Mark's Canon AE-1 page
The Canon AE-1 was another great find. I bought it from a retired couple I met walking along the river. It came with an FD 50mm lens, some filters, and a tattered case for $25.00. It works perfectly, no light leaks or shutter problems. Introduced in 1976, it used a microprocessor and an automated assembly process to keep prices down. It's got a split-image rangefinder, which works better with my worn out eyes. Micro-prisms don't. I can use this camera in stopped-down mode with my M42 lenses with an adapter. The AE stands for Auto Exposure. This one is shutter priority, meaning I set the shutter speed and it sets the aperture. FD lenses have an "A" on the aperture ring for that purpose. It's got the usual manual advance lever, but can also use a "power winder A" for faster shooting (that I don't do). You still have to rewind the film manually with the usual crank. This camera does nothing without a 6V 4R44 battery. There's also a data back which would be fun to have. It records information on the film like the date. Wonder if it's easily removable.My pics of the camera
Pics from first test roll.
