arhphotographic

I like this camera a lot. There I’ve said it. But why? To answer that let me take you through some of it’s features.

It is an aperture priority interchangeable lens film camera. You choose the aperture on the lens and the camera will select the correct shutter speed to get a correctly exposed shot. It supports both Canon FD and FL lenses. If more control is wanted then the camera can move into manual mode where you choose both shutter speed and aperture. Reason one for liking this camera.

The QF logo on the camera stands for Quick Focus. It was one of Canon’s early attempts to include focus assist, where in the viewfinder a green light illuminates when focus has been acquired. While I didn’t rely on this feature, it was nice to have there. Reason two!

The Canon AL-1, like all the A series, get the balance of feel and weight just right in my opinion. Why is that important? So you spend less time fiddling with the camera and more time on thinking about the photo. Reason three!

My version has the common ‘broken battery door latch syndrome.’ However I purchased this camera with the Power Winder A. This helped keep the camera battery door closed. Reason four. Click on the photo below which will take you to a recording of the sound of the winder in full flight!

I fitted a silver-nosed 50mm 1.8 lens along with a Vivitar 3X converter to the Canon AL-1 and took a walk around the garden.

The Canon AL-1, especially fitted with the winder, receded into the background and allowed me to take photos I was pleased with. That alone has got to be reason for going out with again!