture priority and full manual control. With the Canon New F-1 you need the AE prism and the winder to unlock all the features, truthfully I really only used manual with these cameras, personal preference.
Canon took a different tack with metering going through the focusing screen instead of putting two cells either in the prism or really close to the film plane. It works. I've never taken a bad shot with a New F-1, or an original F-1 either. The one thing you have to be mindful of, stock up on 6 volt silver oxide batteries like the 4SR44, the alkaline 4LR44's are ok in a pinch but they really don't last all that long and has a quick drop off in power.
So is a New F-1 right for you? My first question is, are you sitting on fair number of FD mount lenses? Is your A-1 or AE-1 near death and are looking to trade up to a stronger body then the New F-1 is for you. These cameras are climbing in price so it pays to shop smart, buy the best example you can afford and set some money aside to get a CLA.
Camera: Canon NEW F-1, various FD lenses.
Film; Various Film Stocks.
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