T70?

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I've been buying some FD lenses to use on my m4/3 camera: 50mm f/1.4 BL, 28mm f/2.8, and 100-300 f/5.6. Now it occurs to me how fun it would be mate that 50mm on a FD body and take some pictures around the town, kids, etc. So, in browsing KEH.com for a basic SLR, I see they have some T70 bodies for pretty cheap. Before plunking down $17 for the body, I was wondering if there are any known issues about this camera? Are the batteries for it readily available still? Was it considered a "good" camera?</p>

<p>Thank you for any help. I appreciate it.</p>

<p>Hyun.</p>

<p>Much information on that and other FD bodies: <a href="http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/canon/fdresources/SLRs/t70/index.htm">here</a> and <a href="http://fdreview.com/">here</a>.</p>

<p>T70 utilizes standard (available everywhere) AA batteries, so that would be a non-issue.</p>

<p>I hope you have better luck than I did - tried a $70 body in the shop about 8 years ago, and it worked fine...the shop assistant noted clearly to me they had a no-return policy, but I thought it was worth taking the risk.<br>

1 day and 10 test shots later, the leaf shutter froze up, and that was the end of it. Meanwhile, my 30 year old A-1 cloth shutter keeps working happily away. I'm not sure if the leaf shutters are more prone to problems or not....but for $17, at least you are taking rather less risk than I did!<br>

I hope it goes well for you.</p>

<p>The thing that usually goes wrong with these is the battery door. The edge of the body chips and then there is nothing for the clip of the battery cover to stop against.</p>

<p>I'm a T70 fan. It's a good travel camera, because it's light, expendable, and runs on AA cells. I tend to buy good copies when I find them cheap, and give them away when friends express an interest in film photography. </p>

<p>Things that are good about the T70:</p>

<p>(i) Partial or average metering modes. </p>

<p>(ii) Abundance. The T70 came out in the 1980s, at the end of the SLR boom. Hundreds of thousands were sold to people who didn't need them-- what they really wanted was an autofocus point-and-shoot. This means that there are hundreds of thousands of nearly unused T70s sitting on shelves, and it is why you can buy one for $17 now.</p>

<p>Things that are bad about the T70:</p>

<p>(i) No depth-of-field preview. This is sometimes a pain.</p>

<p>(ii) The aforementioned battery door issue. You can get a replacement part for under ten bucks though.</p>

<p>I'm not sure exactly what Ashley means, but I think she just chose her words wrong. The T70 has a metal Copal Square shutter, and presumably that's what failed. (A leaf shutter is something different which is rarely found on an SLR.)</p>

<p>Hi again all,<br>

I really appreciate all the replies! I just went ahead and ordered the $17 copy of the T70. KEH will provide 6 months' warranty, so that's good (sorry to hear about your situation, Ashley--that stinks). </p>

<p>I'm looking forward to using it with the 50mm f/1.4 lens! I read Ken Rockwell's (!) review and he raved about the viewfinder--looking forward to experiencing that, too. </p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

 

<p>Hyun, careful now, it always starts with one body and a couple of lenses. With a decent scan you may find that most FD gear can deliver serious results, including the T70...</p>

<p>Haha, yeah it doesn't "help" that so much good FD glass is available for so cheap! </p>

 

<p>I have a mint T70 and a mint T90 I got for a song because of the issues Dave Sims mentioned. both are great cameras.</p>

 

<p>I recently gave away my T90 (returned it to the camera tech I got it from) because of the EEE issue. According to him, even brand new T90's can exhibit this problem, and I simply missed too many shots with that body. Enter the T70. I found a pair of bodies for a song on eBay and both work fine. If one starts to fail I have a backup. So far so good, and they both take wonderful pictures with all the "great" (read: mostly cheap!) FD glass I own.</p>

<p>My only real concern is the motor drive. Even with new batteries both seem to act slower and louder than a similar camera (Konica FT) but maybe that's just the way they sound and work. I will say they seem rugged. I dropped one while shooting the photo below, not far, like 2 foot onto a grassy lawn, but I had no fear that it was damaged. And indeed, it works fine still.</p><div></div>

I reckon that at the very moment Hyun bought his $17 T-70 some other guy paid several thousand dollars for the latest

DSLR, and is now taking 635 "artful" shots of his cracked driveway or broken fence because he's way too broke to leave

home.

