My first Canon

[galenk]

A while back I was showing off one of my cameras to a friend at work and my boss happened to come by and notice, We started talking about my collection and he ask me if I had any Canons .

I told him that all I had was a QL range finder and he said he had an old Canon body I could have.

Well last night He brought it in. A 1964 Canon FX fully functional with no lens and minus the battery cap. (He made me pay him a dollar for it)
Dang now I have to start a new line of lenses.
will post pictures later

[daveh]

I like the fact that he made you pay a dollar for it.


Do you have room for a new collection?

[galenk]

Well here's a picture of my new toy

As for room, not much, I may have to sell off my 5 Polaroids to clean off another shelf.

[galenk]

the only flaw I can find is that there is a small patch of fungus on the prism off to the edge of the view finder but for a dollar I can live with it.

First thing this morning I replaced the seals and gave it a good cleaning, He also said he would look in his bag for the battery and cap, he said he pulled the battery when he put it away and must not have put the cap back on.

[photax]

Galen, A wonderful one dollar baby

MIK

[nikkortorokkor]

What a handsome camera. Well worth a dollar.

When looking at this clean, practical design, it is not hard to see why Nikon, Pentax, Canon and Minolta were cutting the German factories' lunches by the mid-1960s.

I did a bit of maths, and a Canon FX sold for a list price of USD$124 (based on the Canon Museum's price of Y44,800 and a list exchange rate of Y360 to the dollar) with a 50/1.8 .

Meanwhile, in Australia, one could purchase an Ihagee Exakta Varex IIb with a 50/2 automatic lens and fresnel screen pentaprism for USD$154.

I know where my money would've gone.

[daveh]

Yes, well worth the extra $32!

[PeterW]

Michael,

Much as I like my Exaktas (I've got a 1936 Kine Exakta and a Varex IIb) I have to agree with you that the Canon FX would have been a better buy for most people..

I've got an FX and an FP (almost the same but without a meter). When Valerie and I were both working we both carried either the FX or the FP body in a side pocket of our camera bags as back-up for Valerie's Canon F1 and my Canon A1, but I can't remember either of us ever needing to use them for this.

Both the FX and the FP still work perfectly, and they'll accept any Canon SLR lens, except the very first Canonmatic R-series lenses, before the EOS range.

The 1936 Kine Exakta still works perfectly, but the Varex has become decidedly sluggish on any speed below the top two.

The advantages the Exaktas had were the range of slow speeds down to 12sec, and the unrivalled range of accessories.

I don't think the 35mm Exaktas were ever intended for the professional news or feature photographer as a main market where Ihagee knew it couldn't rival the Leica and Contax. They just weren't fast enough in use.

They were the first of the real "system" 35mm cameras and were widely used in laboratories and the medical profession for which there was an accessory and a lens to handle almost any type of work from taking x-rays to fitting on high-power microscopes. They also had a built-in cutting knife so that a few frames could be cut off the roll and developed for inspection before dismantling the accessories.

PeterW

[nikkortorokkor]

Dave, I knew someone would bite!

Peter, interesting about the built-in blade. I knew Ihagee made a huge range of accessories for the Exakta, and that in itself indicates their innovative approach, making most of the SLR's strengths as they saw them.

But still, to me that Canon just begs to be used. The 1960s must have been a very exciting time to be a design engineer in Japan.

[mickeyobe]

My first SLR was an Exakta VX IIb. It had a CLA and shutter replacement a little over a year ago. I just couldn't let it lie there lifeless and ignored. With its many features and accessories I think it deserves a special place in the pantheon of great cameras.

My second SLR was a Canon FTbn QL. It presented a revelation in viewfinder brilliance and quick, instinctive operation.
That is now the matriarch of my Canon collection of 17 cameras ranging up to my illustrious T90 and beyond and a host of their lenses and accessories.

What's the point of this letter? D-mn-ed if I know. Perhaps a belated thank you to the people who designed and manufactured these marvels of ingenuity.

Mickey

[daveh]

Mickey,



Dave.

[PeterW]

Dave,

In your posting to Mickey your picture seems to have fallen through a hole somewhere. All I get is a box with a red crosss and the word image.

PeterW

[mickeyobe]

Dave,

I am, without success, trying to imagine what your image will emerge as.

Mickey

[daveh]

well, I can see it! It could be the forum group it is taken from was down for maintenance.

It is a smiling face with a thumbs up, going under the name of 'top'.

[Deleted]

The film cutting blade on the Exacta VX was a great feature at the time and I am surprised no other manufacturers included it on their cameras.

I used a Canon F1 in the military but never owned one except a Canon IV rangefinder. The models with the lens mount locking ring on the camera body rather than the lens always made me uncomfortable. Of course the focus on my Nikons being backwards to every other camera never bothered me!

W