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Canon a1 work flow??


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hi there. I just got a canon a1 and i belive it is fully functionen also with a brand new batteri. Now i want to shoot, lets say, av mode.

I turn on my camera. Set to av mode. Now the tricky part comes: i press down the shutter button to take a metering. The leds light up allright but when i let go it turns off. Can it realle be the truth that i have to press down the shutter button with my pointing finger and at the same time turn the AT wheel with the finger right next to the pointing finger ( i dont know whats it called in english) . This is very akward and allmost impossible for me. I thought that leds should stay on so that i could move my pointing finger from the shuurebutton to the wheel so that i could spin it to the right exposure. Please tell me there must be another workflow that i have missed because this is such a beautifull camera. Thanks

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hi there. I just got a canon a1 and i belive it is fully functionen also with a brand new batteri. Now i want to shoot, lets say, av mode.

I turn on my camera. Set to av mode. Now the tricky part comes: i press down the shutter button to take a metering. The leds light up allright but when i let go it turns off. Can it realle be the truth that i have to press down the shutter button with my pointing finger and at the same time turn the AT wheel with the finger right next to the pointing finger ( i dont know whats it called in english) . This is very akward and allmost impossible for me. I thought that leds should stay on so that i could move my pointing finger from the shuurebutton to the wheel so that i could spin it to the right exposure. Please tell me there must be another workflow that i have missed because this is such a beautifull camera. Thanks

...or is there something wrong with my camera that the leds dosent stay on??

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AFAIK, the LEDs only stay on as long as your finger is on the shutter. There's no way to set a delay as on a more modern camera. Try half pressing the button while you turn the front dial with your middle finger.

 

When I used mine all the time(it was my first SLR) I primarily shot in shutter priority, but would set the speed, take a reading, then adjust as necessary and take a reading again. It's not that slow of a workflow when you get use to it, and it comes from a long line of Canons where the meter only is temporarily actuated either by the shutter button(A series, EF), or a lever on the front(FT, Pellix). The FTb and old F-1 have a separate meter on/off switch, while on the F-1N you can set it to stay on for a few seconds. The T series also lets you do this.

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This is not about the LED meter readout (or lack thereof) that you see in your viewfinder. Just a general piece of FYI since you're new to the A-1. When shooting in any auto exposure mode, including Av, the lens's aperture ring must be set to the "A" position.

 

Now about dealing with the LED readout. I've used the A-1 since 1983 and I've never found the momentary disappearance of exposure information to be troubling. I use my index finger to adjust the aperture and then depress the shutter button to evaluate exposure. Honestly, this supposed inconvenience hasn't even ever occurred to me.

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