jeremy2

<p>Just checking because you're post isn't clear, but you're pressing in the silver button and trying to align the two red dots and there's absolutely no rotational movement?</p>

<p>Perhaps the reason the info is not there is because it's sort of obvious that the answer is no, all three cameras use a different system of mounting the focussing screen and therefore you cannot just take the screen out of one and pop it straight into a different model. The only possibility might be if you're considering stripping the screens down to their component parts, modifying them and then rebuilding them into the appropriate mounting system for the camera you wish to move them to (assuming that size is the same or larger).</p>

<p>Your original question isn't particularly clear as to what you are trying to achieve, but if you need a new screen for an FTb can you not just get one from a parts camera?</p>

<p>At the risk of sounding negative, don't bother! The motordrive for the original F1 is very heavy, not particularly fast and requires the removal of the camera's baseplate, which means that you can't add or remove it whilst there's film in the camera.</p>

<p>If you need speed you're probably better off getting a T90, if you really <em>really </em> need automated film advance on your F1 then there is a winder which may be the better option, but, unlike the winder for the F1-N which also gives shutter-priority AE, all it does is wind the film and give you an extra handgrip and extra shutter buttons (so it's a lot of added weight for little benefit IMHO).</p>

<p>Of course, if you like collecting camera gear and appreciate the solid build of the early stuff then get either (or both!) and enjoy owning them - just don't expect them to be very practical.</p>

<p>How about getting one of those accessory handles that screw into the tripod socket on the bottom of the camera and provide an extra hotshoe? If I recall correctly the LC-1 only uses the lead that plugs into the motordrive/winder to fire the camera, not the hotshoe contacts, so the LC-1 could go on the accessory handle and you've still got the hotshoe free for a dedicated flash.</p>

<p>Only you can decide how often you think you might use AE mode and how happy you would be having no viewfinder information, if you were using the regular eye-level prism finder (when the shutter dial is set to A a shutter covers the normal match-needle metering display so you would not get any viewfinder info at all). Having said that, you should also bear in mind that I do not think that you will notice a significant difference in the weights of the two finders by the time you have attached them to the camera body and a heavy lens, so do not let the perceived added weight and size affect your decision. Also, the AE finder in AE mode uses a system of mirrors and prisms to show the actual aperture ring of the attached lens, this only works with nFD lenses, not the breechlock ones, so the type of lenses you have may also influence your decision.</p>

<p>Actually Phillip, I think you'll find that what I wrote was totally correct.</p>

<p>I said "The F1-N only shows you the aperture via an extra prism with the AE finder,"<br>

And I believe that this is 100% fact - only the AE finder has the extra prism/mirror mechanism that allows you to view the aperture ring on the lens</p>

<p>"and it only works with nFD lenses;"<br>

as you too have indicated, this mechanism only works with nFD lenses, not the breechlock ones, so still no inaccuracies</p>

<p>"any of the other finders on the F1-N show you match-needle metering where one pointer indicates the set aperture"<br>

the speedfinder, basic eye-level finder and two waist-level finders do show you match-needle metering where the "ring" on the scale shows the aperture selected on the lens and the "needle" moves with the meter (unless you're using stopped-down metering)</p>

<p>"(assuming you haven't got a drive attached)."<br>

unless you've got a drive attached which gives you shutter-priority AE, in which case you only get one needle indicating the aperture that the camera will use</p>

<p>So, I may not have gone into a lengthy detailed explanation, but I still cannot find a single inaccuracy in what I originally wrote!</p>

<p>Bill, I suggest you go to www.canonfd.com/choose.htm and download the manuals for your two cameras, as I'm not sure about the AE1-P (having never owned one) but I do know that with the A-1 if you take the lens off "A" and push in the stop-down lever the camera will automatically adjust the shutter speed and the shutter speed shown in the finder is the one the camera will use - if you move the camera around you should see the displayed value changng, NOT the one set on the shutter speed dial (in fact you can have the dial set to show the aperture value and stopped-down metering should still work exactly the same). Regarding using it as a manual camera then I agree with Gordon in that it's really designed to be used for its AE capabilities - if you need to adjust the exposure you can always use the exposure-compensation dial.</p>