 

Any resemblance to actual photographers, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

<p>I sold off a lot of FD & EOS gear earlier in the year but my 3 T70's and F1N's will stay with me until film is no more (hopefully forever).As many other have said the T70 is a wonderful little gem that is often overlooked despite some strange quirks.It is rather odd looking and that turns off a lot of people from the get go.The beauty is under the outer skin with this camera.It is a outstanding small lighweight easy to use overachiever SLR.My biggest issue has always been the noisy power winder.The camera was released in 1984 and the optional data back is forward dated until the year 2030!Makes you wonder because my EOS ElanII that was released in 1995 only goes to 2019.Never really had any breakdowns with mine but I do have them cleaned and adjusted ever so often.The optional 277T flash works well with this camera and was a pretty good unit.I generally use lithium photo AA in mine - 36 exposure film canisters are quite a load on that power winder system.I think you will be suprised at the number of good hits you get out of each roll with this model.</p>

<p>Guys, thank you all for the great replies. You guys are getting me excited about the camera! It's scheduled to arrive from KEH on Friday. Just in time for the long weekend--I plan on putting it (and the 50mm f/1.4 lens) to a good use. </p>

<p>I've been shooting Canon EOS and Nikon DSLRs for the past eight years, but never got rid of my Elan II and 7N, nor the Olympus Stylus Epic, which used to be my go-everywhere camera. Lately I've really been bitten by the film bug and been enjoying the heck out of it. Digital AND film--the best of both worlds.</p>

<p>Thanks again, guys. I'll report back later after I get my T70.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>It is rather odd looking and that turns off a lot of people from the get go.The beauty is under the outer skin with this camera.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Call me superficial, but I have never been able to get under the hideously ugly outer skin of the T70. I sold the one copy I did acquire before I could use it. :-(</p>

<p>I've enjoyed shooting with my F-1's, F-1n's, F-1N's, EF's, A-1's, and T90's, and even with the lowly AE-1 I once had, but will likely never give the T70 a shot. Pity...</p>

<p>After reading your original thread I bought a used T-70 off 'a well-known auction site' for £5 + P&P. The lens mount rattled but I whipped the front off and tightened it no problem. I had one years ago and sold it to a cousin when I first went EOS. A nice camera, I always think the three program modes were a great idea: wide, normal and tele.<br>

I'm looking forward to running some film through it!</p>

<p>Both my T-50 and T-70 are in my "boneyard" box because both had the shutter fail in the same manner. At first they just seemed sluggish but eventually the magnets died and both shutter simply stopped working. My 4 Canons with cloth shutters are still going strong.</p>

<p>I decided to jump back in to the Canon Film body world seriously in February of this year. I did it quite backwards though after finding a minty fresh Kodak Carousel and then finding an equally fresh, never used Sunpak 411 from the early 80s. So I had the means to look at slides, a flash to do macro work (always made some fine closeups with this flash) but no camera. Well, quickly I found a nice A-1 but wanted a camera I could take with me everyday, regardless. Thus, my T-70. A rather quirky body design, compared to the sexy A-1. But lots of good features, especially the batteries ... anywhere there is a drug store, a food store, a convenience store, there ya go ! From an auction site I found what might have been a store demo model (though it looked like it had never demo'd before) complete with all paperwork, and accessories and boxed. Hey I was photographing like it was 1984 again. And cheap ? Did I say cheap ? I have taken this camera to my photographic heart. I have a convenient backpack which includes a Standard 50, a 50 Macro, a 35-70 zoom and a 70-210 zoom along with the 277T flash released originally released when the camera was. While it may look like a Jeep compared to the A-1's "Jaguar" it is no less satisfying. Just not sexy. Caveat Emptor: watch the battery door. It's in a odd bottom 'corner' spot. It can be replaced however. Reports of the top LED panel "bleeding" seem to be unfounded. I'll reserve comment on that. The T-70 was originally released in kit version which included the 35-70mm zoom, an FDn mount. Kinda quirky too but fitting for this body. I know this lens alienates some folks but truthfully I have not met an FD lens or body I did not like (well, the T-60 might be a first however). The lens hood was a find, another unused item waiting a long time to find it's proper lens. Lens caps are not typical IMHO for Canon as this lens cap is actually a 62mm item unless it is not original. It's a little noisy But it does have it's own built in motor winder. Metering is way cool and I do like the Wide, Zoom and Standard setting. There were other zooms released about the same time too if one wants to keep it all period but I still use my macro, sans extender tube, with good results. I'm happy when I'm out and about photographing and the T-70 is a great source of that happy. Because these cameras were mass marketed and perhaps overproduced there will be an abundant supply on the aftermarket and auction sites for many moons to come. As long as there is film, I’ll “roll” on with my T-70. Buy one, “happiness” awaits. It's certainly affordable !</p><div></div>