Can Anyone identify these 2 Canon A1 Focus Screens?

Hi all,

 

I have aquired two very nice A1's, I plan to keep one and pass one for someone else to enjoy, one in particular has a quite different looking focus screen but I'm unsure of what it is called or what purpose it serves, any help would be appreciated.

 

Kind regards

 

 

Have a look here:

 

LINK - The Canon AE-1 Program - Other Issues

 

Open the PDF about halfway down for a chart of the different screen types.

Hi John and thanks, it seems the second one is a type E - Split Image Micro-prism, my second one looks like one as well but has the larger circle\donut type ring round it, maybe its just a mark over time where the light passes from the lens?

Canon initially offered seven screens for the A1. Later on, they offered an additional six screens that were available through Canon Pro Services. My guess is that the bottom screen is a standard split image/microprism collar that came with most A1's. The top one is one of the special six focusing screens. It looks to be a split image/microprism surrounded by a large, circular ground glass area. If you were going to keep a camera, keep the top one. That screen is unique, and may be collectable.

I did some searching on this topic, mostly because when I owned an A-1 back in the 80s, I sent it in to Canon to have the screen changed to a plain matte screen. I was a bit surprised, after a fair amount of time spent searching, not being able to find a reference to the screens Canon offered for the A-1. I finally decided, however, that the screens offered were probably not a whole lot different than those offered for the AE-1 Program, which as you probably know are user interchangeable. Here's a link I found at Mir:

 

The Canon AE-1 Program - Other Issues

 

Note that there are no screens for the AE-1P that have that large circle. I don't know what to make of it, and I can't think of a good reason for it. It is too large to indicate a metering area. I've finally come to the conclusion that it is probably just a variant of the normal screen.