AE-1 in black

So far I only knew the all-black version from one single photograph in a handbook on the AE-1 from the 70s (I got quite a lot of Canon FD books).

The caption of that photo states the black version being offered on request.

Thus it seems to be a rare version.
Can you elaborate on that? Was it available throughout the production time?
(In one Canon publication there is a black AE-1 Program, but I have not come it across either.)


Today I got my own black sample. The base cap is definitely from brass. (We once had some discussion whether the base cap of the AE-1s is from brass or plastic. I got plastic ones too.)

The top cap is from coppered plastic. One may wonder why it is coppered, but I assume for electrical-field shielding.

I have a black ae1 program, I think.

Are you sure that the base plate isn't plastic and plated w/ a substance that resembles brass? That's how my Nikon FG cameras are. It's interesting if Canon actually made them out of brass, because it would have involved a completly different manufacturing scheme. None of the other Canon cameras w/ metal base plates would interchange w/ the AE-1 cameras to my knowledge.

I always liked the AE-1 black cameras, and once considered painting my silver cameras to make them black, but in the end it wasn't that important I suppose. Later I actually bought a factory black one at a dood price, but the shutter was firing at the same speed no matter where you set it, and I never got around to trying to fix it. The AE-1 Program cameras were an updated cameras for sure, w/ lots better features, but the original AE-1 seemed a lot more fun to shoot.

Definitely from brass. I guess they started with brass and later changed to plastic.

(By the way: one can't plate plastic with brass.)

i had no trouble to get a BLACK AE-1-- I got it from a dealer in London, forget the name-- I was thinking to change from Pentax to Canon when Pentax changed from Screw to Bayonet in about 1975 and I had got an FTBn outfit with lots of lenses cheap from a Camera Ciub member but on using it for some local Press work I found i was making all my 'mistakes' with the Canon and it synched for flash only at 1/60th where the Pentax ME Super went to 1/125th -- also, in semi-darkness at concerts it was very difficult to line up the Canon breechlock lenses -- could not see the' RED DOT' but on PENTAX it is easy even in pitch DARKNESS as there is a little BUMP on mount and you line it up with the lens dismounting lever.

BLACK AE=1's

Forgot to mention that my OTHER AE-1 with the battery switch=off circuit trouble is also BLACK !!

pentaxpete said:

... in semi-darkness at concerts it was very difficult to line up the Canon breechlock lenses -- could not see the' RED DOT' but on PENTAX it is easy even in pitch DARKNESS as there is a little BUMP on mount and you line it up with the lens dismounting lever.

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Interesting. I did not think of that issue, especially in comparison with other makes.

Plastic is such an insulting term. The manufacturer thinks it's a poison term.
Far more correct to call it "Resin". You can charge more $$$ for it.

It's possible that there were some available with metal base plates but I doubt it. "never say never"

Anyway the black Canon cameras were never rare The popularity of the "chrome" camera was it's $20 or so lower price.
At the shop I worked at probably 10 or 15 chrome to 1 black.

John Koehrer said:

.
At the shop I worked at probably 10 or 15 chrome to 1 black.

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Which would make black models less abundant if not rare, in today's market.

John Koehrer said:

Plastic is such an insulting term. The manufacturer thinks it's a poison term.
Far more correct to call it "Resin". You can charge more $$$ for it.

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I'm not into polictical correctness...
And that Canon and Pentacon fooled a lot of photographers with their caps tells a lot about the Quality of their work.

(By the way, "plastic" is the correct term over here.)

John Koehrer said:

It's possible that there were some available with metal base plates but I doubt it. "never say never"

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Mine definitely has a brass bottom plate.
I shall have to see whether one of my chrome samples has a brass one too. I forgot.

I thought it was universal knowledge that the top and bottom covers of the AE-1 are made of plastic; on top of it, a layer of metal (resembling brass) and then another layer (shiny) is deposited, so the covers appear LIKE if they were pure metal.

AgX, perhaps you can't "plate" plastic with brass, but you certianly can deposit any particles you like on top of it.

Citing from the Photography in Malaysia website:

"Although the Canon AE-1 has shinny metallic finishing and even sounds like a metal when you used your finger to knock on its shell, in reality, it was a clever use of a production technique with an underlaying coating of Iron Oxide benealth the plastic which gave it such a similar metallic feel. But the key essential parts like the lens mount, had used metal as the prime material"

I don't think any AE-1 had real metal top and bottoms. When the bottom wears, it reveals "brassing" but this does not mean the whole plate is "brass". It's simply the top coating peeling off.

AgX said:

I'm not into polictical correctness...
And that Canon and Pentacon fooled a lot of photographers with their caps tells a lot about the Quality of their work.

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AgX, on the second hand market the AE-1 and AE-1P cameras I consistently find working fine, even when externally battered. The same I cannot say of some other cameras (i.e. Nikon FA, Nikon F3 meters) . Those cameras do have PLASTIC on them but at the same time internal construction is good, the mechanism (in particular the shutter and mirror actuation) is very smooth. If you want metal Canon had the contemporary Canon F-1 which is abundant in metal and has a higher finish standard and higher structural integrity than the often-revered Nikon F2 and F3. Yes, they do. I own those three; sold the F3 without regret.

I don't think Canon was into fooling nobody; at the time of introduction of the AE-1 the use of plastics (and microprocessor) was revolutionary and if i recall correctly was explicitely publicized by Canon in their adverts (i have some magazines of the era.)
It was a big change in camera manufacturing.

