steven_endo

<p>"...Aperture mode or fully manual. Manual body and a decent top shutter speed swing needle metering..."</p> <p>Pretty much means a New F-1 with AE Finder...</p> <p>Canon was (seemingly from the beginning) always a proponent of Shutter Priority auto-exposure in their SLRs starting with the F-1 + Servo EE -> EF -> AE1. It wasn't until the AV-1 that they finally offered Aperture Priority auto-exposure. The A-1 also has an Aperture Priority mode but I believe it does not have a needle and is a bit clunky to use in manual exposure mode (or maybe that was the AE-1). I don't know anything about T-Series so I'm not sure if any of them would meet your requirements...</p>

<p>If I recall correctly, all F-1s (both original and New) came with an "E" focusing screen as standard. The "E" screen is the most universal: split image rangefinder surrounded by microprism ring inside a matte field. These are relatively easy to find. KEH usually has used ones in stock. If you are looking/buying a replacement screen, be sure to look for the improved "L" type.</p> <p> </p>

<p>Yes, very nice. It even still has the rubber cover on the eyepiece ring!</p>

<p>As an eyeglasses wearer, I suggest you consider/try a Speed Finder. You won't have to remove your glasses and then put them back on while shooting pictures. My favorite setup is the Speed Finder + Power Winder F (or FN) for both models of F-1. I don't really need the speed of the motor drives and the Power Winders are much lighter. </p>

<p>I never had a problem getting proper exposure at the "0" frame and the "25" frame (on a 24-shot roll) but it sometimes became/becomes a hassle if you want to order reprints and there is no box for "the shot before frame 1" and "the shot after frame 24" since the frames before #1 and after #24 usually don't have a frame number on the negatives for the developer tech to refer to.</p> <p>But if I were doing my own developing, then I would use frame "0", "25", and maybe even frame "00".</p>

<p>With all the FD knowledge on this site, I am a little surprised that no one has yet mentioned the FD 300mm f2.8 flourite with a dedicated 2X extender or nFD 300mm f2.8L with extender 2XB, to get the best 600mm lens from Canon. The 2X extender supposedly had no image degradation when used with the 300mm f2.8 fluorite lens and could be used with other lenses as well. IIRC, the dedicated 2X extender later became the 2XB extender, available separately.</p> <p>It seems to me the 600 f4.5 was made available as a cheaper (consumer?)alternative to the 300mm fluorite/2X extender lens, just as the 300mm f4.0 non-L lens was to the 300mm f4.0 L lens...</p>

<p>I had a similar problem except my shutter would not fire if I used the "LIGHT" mode (Finder illuminator.<br> <a href="/canon-fd-camera-forum/00cXjE">http://www.photo.net/canon-fd-camera-forum/00cXjE</a></p> <p>I will add my vote that you try a new battery that you know is fresh.</p>

<p>Huh! How odd. Thanks for explaining how the A-1 works. I stand corrected.</p>

<p>Hmmm... If I am not mistaken, AV mode is Aperture Priority. Locking the lens to the green A (or "o") is for using Shutter Priority mode. Doing both makes the computer go into some kind of default program (but not Program) mode, IIRC. If your lens is set on the green A, it will not stay at f/2 and is probably fully stopped down at f/16.</p>

<p>JDM von Weinberg - thanks for attaching that Spiratone ad. Brings back memories of lusting after Spiratone products such as the TC and the 400mm f6.3 (?) Preset lens during my high school days. I eventually was able to buy equivalents of both for fun and, for what they were and cost, they served their intended purposes (to scratch that itch). Certainly not FD quality but good enough for closeups...</p>

<p>To expand on Rick Janes' suggestion of the F-1/F-1n with Booster T finder, the FT/FTb/FTbn also had an accessory low-light booster finder as well.</p>

<p>There is a seller on ebay, gokevincameras, that sells a lot of Canon equipment. You might contact him to see if he has any in stock but not on ebay. But he is kind of pricey which is why I never bought anything from him even though his shop is somewhere in the L.A. area.</p>

<p>nice moon shot. </p> <p>Scott- actually I did not know about the equivalent moon rule of thumb. Thanks! I'll try to remember it for the next blood moon later this year. I couldn't get a nice shot last time around (April?) because at first I wasn't interested but as the evening wore on, I decided to give it a shot. Then the clouds moved in :(</p>

<p>Poke around this forum a bit and you will see the general consensus is that the 200 f2.8 (all three versions) isn't all that great (but they're still pretty good) but the 80~200 F4L is great. So much so that the loss of one stop is worth the tradeoff.</p> <p>As well, the 85~300 was pretty good in its day but the 50~300 L lens is supposed to be so much better...</p>

<p>Are you using NiCds or other high current batteries? Do the instructions say to use alkalines only?</p> <p>Instructions for the Winder F for the F-1 expressly warns against using anything other than alkaline batteries. This is because the winder relies on the limited current capacity of alkalines to stop the winder when the end of the roll is reached. NiCds will allow the winder motor to generate higher torque and rip out the end of the film and/or, possibly (?), put too much of a load on the electrics.</p> <p>Since your face was mechanically holding the rewind wheel, the film could not be ripped from the spool so I suspect the extra load was too much for the 40 year old switch plastics.</p>

<p>Yeah, but it is on the knob that has "Normal" and "Hold". Also, the "Light" mode is the same as "Hold" but with the light.</p>

<p>FYI, Canon also made a 34mm drop-in gel holder for those of you who want to use filters other than the 5~6 standard drop ins. These standard filters also include a circurlar polarizer 34mm drop in filter. But I don't think it will be easy to find either. I bought a 400mm that came with the gel holder instead of the plain glass filter. Luckily, I was able to find a drop-in plain filter. I think I bought it at KEH.</p>