Canon T-90s

Here are my t-90s that I am shooting to play with them again...

 

 

With the onset of spring, time to take some great photos...

 

More to come...

With the onset of spring, time to take some great photos...

A bit like vintage cars; they don't come out in the winter? ;)

One of my favorite cameras of all time, but I need to get the shutter freeze fixed again.

 

(my old report on it

 

Canon T90 - Twilight, harbinger, and herald)

I know that the T90 has a lot of fans and is a fine camera and can take great photos, but I have never understood why it is held by many in such high regards. Modes for action, modes for wide angle, modes for telephoto, modes for rewind, modes for just about anything while in reality all of those modes are just making decisions for you about only two setting which are easy enough to do yourself. Instead of figuring out what mode is needed for sports photography, isn't it a lot simpler to just set the shutter speed to 1/500th? You want depth of field - set to f 16. Seems to me that the T90 just makes film photography a lot more complicated than it needs to be. Yikes - the instruction manual is twice as long as the one for the F1. About the only thing I see as a plus, is the ability to change metering areas without changing screens.

I know that the T90 has a lot of fans and is a fine camera and can take great photos, but I have never understood why it is held by many in such high regards. Modes for action, modes for wide angle, modes for telephoto, modes for rewind, modes for just about anything while in reality all of those modes are just making decisions for you about only two setting which are easy enough to do yourself. Instead of figuring out what mode is needed for sports photography, isn't it a lot simpler to just set the shutter speed to 1/500th? You want depth of field - set to f 16. Seems to me that the T90 just makes film photography a lot more complicated than it needs to be. Yikes - the instruction manual is twice as long as the one for the F1. About the only thing I see as a plus, is the ability to change metering areas without changing screens.

 

Except the T90 has no subject based modes whatsoever.

It was the only camera with a built in motordrive and battery grip. I loved using rechargeable alkalines for 20 years! The 4.5 fps was quick for it's day, although I doubt I ever used it.

 

 

The shutter speed wheel was brilliant and a game changer, and pretty much adopted by every camera now.

 

 

The viewfinder information was complete and well laid out. The A1 was just not as good.

 

 

I doubt I ever used all the programs but that top LCD was also a game changer for making quick settings easily. Again, You will find one on pretty much all of todays cameras.

 

 

I had to set it up once for a friend who knew nothing about cameras. I set it up with a program and the aperture safety shift and he was good to go. Sort of a "photography for dummies" camera!

 

 

It got me through the whole AF fad of the 90's!

 

Sort of a "photography for dummies" camera!

 

 

Glad you said that and not me.

For me the nice thing about the T90 is the meter modes. The spot meter is ideal with long telephotos.

A bit like vintage cars; they don't come out in the winter? ;)

 

Not really...just more comfortable and change of season with new growth and awakenings with fresh colors!

 

I usually shoot with my Canon 6D with one of my Canon A-1's or Kodak Retina IIIc's on my side most of the time. I also often take one of my Canon A-1s with one of my Canon FTb's for B&W. [Depending on what I want to do...] I also own the Canon T-90's and two Canon EOS 1's that I take out to play with from time to time.

 

I prefer to use the smaller well-constructed cameras like the A-1 or Retina IIIc. For example, I sold my Canon 5D to get the 6D--I have been happier with the 6D since it does everything I need to do. As awesome the EOS-1D X Mark III is, I would not enjoy using it--too bulky and hefty. I prefer the A-1 over the T-90 for the same reasons--though the T-90s are great cameras (IMO--the one of the best 35mm film cameras around! ...understand that I do enjoy using them too).

 

My favorite T-90 is with the Canon Data Memory Back 90, since it records the exposure settings per shot.No more writing down exposure notes while shooting when using this combo where I can later go through the memory and write down the info for each frame taken when I get home instead of in situ. [Wish that Canon had created one for the A-1!!!] I plan to use the T-90s more this year. [i have a third one that I recently replaced to have two functioning T-90s due to it suffering from the dreaded EEE error--not sure if these are repairable these days.]

I really enjoyed the T-90 I had for about 8 years...sold it 2 years ago as I wasn't using it enough to keep. It had some quirks but IMHO was really versatile and easy to use. Much better than the A1 I had earlier. A beautiful marriage was the "L" lenses on the T-90...great combination. To me the short register distance was a bonus allowing me to use a wide variety of other manufacturer's lenses on it. Have a great time exercising yours.

 

The strength of the T90 was (and I speak that someone who used it as a new camera when it was released) was not the gadgets but the fact that it had spot metering with flash and multispot metering. With 64 or 50 ISO slide film, you could take multiple shadow and highlight readings to get the right exposure to within in 1/3 stop. Usually, I used it in Av or Tv with partial or spot metering, as I used to shoot Kodachrome 64 (or even 25), Velvia 50, Ektachrome 64 or 100. Exposure was crucial. You could not be lazy like you can with digital. I remember taking it to Rome in 1989 and 1991, with a kit of 20mm f2.8, 24mm f2.0, 35mm f2.0, 85 mm f1.8 and 135mm f2.8 and 200 f2.8. That was all I needed. The mark 2 FD primes were so small and light, I took them instead of zooms. The whole kit, plus film (of course) could be carried quite easily in a Billingham 445 shoulder bag.

