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Books on Canon cameras etc and history

TerryMcC

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Location
Gold Coast, Australia
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I am looking for some quality books on Canon cameras and the history of the company. Nikon has many by the likes of Robert Rotoloni and others , and there are websites such as Cameraquest for Nikons and one or two other brands, but I cannot find any titles or sites of similar quality about Canon. Can anyone help?
 
do you have their Lenswork books? Those are a good start. They also have their own Canon museum site that has good historical info.
 
Pick up Peter Dechert's book, "Canon Rangefinders, 1933 to 1968," and Peter Kitchingman's "Canon M39 Rangefinder lenses, 1933- 1971." Both offer a good account of Canon's early history.

Also, Brian Long's "Canon: A Celebration."

Jim B.
 
I found the book - Canon - Reflex way - pretty good, it covers the SLRs up to the AE1
 
BrianVS said:
.......Sadly, Peter Kitchingman passed away recently- and his website is gone, but not forgotten by the Wayback.
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No! Peter K. is alive and well. We're friends on FB where he's a frequent contributor to the Vintage Canon FB page.

It's Peter Dechert who passed away. Last November, if I recall correctly.

Jim B.
 
That's a relief!

What happened to his website? Did he take it down, or did he change servers?

I could only get to it from the Wayback Machine.
 
BrianVS said:
.....What happened to his website? Did he take it down, or did he change servers?......
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Can't say for sure. You'd have to ask him.

If you're on FB, consider joining the Vintage Canon Group. You can talk to hm directly there.

Jim B.
 
Facebook is demanding that I give them my Cell Phone Number. That ended my Facebook account.

I picked up a Canon 5cm f2 Serenar in Leica mount last week at a Photorama show for $50. Needed a little work- much better performer than I expected. Learned a lot about it from Peter K's site from the Wayback machine, more than anywhere else. Also picked up a late 50/1.9 Serenar- it was hazed over, and had lots of paint shards floating around- thought they were the blades. Also cleaned up nicely. I took the Canon 5cm f2 and a fairly early Nikkor 5cm f2 out this past weekend-

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I also have the Nikkor 5cm f2 in collapsible mount, made within months of the Canon. The Canon III that I bought had a 1949 Nikkor 5cm F1.5 on it. My Canon 5cm F2 is from 1949, as is my early Canon 50/1.9. I picked up an early Leotax D-IV with the Simlar 5cm F1.5 on it, also occupied Japan. Tracking down real information on these early lenses is not easy, being able to inspect and use them -and take them apart- helps understand them.
 
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Mackinaw said:
Pick up Peter Dechert's book, "Canon Rangefinders, 1933 to 1968," and Peter Kitchingman's "Canon M39 Rangefinder lenses, 1933- 1971." Both offer a good account of Canon's early history.

Also, Brian Long's "Canon: A Celebration."

Jim B.
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Had a look for Long's book, found one for $800!
 
Mackinaw said:
Pick up Peter Dechert's book, "Canon Rangefinders, 1933 to 1968," and Peter Kitchingman's "Canon M39 Rangefinder lenses, 1933- 1971." Both offer a good account of Canon's early history.

Also, Brian Long's "Canon: A Celebration."

Jim B.
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Scrounged a copy of Dechert's book, looking forward to burying my head in it.
 
WilmarcoImaging said:
Terry, are you familiar with the Canon Camera Museum site? Google it or look at canon.global

Very extensive timeline of cameras and lenses there.
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Had a look, very slick but has little depth. I am also after sites that offer a well reasoned independent evaluation of the various models.
 
TerryMcC said:
Had a look for Long's book, found one for $800!
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800.00$!!!!!!!! I think mine cost me (brand new) $40.00 or something. Maybe it's time for me to put it on eBay and take the money and run.

The book is one of the better ones when talking about Canon history. Brian Long had direct contact with a Canon historian (employed by Canon). Really good stuff here.

Jim B.
 
BrianVS said:
....... Learned a lot about it from Peter K's site from the Wayback machine, more than anywhere else..........
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You should consider buying Peter's book. He's selling them direct. Not sure of the cost (I bought mine when it was first published), but probably about $50.00 USD.

Jim B.
 

What would you like to know? There is a lot of info on the net.

I recommend this page for some of the early optical history:

http://www.klassik-cameras.de/Canon_Main.html
 
peter kitchingman said:
Hi Flavio

Pays to look at who replied as I thought it was "Terry"?
Peru the closest I have been to Peru is watching the Dakar race on TV..the scenery is awesome.

Peter
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It's a great country for pic making, if you get the chance, you should come... with a good Canon 7Sz of course.
 
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