Nowadays it is fashionable in APUG to speak garbage about the AE-1 as if it were an inferior camera but they sold by the millions for a reason. Part of that reason is that indeed it is a fine camera which has everything a good camera should have: accurate and fast-acting meter, good viewfinder, excellent lenses, wide array of lenses, optional motor drive, little battery consumption, smooth shutter and mirror action, controls easy to grab and understand, not so heavy and not so big.
And BTW, I used an AE-1 and then A-1 for years with perfect reliability.

I can think of many cameras I would reject in favor for an AE-1 -- the overrated K1000 for example.

I must repeat myself. My sample has a brass bottom plate.

John Koehrer said:

Anyway the black Canon cameras were never rare The popularity of the "chrome" camera was it's $20 or so lower price.
At the shop I worked at probably 10 or 15 chrome to 1 black.

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Thank you. That was the information I was looking for.

I knew "rare" was a ambiguous term... I just was puzzled as I did not come across any sample before. And to be fair I do not see a chrome sample each day either.

I guess at your shop the black Version was even a "off-the-shelf" item. Not something you only ordered by request of the buyer.

AgX said:

I must repeat myself. My sample has a brass bottom plate.

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Allright, if you say so I believe you. Then, i will need to go out and sample some AE-1s.

On topic, i do have seen quite a few black AE-1.

What I find strange though is that the cap for the transport claw was not painted black too. As for instance the rewind-knob.
(At least the photographs I saw show a silver cap as with mine. Maybe though the original ones all got lost...)

Space-age polymer!

It is from the 50's, and thus you are right...

AgX said:

Thank you. That was the information I was looking for.

I knew "rare" was a ambiguous term... I just was puzzled as I did not come across any sample before. And to be fair I do not see a chrome sample each day either.

I guess at your shop the black Version was even a "off-the-shelf" item. Not something you only ordered by request of the buyer.

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We always had 2-3 black outfits w/lens and a body only or two in stock for the "pro". That's the guy that actually used B&W film and had the extra $20..

The early breech mount lenses didn't have the lock that held the collar in alignment for easier mounting and the ring would (obviously) turn.
Giving Canon credit though, they did correct the problem.

Hi AgX

Saw a black film EF on neck strap on lady last Saturday but its owner also had a Canon DSLR to hand.

The FG has a very resilant plastic cladding and if is black the black finish rapidly wears down to a copper coloured metal like layer which after damage will peel and cut skin like metal!

Clearly it would have been difficult to electro plate copper on plastic. And we would say plastic here, polymer arcane.

Noel

Xmas said:

Clearly it would have been difficult to electro plate copper on plastic.

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The plastic used for this process is ABS. It is characterized not only being somewhat elastic and quite resilient against cracking, which makes it an ideal cover material not only for camera bodies but also for househould asppliances.
Furthermore, due to its composition, after chemical surface Treatment it can be galvanized without applying a subbing layer.


Galvanizing ABS camera covers was not started by Canon, but by Pentacon(!) even 7 years earlier with their L-series.

Xmas said:

The FG has a very resilant plastic cladding and if is black the black finish rapidly wears down to a copper coloured metal like layer which after damage will peel and cut skin like metal!

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That's because it's a Nikon, it does not have the advanced Canon technology!!

(Note: The FG is one of my favorite Nikons, i like mine, in black, and it has not peeled yet. It is a great little machine.)

John Koehrer said:

The early breech mount lenses didn't have the lock that held the collar in alignment for easier mounting and the ring would (obviously) turn. Giving Canon credit though, they did correct the problem.

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Exactly. This simple lock is a HUGE improvement on the lenses, allowing you to mount the lens with only one hand, just by pushing the lens against the body. Easier than mounting the pre-AI Nikon lenses of the same era, that did not have the advanced Canon techn... blah blah.

The lenses without that lock (for example FL lenses) are more difficult to mount, usually requiring two hands.

Hello,

I have 3 AE-1, 2 silver and 1 black ; I can't tell for silver but I am sure top and bottom covers of my black AE-1 are not made of plastic.
It was in poor condition. When I tried to clean it from corrosion on top (rust and verdigris, black paint was gone in some parts) with a knife, it was not difficult to observe it was made of metal. But I don't know what metal it is...

John Koehrer said:

Anyway the black Canon cameras were never rare The popularity of the "chrome" camera was it's $20 or so lower price.
At the shop I worked at probably 10 or 15 chrome to 1 black.

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The A-series vary. The A-1 was only ever available in black. Black AV-1s are pretty rare (I own one) as they were a budget model that someone bothered to pay the colour premium for. Black AT-1s are extremely rare, most say non-existent, but have been seen in promotional material.

In the metal SLR era black cameras could be considerably more expensive as they underwent an additional stage of stove enameling the paint on to the body.

Andy38 said:

Hello,

I have 3 AE-1, 2 silver and 1 black ; I can't tell for silver but I am sure top and bottom covers of my black AE-1 are not made of plastic.
It was in poor condition. When I tried to clean it from corrosion on top (rust and verdigris, black paint was gone in some parts) with a knife, it was not difficult to observe it was made of metal. But I don't know what metal it is...

Click to expand...

As indicated above even the black varnished cover I got is made from coppered plastic. Which might impress as a metal cap.

(Of course I cannot exclude samples with pure metal covers, but the fact that you cannot distinguish the metal though, makes me doubtful.)

To make things even more confusing: the front body part on the battery side is from Aluminium or Zink, whereas the front on the other side is from Brass.



The black vesion seemingly was sold as the better, the professional version. Though the black top cover suffers from nasty corrosion when heavily used and not cleaned. Something much less likely in the chromed version, as the Chrome layer withstands rubing much better than the black varnish layer.