Canon AE-1

Canon AE-1 #1559858

The Canon AE-1 was introduced in 1976 as the replacement for the FTb. The introduction of this new camera marked a complete departure from earlier designs in the Canon line. Although this camera is the first in the Canon line to feature electronic shutter speed control, it is not the first Canon SLR to offer exposure automation. Canon's first auto-exposure SLR was the EX EE (also sold as the Bell & Howell Auto 35 / Reflex), which was first available in 1969. The EF, introduced in 1972, was the first Canon SLR to offer both exposure automation and fully interchangeable lenses.

The most obvious difference between the AE-1 and older Canon SLRs is its size. The AE-1 is much smaller. This is Canon's response to a trend that began with the introduction of the Olympus OM-1, several years earlier.

The automatic exposure control of the AE-1 is the shutter-priority type, meaning that the photographer selects the shutter speed and the camera selects the lens aperture. The available shutter speeds are 1/1000 to 2 seconds, with a separate B setting. There is, however, no exposure automation for the B setting: the intelligence of the AE-1 is non-prescient.

The shutter speed selection dial, as well as the film speed selector, is concentric with the film advance lever. Selecting the film speed requires the photographer to lift and turn the knurled ring that surrounds the shutter speed selector. This operation is facilitated by first moving the tip of the film advance lever away from the camera body.

New Lenses

• the locking ring of the earlier FD lenses is eliminated,
• many lenses incorporate new designs with smaller components, and
• plastic is substituted for metal in some components (notably the lens barrels) to lessen weight.

Exposure automation is selected by setting the aperture selection dial to the A setting.

To mount one of the newer FDn lenses on a camera body, the photographer would attach the lens to the body by aligning a red dot on the lens with another red dot on the camera body, and then turning the lens in a clockwise direction to lock the lens in place. The older FD series lenses mount in the same manner except that instead of turning the whole lens, the photographer would turn a locking ring attached to the lens.

All FDn lenses may be used on older cameras that were designed for FL and FD series lenses and are equal in function to the lenses that were designed for those cameras. Curiously, many FD series lenses can be used on the AE-1 (as well as the A-1 and AE-1 Program) and are fully functional on the newer cameras, even supporting exposure automation. FD series lenses that support exposure automation incorporate theta symbol on the aperture selection dial, which is identical to the A setting on FDn lenses.