Canon A-1
The A-1 was a 35mm SLR made by Canon in Japan. The popularity of today's high-tech circuitry in cameras has much to owe to the A-1. Introduced in 1978, this camera has remained the ultimate reference camera in many minds for over a quarter of a century. The A-1 was among the first cameras to be completely dependant on battery power, and that fact would prove to be an asset in light of the dramatically improved accuracy and ease of use.
Features
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The A-1 had the choice of aperture- or shutter-priority automatic exposure, the first [1] "programmed" fully-auto mode, as well as automatic dedicated flash, and a fully manual setting. There was a numerical display in the viewfinder of shutter and aperture, using red LED seven-segment displays. The settings dial is shown (right) set to shutter-priority auto (Tv). The programmed setting is just past the 1/1000 mark. Rotating the collar around the shutter-release to Av sets aperture-priority and changes the display from speed to aperture settings. Around the wind-on lever is the On (A)/ Off (L, lock)/ self-timer (2 or 10 sec) switch. |
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The A-1 has a cloth shutter, known to stick at times, and also known for the dreaded Canon squeal. It is not uncommon to see broken or taped battery doors on used models.
Notes
- ↑ According to Canon, in their museum
Links
In English:
- Canon A-1 at Photography in Malaysia
- Canon A-1 and AV-1 at The Camera Site by Reijo Lauro
- A-1 in Canon's Museum
In French:
- Lionel's Canon A-1 overview at 35mm-compact.com
- Canon A-1 and French user manual at Sylvain Halgand's collection-appareils.fr
