gwhitegeog

I have had quite a lot of experience of this issue over the last few years. Here's a summary: 1. My Nikon F (about 1969) with a FTn meter head - it takes 2 x 1.35V PX625 (in the meter head). When I had it serviced by a classic Nikon specialist technician recently, he adjusted / calibrated the meter so it could work with modern 1.5V PX625s. 2. My Canon EF (1976) - see above - I use the 1.35V zinc-airs or modern 1.5V PX625's. 3. My Canon F1 (1975) does not have the voltage regulator. The battery just powers the meter as the camera is mechanical. I use the zinc-air 1.35v cells. There are several companies around, like Polar Bear Cameras, selling the LR44 sized 1.35v zinc airs and PX625 adaptors. The zinc-airs give stable output of 1.35v once activated and usually last for a about a year or more and are cheap enough these days (about €12 / £10 for 5 batteries and an adaptor set). Some other companies selling the LR44 / G10 type zinc-airs at 1.4 to 1.45v as 'hearing aid batteries' don't always give a stable output though with 50 year old cameras with old metering circuits, +/- 0.25 volts in unlikely to be a problem but voltage instability is not good for metering accuracy. I have a hand held meter anyway as a check. NB I guess like many of us, I use the cameras as much as I can but with about 20+ 35mm classic cameras in my collection (Canon, Nikon, Contax), the number if films that go through each body might be just 1-2 per year, so I always remove batteries when the cameras are not being used to prevent leakage issues. I have a spreadsheet where I keep a record of when batteries where changed and if in doubt, I recycle the batteries and fit fresh ones. I keep a good stock of batteries in the refrigerator! Gary

Yes, it does. So you can use Zinc-air 1.35v substitutes or the ‘modern’ 1.5v silver oxide PX625 clones. Either will work with no issues.

I have a couple of FLs. Mechanically and in terms of engineering, they are superb. The fact that they are not multicoated is an issue, but perhaps not as much as you might think. Halo and coma are more pronounced but sometimes, that's a good thing!

My son, who is now 11, didn't know what a non-digital camera was, and had never seen 35mm film, until when he was about 7, when I started taking him on walks with me and I would take a 35mm SLR with me. At first, he couldn't understand why he couldn't see the image immediately when looking at the back of the camera (for example, a 1967 Nikon F!) but now he understands. When I show him slides and negatives in my archives that I took 20, 30 or 40 years ago, literally all over the world, he gets it!

I bought the 24-105L more or less on the day it was released. Canon would not admit it but the early version had a few problems wide open at the wide end. But overall it was a very good lens and in fact I still have my original from 2005/6. Canon released a mk2 version what was optically better, so go for that if you can get one.

I did use one for a while. Optically they were complex but surprisingly good given the inevitable design compromises. As noted above, the 35-350 was quickly replaced with the 28- version. There was relatively little barrel distortion at the short end. Pincushion was more a problem at the long end when fully open, I recall. I currently use the 70-300 f5.6L and 24-105L on full frame cameras (e.g. 5D / 6Ds). I rarely find I need the full range in one lens. However, in summary, if you can get the 28 / 35 - 300x L for a good price, you won't be disappointed (optically). But it is heavy, for sure. Hence, you'll need to IS.

Just planning to buy a Canon EX Auto QL from the early 70s. Just for fun, as it doesn't even take FD lessons. G

It's lovely to see that younger people are enjoying these cameras today. I wonder how long E6 film will be around but 35mm B&W and C41 seem safe.

That was an interesting era, which I remember well too. The 'space race' to build the most electronic camera, innovations like shutter priority, digital readout viewfinders and silicon metering cells! I never actually had an AE1 or AE1P. I had a 1975 EF and then when the A-series came out, an AT-1 and then the A-1 which was my dream camera. When I got more serious about photography, I bought a 10 year old (at the time) all mechanical original F1.

Okay, an 18-year-old post, but I was sniffing around as I recently bought an ML-2 and ML-3……..Both of which I previously owned. The mount adapter problem can be dealt with very easily - just use an old school Cokin square filter holder mount ring. - they have an oversized flange, which engages very well with the macro light, and then the male screw thread screws into the front of the lens. I always used that as a cheap and cheerful mount.

I was slightly confused by the initial posts. A-series all used PX28s. The 'correct' batteries are still widely available. Battery drain was not an inherent problem. But unexpected drain (like discharging when switched off or after little use) was a fault that the A-series sometimes developed after a couple of decades or more. I had an A1 repaired for that reason once. As I recall, it was due to a faulty capacitor or capacitor contact on the circuit board and a known issue. Obviously, electronics are pretty primitive on these machines, but I think FD / A series service specialists should be able to deal with it.

Indeed! A long time ago....

I remember taking a digital photograph in Bruges in 2006. It was almost dark in January. I had a then state of the art Canon EOS 5D with its full frame 12mp sensor, using the 17-40 f4L. I set the camera to 1600 ISO, hand held at 1/50 at f4.5. The outcome was amazing and it was almost a 'conversion on the road to Damascus'. This photograph would have been impossible with film. The scene was almost dark (not that you'd think so from the image. Original RAW converted to TIF. Downsized to JPEG for this post. Gary

Hi Orsetto, Thanks for an excellent summary. I think I agree that going back to the original query, the Canon New F1 may be best. Couple of quick observations: 1. I agree about the 'mechanical back up' gimmick. For over 50 years, I never recall being 'dead in the water' due to a dead battery (more likely to be an issue on a modern digital camera if you ask me!). It's a bit of a Hollywood fantasy - your battery failing as you are in the deepest Amazon or about to complete your once-in-a-liftetime ascent of the North Face of the Eiger. Hardly a real world concern for 99.99% of people who were likely to use those cameras. I always carried spare batteries for the F and A series Canons. Generally, they would give a lot of warning of their failure anyway. 2. I love Nikons too but also hate the viewfinder of the F3. I much prefer the F4, though it is a far bulkier camera. 3. The issue of the aged camera technicians 'shedding off this mortal coil' or retiring is a concern. So, cameras that might need less servicing are an important consideration. My company in Lisbon is run by two 'youthful' 60-somethings and they can do anything classic Nikon, less so Canon. They recently resurrected a Nikon F FTb meter / finder. Dealt with historical battery leakage (I bought it on spec from Japan), calibrated it and even converted it to run in modern 1.5V silver oxide PX625-type cells. Brilliant work and not many people that can do it these days. 4. In 50 years' time, I doubt if our children or our grandchildren who might be photography enthusiasts will be able to get current DSLRs and mirrorless cameras serviced with all their complex electronics and chips - even now after spare parts are no longer available after 10 years or so, it can be very difficult. Gary

That would make sense and concur with my own observations with my camera two days´ago. Anything I set below 1/125 sounded like 1/60, and all speeds below that (1/30, 1/15, etc) sounded the same, so I can accept it was 1/90. I agree with the quality of the EF metering cells. I have two Nikon F2s - one with a DP11 head (old school CdS and match simple needle metering, slow and not that reliable) and a DP3, which latches with the pre-Ai lenses, but also has the silicon cells and a LED +/- viewfinder, much better and more responsive.