<p>Likewise, the T90 isn't terribly good as a manual camera IMHO. If you do want a proper match-needle metering camera then an F1 (any version) or an FTb are probably your best options. I find the EF also has a particularly nice viewfinder display of shutter speed and aperture, although it is mainly an AE camera.</p>

<p>The F1-N only shows you the aperture via an extra prism with the AE finder, and it only works with nFD lenses; any of the other finders on the F1-N show you match-needle metering where one pointer indicates the set aperture (assuming you haven't got a drive attached).</p>

Do you mean the Manual Diaphragm Adaptor? See:

 

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/canon/fdresources/SLRs/av1/htmls/index6.htm

 

Good luck trying to find one - it's such a tiny non-descript piece of plastic that I guess they're easily lost or thrown away by people who don't understand their importance.

 

You could try and make one - all it does is wedge the stop-down lever on the back of the lens in position - but it looks quite fiddly as there isn't much of a slot to fit it into.

No idea on the torque-sensing, but I can see the sense of this countdown mechanism on the motordrive - if it's

going at full speed, runs out of film so there's no "slack" and the film's a bit brittle or is hand-loaded etc.

it's a useful safety feature, it also gives you another place to check how many frames are left which may be

easier to see than the counter on the camera's top plate; I'm not so sure it is a necessary feature on the winder.

 

If you're worried about wasting film then maybe you could set the counter to start at 37 or 38 (depending on how

many shots you regularly get) or simply set it to 36 and then do the last few winding-on manually. The original

designers probably assumed that the majority of users who required a winder/motordrive would be using so much

film that squeezing the last couple of frames out of every roll was low on their list of requirements.

As a wild guess, could it be a problem with the self-timer or the switch around the shutter button? The only reason I say this is because the battery check button is used to cancel the self-timer.

But although the manual (and presumably the brochure too) says electronic control, I don't think it specifically states "stepless for aperture priority AE" (even though one might assume that to be the case) - I had to go and check when Mark said he'd never seen any mention of it in any of his Canon literature, as I was sure I'd seen it somewhere, but the New F-1 World book is the only source I could find that actually says it's stepless.

Mark, in The New F-1 World book section on the shutter it says several times that it's stepless for aperture priority AE - see the copy on Christian's site e.g. http://www.canonfd.com/newf1world/nf1w_p151.jpg

I believe the electronic control of the shutter is "stepless" i.e. the needle is only a guide and the electronics inside the camera may be giving a shutter speed of 1/90s or 1/100s or 1/95s or 1/92s etc. etc.

Those pages from Lens Work give some idea of how hard it is to use the 15mm effectively so your photo doesn't appear to be "just another fisheye shot" but it fails to mention that you also have to be really careful not to get your feet or shadow in shot (unless you want them there)!

 

If you haven't already got one, I think you'd find a 20mm lens a better choice - it's easier to use than the 15mm, but still gives some indications of the problems of using these super-wide-angle lenses.

Not quite - the F1N will give 1/125 and all speeds faster as well as the flash synch (1/90) and bulb (B) without a battery.

 

The F1 and F1n not needing a battery, except for metering, has already been mentioned several times in the other responses above.

I have the standard size and the T90 just fits, but it's a bit of a squeeze. If you wanted to use the same case for your T90 and your A1 with winder attached, you're probably better off going for the next size up. Bizarrely it appears from a quick search that it may be cheaper to buy new from Canada than find a supplier in the UK!

What about the wrap-around neoprene covers made by Zing and others - you can either attach them to the camera's own strap or remove them totally when not in use and put them in your pocket etc.?

About five years ago, when I lost one, I was able to buy a new ring along with the smaller rubber eyecup (large one was no longer available) from David Leung, a big Canon dealer in Ilford. I don't know if they're still trading but you could try them (it wasn't cheap though!); alternatively I believe that it used to be possible to buy them through Jessops, however since the last time I went into one of those stores I couldn't see anything related to film cameras you may well find that's not possible either. There's always that well-known online auction site.