 

See attached

By the way, does anyone know the production run of the T-90? I often wonder how many were made….but I can’t find the information anywhere. It was only really made ‘86-‘89. 

https://global.canon/en/c-museum/product/film118.html

 

Thanks, I couldn’t see anything there about production numbers. Did I miss it?

gary
 

I got my T90 out not too long ago after not using it for years.

I promptly pulled the batteries out, which thankfully had not corroded, but before doing so tested it and found that it still worked perfectly thankfully.

My T90 was my big upgrade from the A-1 back in 2005 when I was still new to all of this, and it was quite a splurge at the time as a high school student. Even though now I rave about cameras with physical control dials(like the Fuji X-T5 and Nikon Df I use quite often these days) I took to hold the button and spin the dial pretty quickly. I don't think we can ignore how significant it was that the T90, when it was made, worked like this(the T70 sort of did too but had the up/down buttons rather than the wheel).

I went through a couple from KEH to get one that actually worked, but the one I ended up with came with the(not that common) C plain matte screen and had been leader out modified. I bought an E screen(split/microprism) somewhere along the way but found the C screen so easy to focus on anyway that I just ended up using it.

There's a lot to like about the T90. I don't think of it as taking control away, but rather giving the photographer access to more tools. The only thing I dislike about it-and this is a big one but is common to all the multi-mode FD mount cameras(save for New F-1) and that is that manual mode is convoluted and not easy to use.

5 hours ago, gwhitegeog said:

Thanks, I couldn’t see anything there about production numbers. Did I miss it?

gary
 

One way to figure out production numbers is to look at the serial number.  Canon always starts their numbering sequence with a "1".  I saw one T90 on eBay with a serial of 1221620, meaning this was the 221,620 T90 made.  The date code in the film chamber of the camera can tell you the month and year.  

Thanks for the useful tip, Jim. My two working T-90s are 1071xxx and 1186xxx, so that suggests the 71,000th and 186,000th cameras made. I know from the 'film chamber code' (on the T-90 actually under the rear lip of the grip on the right hand side, viewable from inside the camera when the back is open near the hinge) that both models are 1986 - April and October and made at Oita. So roughly they made 100,000 in 7 months or about 14,000 per month. If it were made for 3 years (assuming same rate of production, which is unlikely.) that's 500,000. But an old Canon pro dealer friend of mine who remembers the FD / early EOS era and had several tours of Canon production facilities at that time, said it was actually only made for two years (or less) and then stockpiled, as they were clearing production space for EOS. I have a 'for parts' non-working T-90 that is 1128xxx, so again 1986. All I need to do is find out the last serial number made! Nikon made 1 million F's from 1959 to 1970 but camera sales had picked up by the mid-80s with the SLR boom and automated production was faster. A figure of 300,000 was quoted once for the T-90, so that seems reasonable. I'll look on eBay for the highest number I can see, LOL.

300,000 is a very reasonable number.  And yeah, looking at T90's on EBay for serial numbers is the best way to get an idea of total production.  It's always interesting to match up serial numbers with date codes, especially for early and late production cameras.  Stockpiling T90's make sense too.  The transition from the FD era to EOS, must have meant big changes at the factory.  They needed cameras/lenses to sell during that period.

Thanks, I have just been looking and I haven't seen a serial number higher than the 221xxx that you quoted, so far. I'll keep looking from time to time, but it looks like it might be 250,000 total production or a bit more. Certainly no more than 300,000. Apparently, the date codes were stamped when they were boxed up to leave the factory, which means that the camera may have been made some time before.

There's an awful lot around - and about 50% are non-functioning 'sold for parts' or in very rough condition. The camera had great features and was innovative but they didn't build it with a pro-spec shutter (and made very few spare shutter units). Most Nikons of the that era still have very good working shutters. The Canon F1/F1n were exceptions but a lot of the A-series and T-90 shutters have packed up. Funnily enough, the T-70s seem better.

I never warmed up to the T-series.  By the time they came out, I had an F-1 which totally served my needs.  The T90 has a good reputation other than the dreaded "EEE" code, which means a stuck shutter.  Apparently an easy fix by cleaning the magnets, and i heard that even a sharp rap on the table can loosen the shutter.  I've had good success with A-series cameras.  A Wildlife Biologist friend of mine gave me her 45 year old AE-1 several years back.  It had spent decades in the field in all types of northern Michigan weather, and never missed a beat.  I still use it on occasion.  I like the small size and light weight.  Auto exposure is nice too.

On balance, the T-90 was a proving ground for many things that were to come. It was almost a 'run-out special' that you see from car dealers from time to time - just a few made and they won't be round for long (a had a 1982 BMW 323i like that once!).

The A-series range was a boon for Canon and boosted their sales and their image. The A-1 was my first 'real' camera that I owned outright. Long term, the A-series was a bit limited for me - slow top shutter speed (just 1/1000), 1/60 flash sync and weak shutters and just CWA metering. When working as a pro in the late 80s (when you could make money from photography), I used medium format and the Canon F1n for weddings, commissions, etc and the T-90 for all my stock photography. The F1n was probably the best camera of the era and actually better than the much vaunted Nikon F3. It's only weakness was its primitive flash system. I have a New F1 body from 1982 that is still going strong and probably still has the best viewfinder display of that era.

PS. I had a T-70 for a while before the T-90 came out. I used to do a lot of cycling and hillwalking and it was an ideal camera for slide photography and travelling. Small, compact, powered by 2 x AA batteries and it had partial metering.

Only manual focus film camera I know of capable of auto exposure cross polarized flash photography.