Old Canon Film camera

Nick_A

Nick_A

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Work just came and asked my if I’d be interested in buying and old Canon SLR that has been sat in a cupboard for years they want £30 for it.

It’s all in a silver metal case, here is what is inside

Camera: Canon A-1
Canon FD 200mm F2.8
Canon FD 35-70mm F3.5-4.5
Canon Extender FD 2x
Canon Speedlite 199A
Canon Speedlite 188A

Is this a good deal or not worth bothering with? It’s sat under my desk at the mo while I decide. What do you guys reckon?
 
That's a really good deal and the 200mm f/2.8 is a lovely lens.
 
Id buy the 200 2.8 for that! if you don't want it i'm sure someone on the F+C forum would love it.
 
You would get more than £30 for that lot on ebay if you didn't want to use it.
 
Good deal, as you could easily double your money on ebay but I would haggle anyway :)
 
Buy it and keep it in the cupboard. some day you'll want to dabble in film (and it's a bargain)
 
Nick_A said:
ha ha fair enough so it's a good deal

where was the A-1 in the model range? entry level?

I suppose I should just look it up myself rather than just ask you lot ha ha
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The A1 was semi pro in fact it was Canon's first multi mode camera ,I had one years ago and like a fool when AF came along I got rid of it
 
Offer them £20 and with the change, go and buy yourself a roll of film to put through it, you'll have enough spare for developing and printing too.
 
Canon A-1 is a modern classic. A revolution in its day, and pretty much the pinnacle before AF swept in. It was a top-end consumer camera, but a lot of pros took to it. £300 at launch in the late 70s with a 50 1.8 lens, which was about 50% more than anything else.

Unfortunately FD lenses don't convert well to Canon EF mount.

If it's in good nick you could make a few quid v easily. I'll give you £50 :D
 
I still have my A1 which I bought when they first came out. It's a good camera, but you'll need an instruction manual to get the best out of it. Because I don't use mine very often, I have to refer to the manual from time to time to remind me what half the buttons do.

If you do buy it and then find that it's just sitting in a cupboard gathering dust, I'd be happy to give you £30 for the 200mm lens. This is one lens that I didn't get around to buying when I was shooting film, and it would make a nice addition to my collection, as I still have all my original FD lenses that I ever purchased.
 
Just 'kin buy it! It's arguably the best looking camera Canon ever made and their first multi mode camera. It was second in tbe line up only to the F1 flagship model - built like a tank and knock nails in with it.

You can't go wrong - you could sell the lot for much more than that. How tidy is the body?
 
WillieL said:
If the 200mm 2.8 is in good nick it is worth £100 on its own :thumbs:
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I've been thinking about buying one for my A-1

...or saving my money for an FD 80-200 f/4L :suspect:

£30 for that lot = bargain.

One thing in particular to watch out for with an A-1 is a squeaky mirror as the original lubricant dries out. If it does squeak and you don't get it attended to, it may eventually seize up.

If you're going to make good use of it, budget £60+ for a Clean, Lubricate and Adjust to get it into tip-top condition. Someone in F&C may be able to recommend a shop up your way.

As with any other camera of that vintage, the light seals are quite likely on their way out (with the foam turning into a gooey mess). If you're reasonably handy, you may be able to replace them yourself with a kit for a few quid. Better sorted out sooner rather than later to prevent the muck getting over the inside of the camera (and stop light leaks ruining your photos).

Happy shooting. I love mine.
 
Some reading for you; includes an online version of the manual:

http://www.mir.SPAM/rb/photography/companies/canon/fdresources/SLRs/a1/index.htm

Musicman said:
I love mine.
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I'd go as far as to say that, after my 5D,* it's the best all-round camera I own. Few SLRs of its vintage had full manual operation and both aperture and shutter priority AE (and program AE and electronic flash AE to boot).


* just don't tell the guys in F&C I said that ;)
 
Nick_A said:
just a quick update I bought this in the end for £20, will post a few pics up later on for you to look at

no idea how to use it of course :thumbs: don't even know how to put a film in it :lol:
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pull up the film rewind lever and the back will open, film goes in there, simples :lol:

manual for the A-1 here
 
The A-1 really took off after the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid in 1980. Canon featured the logo of the games on the front of the lens cap of the example that was sold with the kit lens. I think it was a 50/1.4 but my memory is a little hazy. There was a special exhibition entitled " Japan " at the Royal Academy in London back in 1980 which featured the life and culture of the country and a cutaway version of the A-1 was on display. It was drool stuff for an enthusiast.

I eventually bought a couple of A-1 bodies and while I loved the camera, it didn't really function well in the manual mode as there was no display of both shutter speed and aperture in the viewfinder. You had to take your eye off the viewfinder and look at the lens to check the aperture. As a multi-mode camera, it was excellent and the first of its' kind - a real trendsetter.



Cheers


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£20...???

Bloody bargain. I used one of those briefly (two months) and only my dropping it in the sea off the side of a boat stopped me from being a Canon-user now, I guess... I retrieved it, washed it in fresh water and sold it as soon as I got back to the UK... then bought a 2nd hand Nikon F2-AS...

Apparently I was relatively scruple-free in those days...

But yes, as others have said, this was the camera favoured by most Pros using Canon - a lot even preferred it to the 'Pro' F1... (I seem to recall Canon registered the 'F1' before the camera was even in production...Nikon had to go from F to F2)...
 
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