A new old camera

VirtualAdept

VirtualAdept

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Mads
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Yep... I have in my hands right now a Canon AE-1.
Had a few niggles to start with... couldn't wind it, shutter wouldn't work etc etc. After a quick google I discover if the battery is dead nothing works, so I open the bottom cap to see what battery it takes and it appears to be screwed in.
A little more googling shows the battery required so I figure the bit under the screw plate is another cap, since its not a button cell. Open it back up, have a little go at unscrewing and it wont move. Back to google.
I kept seeing references to an ergonomic grip and figure they think it has a grip similar to a battery grip on a newer slr.
I gave up fiddling as I was at work and as I'm putting it down I notice that latch on the front of the camera, flick it and ping, battery compartment.
My boss, who'd been watching me fiddle with it for the best part of an hour calls me all sorts of names I cant repeat here while laughing so hard she turned purple and couldn't breathe.

I now have a battery inserted and, without seeing the pictures from it, so far I absolutely love it.

I do think its quite interesting that I seem to be progressing backwards... I have three canons one a dslr, the other two both 35mm and I'm finding more enjoyment from the older kit...
 
Thanks :) I actually got the manual for my last 35mm from that site, its a goldmine for resources.

I went 350d> 30d> eos 5> AE-1... still have all but the 350d.
I'm ashamed to say that I've given up on the practika since its just too much hassle when I got the AE1 for £20 inc shipping.

Now to look into developing :D
 
Stranger still - my first camera was a Practika MTL3, which got me started in photography for around 18 months until it fell to it's death from a Bivi-Ledge on the Aig. du Midi. It's replacement was... wait for it... A canon AE-1 - I would have bought a A-1 but couldn't afford it whilst spending the summer in the alps climbing. Had the AE-1 for a couple of years until it was stolen from my van, along with a rather nice mountain bike. Made do with point-and-shoots, film then digital until december 2008 when I bought the 450D.
 
My friends still got an MTL3, and he swears by it... or he did until he used my EOS 5.
I've found, in the twenty minutes I played with it, that the AE1 is so much quicker to respond, for example with the metering needle.
The MTL3 needle rose as slowly as my mk1 mondeo fuel gauge whereas the canon hurtles up like the one in my pug.
Snappier, you might say
 
I started with a Praktica LTL when I was 16. I loved the viewfinder exposure meter with the needle that moved up and down :) -

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Also the clockwork self-timer mechanism - those were the days . . .

Moved on to Canon AE1, AE1P, A1 and literally wore them out.

Enjoy the AE1 - I might just look for one myself when I next go to a car-boot !
 
****Enjoy the AE1 - I might just look for one myself when I next go to a car-boot ! ***

Some people are strange..last year at the boot sale one stall had a couple of zooms and a camera bag and other small goodies, and I said to the seller "erm where's the camera", he said "a buyer accepted my price for £20 for the lot (which included an AE1) but he didn't want the zooms or bag just the camera for £20".....we both rolled our eyes.
 
Needle metering was one of the great teaching tools. It showed you, in analogue terms, the difference between including and excluding the sky from an image and how many stops difference it took to level the needle for different subjects.

It didn't bombard the photographer with unnecessary information either.
 
My first Canon was an A1. I loved that camera.
Traded it in for a new EOS 100 when it developed the dreaded squeeky shutter.
Then I had to trade in all my lenses due to the different lens mount.

Enjoy the AE1. Going back to using cameras from this era is like a breath of fresh air.
Personally, I think using "all manual" cameras gave us a better understanding of photography back then, more so than the modern models.
 
mstphoto said:
Personally, I think using "all manual" cameras gave us a better understanding of photography back then, more so than the modern models.
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As the owner of an A-1 I think I can say this: arguably, though, the AE-1 and then A-1 and AE-1P were landmark bodies from Canon that helped set things down the course of computerised automation in the 1980s.
 
Musicman said:
As the owner of an A-1 I think I can say this: arguably, though, the AE-1 and then A-1 and AE-1P were landmark bodies from Canon that helped set things down the course of computerised automation in the 1980s.
Click to expand...

...but I prefer my aperture priority AV1.
 
alistair.o said:
Apologies to the OP for butting into the thread:-

Bigyin - how well would you rate the EOS -3?
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I absolutely love it, if i'm in the right mood for it... it's pretty much the same experience as taking out a 5Dii and finding a roll of film in the back instead of a sensor and LED. The metering and AF performance is in a different league to my modern(ish) DSLR - the EOS450D, but it will share all the best glass with it! It's ideal if you are going out shooting in "mixed mode" - film and digital, or for if you want all the modern conveniences, but still want the end result on film. If I want a more "raw film" experience but still want to get my Velvia exposed correctly, I'll take the A-1 out, and for back to basics, the FED-3, a roll of B&W, and sunny 16 makes me smile too.

I'd still say, though, that all things considered, my favourite camera owned is the EOS-3. It's big, bulky, heavy, noisy as hell when you hit the shutter release - but I would be lost without it. Over the last 6 months, It's probably had as many rolls of film to itself, as all the other cameras in my collection put together - which should say something :)
 
What are you going to do with the Practica now.

Dave.
 
excalibur2 said:
...but I prefer my aperture priority AV1.
Click to expand...

Aye. I never really needed or wanted shutter priority that often. That's why I stuck with an AV-1 as my main shooter for nearly 20 years (still have it). An A-1 gets you the best of both worlds, though ;)
 
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