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Canon T-series cameras - another teaser redux


JDMvW

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I've had some fun posting some reduxes (redici, redos?) on Classi Manual, so thought I'd dig up some old FD cameras, in this case the T series.

 

First of all, the Canon T60 was not a real Canon camera, so is not covered here.

 

Canon did not manufacture the T60. Like a number of other low-end bodies sold by major camera companies (such as the Nikon FM10 and Olympus OM2000), it was both built by Cosina, and based upon Cosina's own CT-1 chassis
WIKI

 

So,

 

The first of the T-series was the T50

 

It was reviewed at the time (1989) as a sort of automatic 'bridge' camera for easy shooting. Modest beginings, but it worked well:

01-Canon-T50-images_03.jpg.70e73fabc02298c76a6a578f1aec098d.jpg

T50, Here with its automatic flash and simple (manual focus) lens.

 

Then, came the Canon T70. This was considerably more sophisticated:

1242166349_CanonFDT70_04ed.thumb.jpg.85041bfde2aa99cab1e658ac6004645a.jpg

 

The T70 had a fncy multiple-program auto-exposure.

 

Then Canon realized, I think with somewhat of a shock, that autofocus was coming very quickly. Their answer, like that of most everybody except Minolta (the 7000 that killed the others), was to add a jury-rigged motor to the lens. I call these "goiter" lenses.

Here's the AF Canon T80 with its special AF lenses. Regular FD-mount lenses could be used with focus confirmation.

 

 

2-Canon-T80.jpg.6a8cfbc3addf6670225d1f90072ba8ef.jpg

T80 with AF lenses.

 

This was a strange camera in many ways, but it worked better than you'd think ( Canon T80 - Early Autofocus SLR )

 

Finally, though, the triumph of the T-series and also of the Canon FD-mount: what may be IMHO the best manual-focus SLR ever made-- the T90

Canon-T90_20100625_4e.jpg.72fd0105ed13e7965bae786cb06d9522.jpg

 

see Canon T90 - Twilight, harbinger, and herald

 

Mine is beloved, but finally succumbed to the dread 'dead shutter' problem.:(

 

That all for now, but I still have a fairly complete run of Canon A-serieso_O

Edited by JDMvW
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I still own my T90, my first FD camera, bought new in 1990 and won’t part with it.

 

It has to be said though, that using a camera which is so much like an Eos in this day and age is not my idea of an alternative to digital. I’m much more likely to pick up the new F-1 or even my AE-1 Program these days.

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I own the T70 and I in the past had the T90. I loved the T90 for what it was, but failures on the camera had me abandon it back in the early 2000s. It had the sticky shutter issue. It had the shutter replaced, and not long after, the new shutter failed too. Im told lack of use causes this issue. It can be cleaned at a repair outlet today, and you may be lucky to get it going again. After my second shutter failure, I sent it out for repair again, and they fried the camera during repair. So it came back to me broken and a doorstop. The failure rates on the T90 have kept me from getting another one, as much as I'd love to own another one. I still have some FD gear as like the mentioned T70 and also an AE-1. The T70 is much more reliable, if a bit slow to use and limited in what it can do. AE-1 is also good, but I'd rather have aperture priority instead of shutter. But you live with it. None of my FD gear gets much use today. I have an Elan 7 I use when I want to shoot 35mm.
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I'm glad someone is speaking up for Cosina. They're nothing like so bad as their reputation.

 

But I do have to set limits sometimes in my bad case of GAS.

 

As I've said many times, this is not your father's plastic, anyhow.

Cosina made some very high quality equipment. They can make good and bad depending on the order they got.

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My first SLR was a Canon T50. It was a Christmas gift from my wife and a real step up from my Vivitar 110 camera. I had asked for an AE-1 but she couldn't find one in stock at our local dealers and one of them talked her into buying the T50. It truly was a point-and-shoot SLR and the results on color film were really good ... especially with a dedicated flash. However, the desire to have more control finally won out and, after about a year, I traded it for a used Canon AL-1 (the one with focus assist/confirmation).
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