The FTb or FTbn (which is the later version of the same camera - both say FTb on the body) is a good solid manual

camera that only needs a battery for the meter, it also has a rather convenient Quick Load system for the film;

the only possible disadvantage is that you may find the viewfinder a bit dark, compared to later FD system cameras.

 

The other main option if you want a totally manual camera is, as you have mentioned, an F1 or F1n (once again two

slightly different versions of the same camera - both have F1 on the body). The main advantage over the FTb is

that it's a system camera and you will be able to get different focussing screens (including the later, but

unfortunately much rarer, L screens that were brighter) different viewfinders and a winder/motordrive, should you

so wish.

 

With both of the above cameras you have the possible issue of batteries - they were both designed for the now

defunct 1.35V mercury cell, so if you did want to use the meter you would have to decide on a work-around (plenty

of information here if you search previous posts). But then, if you're using them totally manually and relying

on a separate meter or guesstimating your exposure from experience, this won't matter.

 

Other Canon cameras you might want to consider that do have electronic shutters but also give a limited range of

manual shutter speeds are the F1N and EF. The F1N or New F1 is the later model of F1 and a totally different

camera from the earlier F1 or F1n; once again it is a system camera with a wide range of extra bits that you can

add or change.

 

The EF on the other hand was Canon's first camera with built-in shutter priority AE; it's about the same vintage

as the earlier F1 but has a more sensitive meter and a vertical metal shutter, which allows for a higher flash

sync speed. It has a particularly easy to read viewfinder but a lot of them nowadays do have electronic issues

(once again, not a problem if you're going to use it manually).

You can see the normal aperture metering scale with the 6xWLF (don't know about the other one) as it's built into the camera body - but it's on the left hand side of the viewfinder. You won't see the shutter speed AE scale along the bottom of the viewfinder as this is only available with the AE finder.

I've got the 6xWLF, main issue for me is that the image is reversed. Personally I prefer the Speedfinder.

The switch is working correctly; the three positions of the switch are:

 

1. viewfinder info off

 

2. viewfinder info on (switches on LED display (red) of exposure info)

 

3. viewfinder info on and illuminated by bulb

 

In the middle position the only illumination of the vertical bar is natural light from the opaque window on the

lhs of the viewfinder - if you were in a darkish room or you were partially covering this window with your hand

or the strap etc. then the vertical scale would be too dim to see properly.

If you want a Canon flash for the A-1, then I would go for the extremes of the range - either the 011A as

suggested above, since it is so small, or go for a 199A or 299T as they are the most powerful non-hammerhead

flashes and have more functions, giving you greater flexibility. In my opinion the 166A is too much of an

in-between, neither powerful enough to be truly useful or compact enough to fit easily in a normal pocket.

 

However, when using an AV-1, all a dedicated flash will do is set the correct shutter speed, so for this camera

almost any flash with an auto function will be fine, you just have to remember to set the shutter speed as well

as the aperture. Once again there is a trade-off between size and power, you can't get a lot of light out of a

small flash, but a big one is likely to get left behind when travelling.

 

Finally, the Vivitar 283 is a good flash, so good that it was in production for something like 20 years, but some

people claim that the high trigger voltage of the oldest versions can fry a camera's electronics.

If the switch on the flash is set to "P" then the flash controls the camera aperture and shutter speed, if it is not set to "P" and you have the A-TTL button pressed then you have control over the settings of the camera - you can set either the aperture or the shutter speed and the camera will select a corresponding shutter speed or aperture to correctly expose the scene AS IF NO FLASH WERE BEING USED, at the same time the flash will fire and will be stopped when the camera senses that it has received enough light; this should ensure that both the foreground (flash) and background (natural light) are correctly exposed but it is confusing to say the least. Another possibility is to set the lens aperture manually (take it off the A setting) and set a shutter speed on the camera body - this is the closest you will get to non-dedicated auto flash. The M Hi and Lo settings are for a fixed flash output, so you have to calculate the required aperture from the guide number, and the FEL setting is so complicated I've never bothered to try and work it out myself!

Yes it should. Unscrew the rectangular adapter from the anglefinder and it will then screw into the eyepiece surround on the F1 (once you've removed the metal ring that holds the eyecup if it's still present on your camera).