Canon EF camera

In 1978, I bought new a Canon EF camera. It was great. Sort of a

Canon F-1 look to the body shell but with a Copal Square shutter

that ranged fro 30 seconds to 1/1000. Sensitive meter and a bright

viewfinder. Eventually, I traded mine.

 

Well, I seldom if ever see this camera mentioned these days. Did

problems develop with them or did they simply die of old age - or

are they so problem-free that no-one has to discuss them?

 

By the way, I must admit I preferred the original FD breechlock

lenses. Any thoughts about those? At the end of all this, I am

thinking of searching out an EF and a couple of old-good FDs for my

(working) classic cameras collection.

The Canon EF, often referred to as the "Black Beauty," was Canon's first serious attempt at an automatic exposure SLR (using a trapped needle mechanism). It is a wonderful beast of a camera - I call it a "beast" because it is so large and heavy. The EF was manufactured to a very high standard and its controls and film advance are incredibly smooth. The viewfinder, however, is not as bright as some subsequent Canon SLRs that had laser matte viewing screens (such as the Canon T70).

 

The Canon EF had a short production run that ended with the introduction of the Canon AE-1. Although the AE-1 was a runaway sales success, it seems like a lightweight toy compared to the robust and overengineered EF.

very few made very few owners to talk about them, They are mentioned quite a but on the Canon FD group on Yahoo. I have one and so do quite a number of the other 2600 people there.

 

Like all Canon FD mount cameras save one or two (T50 T60) a great soild working camera.

 

The internal voltage regulator gives it a big advantage over other cameras of it's vintage being able to make good use of the modern 1.5V batteries and not have to deal with the 1.35V merc's.

 

One draw back to the body is the on off switch. In that it has to be turned off or in a couple of days the batteries will go dead. As the Silicon cell meter hunts for light and uses power when ever on.

 

As to it being big it is built on the same frame size as the mechanical F-1's and to the smae standards of service.

 

If you perfer the breech lock lenses good for you I own both and find both mounts advantagous. KEH.com and ebay should give you ample shopping for what you want.

 

I have 14 FD bodies and around 40 lenses. I kind of like them all!

I had one as a companion to my New F-1, and it was a neat camera. Higher X-sync speed than the New F-1 plus mirror lockup in a similarly rugged chassis were the attractions.

That's right - I had forgotten the on-off switch! Yes, one always had to be careful to turn the camera off.

 

Great camera. I think I'll look around seriously for one and a couple or three of the older, genuine-breechlock, lenses - all in good condition. I'm encouraged!

I just bought one on Ebay with 50/1.4, 28/2.8 and 135/2.5 lenses. Hope it will arrive tommorrow, and hope it's in good condition. It will be a (kind of nostalgic) supplement to my EOS 300D stuff. I also hope I won't have a battery problem.

 

BTW, how does it work without a battery? In the manual (that I read online) it says it will work with the exception of the very long shutter speeds, but you'll lose the AE metering. So how will it meter then?

The answer is it doesn't meter without a battery-- the silicon photocell is completely battery-dependent. If the battery's dead,you have a meterless manual camera, but that's way better than no camera at all.

 

I bought one of these about a year ago-- they're undervalued on the hated auction site, and you should be able to find a good deal if you're patient. Hefty robust mechanical camera, similar in feel to the old F-1 as someone else said. A nice plus is that it has mirror lock-up, so I've been using my EF for macro and other tripod work.

Hi Terry,

I re-purchased an EF this year. I went to the hated-site and had to buy three to find one I liked. I should have just gone to a reputable on-line camera shop and been done with it. The one I settled on is in excellent plus condition and had a three year old CLA, it was $100 plus shipping. The EF's with finish wear or small dents have very little resale value, the super clean samples are nicer to use and own.

 

I use it exclusively with a chrome-nose breech-lock 35 f/2 and the CAT system 133D flash. I like the camera and flash automation very much and use it for hand-held people portraits and urban landscapes, some B&W. Its exposure is very accurate and this lens is razor sharp.

 

As you know, the truly unique feature of the EF is the delay switch. When activated, pressing the shutter release automatically locks the exposure, raises the mirror and stops the lens down. The EF is probably the only Canon camera that does this. Another curious feature is the film must be advanced in one full stroke, the winding lever does not ratchet like my other Canon cameras. I like winding with two half-strokes but I guess it really doesn't matter.

 

When buying the old breech-lock lenses ask the seller about the focusing ring effort. Too often, regardless of condition, they have become somewhat stiff. Plus, don't be terribly picky about finish loss on the aperture ring. The only way they don't wear at the edges is to always use the lens on the automatic setting. The nicest thing about Canon's manual focus line is the availability of high performance lenses at all focal lengths. Your lens speed needs will determine which to choose for your working classic camera.

Greg, are you talking about a Mirror lock up?

 

If so the FT FTb FTb-n F-1 F-1n and EF all have MLU.

 

As to a delay switch there ain't no such thin on mine! Are you talking about the AE lock that will hold the meter/exposure info when you move the camera? It isn't supposed to have anything to do with the Mirror lock up feature.

