Canon A1 Review

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Canon A1
4.3 stars
Average rating for this product is: 4.3 out of 5

From 17 ratings and 36 reviews

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Ieuanfawr's Review of Canon A1 35mm SLR camera

17th May 2006

Overall Rating

5 stars
  • Value for money
    5 stars
  • Photograph Quality
    5 stars
  • Ease of Use
    5 stars
  • Time Camera Owned
    Over 1 Year
  • Features
    5 stars
Good Points

The A1 system is totally comprehensive, and at the time of its launch, was arguably the state of the art complete 35mm SLR. Terrific lenses. The aspherical and perspective correcting ones are very expensive.


Bad Points

Relatively slow shutter speed with flash (1/60 sec); camera totally dependent on battery - there is no manual option if the battery fails, so always a have a spare in your bag. Flash sensor is on the flash, not TTL.


General Comments

The Canon A1 35mm SLR is a classic camera, surpassed only by the F1.

I have had mine since about 1980, and have four lenses: 2 zooms and two fixed focal length. I also have the 199 Speedlight which is very powerful, and will work with lenses as wide as 24mm. I did have the motor drive (now sold) which was quite remarkable. It would consume 36 frames of film in about 5 secs, and the batteries didn't last much longer. The Speedlight could keep up for bursts of 4 or 5 frames before needing to recharge.

From being state of the art, it now seems a bit dated, being large and heavy - very heavy with a 300mm lens, motor drive, and flash. However, it was always forgiven for this as the quality of the transparencies or prints was superb. There was never any concern about enlarging Kodachrome64 to 20" 30".

Swapping lenses is a simple one-handed job, and when I dropped my f4 35-70mm zoom, it was reset by a specialist in Liverpool.

Over the years I have it serviced there several times, and only a broken battery door ever needed replacing. It has been frozen in the foothills of Everest, soaked in Snowdonia and fried in the Arizona desert. The leather case has protected it, and even though the case itself is all but wrecked, the camera itself is in good condition. It has never failed despite the testing environments.

It is easy to use in all modes, and I found that metering at normal light levels was very accurate.

My greatest wish is that I could change the back for a an 8 Mega-Pixel digital receptor!

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Members' Comments onIeuanfawr's Review

  • kriptone Rank: Lance Corporal on 27th May 2006

    While I agree that the A1 is a superb camera I have to take issue with your comment about it only being surpassed by the F1. What about the T90?? I have both (A1 and T90) and the T90 is definitely superior in terms of ergonomics, performance and specification. I also have a number of lenses: 24mm, 50mm. 28-200mm, 70-210mm and two 2x converters plus dedicated flash (300TL, works with A1 and T90). However have recently gone digital so am looking to sell my 35mm equipment. Interested???

  • Ieuanfawr Rank: Lieutenant-Colonel on 30th May 2006

    I have to take issue with your comment about it only being surpassed by the F1. What about the T90?? True, it was outstanding, not least with 1/125th sec flash sync, but sadly it was only on sale for about a year and never caught on with the pros. It was bit like BetaMax VCRs. Technically excellent but never took off commercially. However have recently gone digital so am looking to sell my 35mm equipment. Interested??? Likewise! Meanwhile, I see Canon have halted development of film cameras. :( http://news.com.com/Canon+to+halt+development+of+film+cameras/2100-1041_3-6076876.html?tag=nefd.top