Best books on history of Canon SLRs

<p>Hello,<br>

What are some of the best books on the history of Canon FL and FD SLR's and FL and FD lenses, with good illustrations and photos, showing each model and going back to the beginning and thru, say the AE-1? I already have the "Canon Manual Focus SLRs" book by Eric Skopec. Do I already have the best one? <br>

Thanks</p>

<p>Try to find 'Canon Reflex Way' by Leonard Gaunt. It has entries for the F1, AE1, AT1, A1 and EF cameras. It also discusses older models such as the Ftb, FtbN, TX, Tlb and FT.</p>

If you can find a nice clean copy of Canon's own publication "An Introduction to the Canon F-1" that's worth getting,

with its in-depth discussion of the camera, accessories, and FD (some FL) lenses. It is lavishly illustrated and very high quality.

 

Hard to believe these were given away free back in the '70s!

<p>Peter Dechert's Canon SLR monograph is an excellent starting point with respect to the cameras and the mounts. He has generously made this, as well as some of his other works, available as free downloads:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.songofsnow.com/Peter-Dechert-Articles-s/156.htm">http://www.songofsnow.com/Peter-Dechert-Articles-s/156.htm</a></p>

<p>Dechert's book is good, but has a few inaccuracies.</p>

<p>Bob Shell's "Canon Compendium" does a good job of covering Canon rangefinders and SLRs', but it too has more than it's fair share of inaccuracies (some big).</p>

<p>Canon SLR Cameras, by Carl Shipman is quite good, maybe the best of the lot. It was published by HP Photobooks.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I thought about mentioning Shipman's book as well as Paul Jonas' earlier work, "The Canon Way" published by Amphoto, but these are user's guide. They only contain a limited amount of historical information at best. There are very few books that directly address Canon SLRs from a historical perspective. Even more disappointing is Canon's spotty archives.</p>

<p>Jim, I'm curious as to what inaccuracies you've identified in Peter Dechert's monograph.</p>

<p>Actually, Canon's own camera history museum on line is very useful:<br>

http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/index.html<br>

There is the <em>Canon Compendium</em> by Bob Shell from Hove Press. I haven't heard if he's been released from prison yet (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Shell">link</a>). The book is good when it's good, but when it's bad, it's very bad. It's hard to tell which is which without a program.</p>

<p>Sort of like nuclear disarmament, "don't trust, and always verify". </p>

<p> </p>

<p>There is more than one edition of the Shipman book. The first one has some more historical information.</p>

<p>Shipman's books are informative, cheap, and widely available. I see them at the Goodwill from time to time. </p>

<blockquote>

<p>Jim, I'm curious as to what inaccuracies you've identified in Peter Dechert's monograph.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>The mistakes I've noticed are in the print version of Dechert's SLR book, which was published in 1992. They may have been corrected in later versions.</p>

<p>In the F-1 section, he says that F-1s' with a serial number less than 200000 need to be modified to take a motor drive. This is wrong, only the MF motor (because of its higher speed) needs to be modified. The original MD motor and Power Winder F will work fine on all early F-1s' without any modifications.</p>

<p>He also states in the paragraph on the F-1n that the FDn lenses were introduced at the same time the F-1n was introduced (1976). This is wrong, FDn lenses were introduced in 1979.</p>

 

<p>I should also mention that another excellent Canon history book is "Canon: A Celebration" by Brian Long. A coffee table-type book, very lavishly illustrated. Lot of good narrative too.</p>

Having seen Jim's recommendation of the Brian Long book I bought one online- so far it's fabulous!

<p>I'll probably end up with a copy of the Brian Long book myself.<br>

Thanks to all for the info.</p>

 

<p>The Snell book was rife with errors. I did not know of the linked incident.<br>

The notation in the Dechert book on F-1s with a serial number lower than 200,000 needing a modification for use with the Motor Drive MF is CORRECT. The Motor drive MF manuals state as such and I have the original Camera Craftsman magazines from the 73 or 74 that detail the exact changes made (all under the bottom plate). There is a minute change of triggering a shutter jam if you run one with no lens on it. Something like that.<br>

There was a different Shipman book each year from 1977 through 1984 ( I have all plus the 1987 book with the T90), I think 3 or 4 years would cover all the different cameras. </p>