 

It is possible your camera is defective. Or I am misunderstanding your meaning.

 

Here is a link to the manual on line I just read all though mine and there is nothing about a delay switch only the AE lock which should have no effect on the mirror.

 

http://www.canonfd.com/efind.htm

Hey Mark,

Setting the delay timer, locking-up the mirror, exposure lock and aperture stop down all linked to the delay switch (four functions by unlocking and moving one lever). On the EF you only need to press the lock out button, set the delay timer (counter clockwise on the upper lever) and push the shutter release. On the F-1 or F-1n you center the lower lever, go right with the upper lever, move the lower lever to M and finally move the upper lever all the way to the left. Plus, the EF will automatically reset everything back to normal at the end of the exposure. Of course any of these function can be performed individually if desired.

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts. I must take a look at a good-condition EF - provided I can find a sales clerk who doesn't equate 'EF' with a range of Canon lenses!

I have owned an EF since new (1974). About a dozen years ago I decided to use it since I had gotten away from photography for a few years other than family snapshots. I discovered that the electronic shutter speeds (two seconds to thirty seconds) no longer worked. The shutter would open and stay opened. After fooling with it for 15 or 20 minutes, could get it to close. The mechanical speeds (one second to 1/1000th) appeared to work. Honestly, I can not remember if I noticed if the meter was responding. I sent it to, I think ACR, and after evaluating it, they told me the CPU had failed and was no longer available. I had them replace the seals, clean it out a bit and return it to me. I have two other Canons - an FTb bought new (1972) and a perfect AE1 Program I inherited. I had both re-sealed and CLA'd. So I am not out of business. I put the EF in my display case with my small collection of non-user cameras and went on to use the others. But, damn, I miss using the EF and, recently, I got it back out. I have read about people who have them and I have not read of anyone having similar problems. And most seem to have bought them used. I know I can use it manually. The question is has anyone had this problem with his or her EF?

This thread has me curious to check my EF, which I haven't used in a few years (I know I should send out all but one of my cameras, including the EF, out for CLA). I bought my EF in 1980 (left over new stock) but I never liked nor got used to the center-bottom weighted average metering and I found that I don't trust automatic exposure control, especially with center weighted averaging metering. My first camera was a Canon FT that I "inherited" from my father and I got used to the central area metering. In 1981, I bought an F-1n to "replace" the EF but I still have the EF (I'm kind of a hoarder).

 

Re: Geregory_Nicholson's description of the "Delay switch", I think he is talking about the self-timer. Most self timers countdown first and then fire the shutter like normal (press shutter button, timer counts down, mirror flips up, lens stops down, shutter fires, mirror flips down, lens opens up again). The EF self timer was designed to minimize vibration for long, nighttime exposures to maximize the low EV range of the meter. So when the self timer is activated (push shutter button), the camera locks in the meter reading, the mirror flips up, the lens stops down, then the timer starts its countdown, shutter fires and then the rest of the sequence is the same.

Edited July 11, 2017 by steven_endo

My favorite manual-focus 35mm SLR. Solid, precision-smooth, full-info VF, silicon cell metering, very ergonomic, exposure lock and access to the best performance/price lenses available (Canon FD).

I have owned an EF since new (1974). About a dozen years ago I decided to use it since I had gotten away from photography for a few years other than family snapshots. I discovered that the electronic shutter speeds (two seconds to thirty seconds) no longer worked. The shutter would open and stay opened. After fooling with it for 15 or 20 minutes, could get it to close. The mechanical speeds (one second to 1/1000th) appeared to work. Honestly, I can not remember if I noticed if the meter was responding. I sent it to, I think ACR, and after evaluating it, they told me the CPU had failed and was no longer available. I had them replace the seals, clean it out a bit and return it to me. I have two other Canons - an FTb bought new (1972) and a perfect AE1 Program I inherited. I had both re-sealed and CLA'd. So I am not out of business. I put the EF in my display case with my small collection of non-user cameras and went on to use the others. But, damn, I miss using the EF and, recently, I got it back out. I have read about people who have them and I have not read of anyone having similar problems. And most seem to have bought them used. I know I can use it manually. The question is has anyone had this problem with his or her EF?

 

This is actually a very common problem with the EF. It is indicative of electronics failure. I currently own three EFs, one of which is dead electronically. The typical symptoms are no slow shutter speeds and a non-working meter. I've known for over 20 years about the rather delicate nature of the EF's electronics. The flex circuits apparently get brittle over time and the camera itself is apparently very difficult to work on -- this from a camera repair tech friend of mine. He also told me that most repair techs won't even touch an EF -- because they're afraid they'll break something if they open one up, I suppose.

 

Yes, it is still a good, usable camera with shutter speeds ranging from 1/2 sec to 1/1000, plus B. Just use a hand-held meter or the Sunny f/16 Rule. Having the 1/125 flash sync and mirror lock-up are also useful features that make it worth keeping in one's camera rotation.

Since we have 30 sec exposure built in in our EF camera... I wonder why it is rare to see long exposure shots using this camera ?