Canon F1n first impression and questions

2F/2F · Apr 12, 2009

David A. Goldfarb said:
New F-1 focusing screens are hard to find. Kevin Cameras on eBay has something of a selection of them.

You all are in luck right now, because KEH has five types of FN focusing screens in stock (and only two for the old F-1). They have AE (split microprism), PE (selective metering), SI (laser matte with double crosshair), SJ (all matte with spot), and "FN soft cover spot metering overall matte screen".

They also have five types of T-90 screens in stock.

Pumal · Apr 12, 2009

I have 2 Canon New F-1 (3rd type); one with AE Finder, the other with an AE Power Winder FN. I love them. I consider them as good as my Nikon F and F2AS. As for lenses; I prefer the S.C. type (with a chrome ring in the back)

FilmOnly · Apr 12, 2009

Pumalite: Wow, what a selection of classic 35mm gear. I have or have owned a number of the cameras you have listed. I believe I currently own eight bodies now.

white.elephant · Apr 12, 2009

While I don't intend to use this forum to troubleshoot my problems, I'll just ask this quick question, since people here obviously know this camera. My F-1N came with the AE finder. When the camera arrived (I bought it from Adorama, used (obviously) I attached a lens and the camera was in Match-needle mode. I saw the scale at the right-hand aside of the finder. I put the camera into AE mode by, as the manual says, turning the shutter dial to 'A'. AE mode works fine. The manual says all I have to do to get it back into match-needle mode is to disengage the shutter dial from 'A'. However, when I do that, the aperture scale does not re-appear. Is there some button or switch I might have tripped or pushed to bollix things up? Or is there something wrong with the camera?

darinwc · Apr 13, 2009

Mine seems to work properly. I switch the shutter speed dial between A and 2000 and the match needle appears.
It seems that this is an internal mechanism of teh body, not the prism, but Im not sure how it may work with the ae prism.

KOG · Apr 13, 2009

White Elephant,

The blind covering the match-needle window is probably sticking. Try moving the shutter speed dial back and forth from "A" a few times. That may clear up the problem.

Kevin

white.elephant · Apr 13, 2009

KOG said:
White Elephant,

The blind covering the match-needle window is probably sticking. Try moving the shutter speed dial back and forth from "A" a few times. That may clear up the problem.

Kevin

I will give that a go. Knowing that there's a mask for the thing helps me understand what might be happening.

white.elephant · Apr 13, 2009

Okey doke, so jiggering it back and forth does not reveal the match-needle scale. I am going to call Adorama after passover and see what they will do.

darinwc · Apr 13, 2009

just to be sure, you are changing the shutter speed dial on the top of the camera, right?

Yeeski · Apr 14, 2009

On the AE Finder FN, there is a projection or arm that extends over the shutter speed dial. On the underside of this projection is a black spring loaded pin that controls which scale is displayed in the viewfinder. When you set the shutter speed to "A", the raised chrome pin on the shutter speed dial (between 8 seconds and the flash symbol) pushes the finder's black pin towards the finder. This moves the slides which hide the vertical aperture ("match-needle") scale and expose the horizontal shutter speed ("aperture priority") scale. When you turn the shutter speed dial from "A" to 1/2000, the finder's pin should pop out, so it sounds like the pin on your finder may be stuck. Remove your AE Finder FN and check to see if the black pin on the projecting arm moves in and out freely. If not, the spring may be broken or binding. Try working the pin. If you can manually pull the pin out and re-install your finder, you should see the vertical match-needle scale in the viewfinder.

Pumal · Apr 14, 2009

FilmOnly said:
Pumalite: Wow, what a selection of classic 35mm gear. I have or have owned a number of the cameras you have listed. I believe I currently own eight bodies now.

I have 140, I think. Collecting them since I was a kid and all in working condition. I love film and classic cameras.

darinwc · Apr 14, 2009

One more problem I found. The rewind crank will spin on its head. I ran a roll through it this evening when there was a truely beautiful sunset. I thought I had the roll rewound but when I opened the back there was the film dying in the lamplight. I thought I had the rewind button pushed down but apparently not. After I tried the rewind button again I was able to rewind it but I dont know how much film I lost in the process =[
Is this normal?

flatulent1 · Apr 15, 2009

Once I neglected to push in that little button. The rewind crank moved harder than it should have, and got stiffer and stiffer, till it suddenly gave and the rewind action was effortless and smooth.

Of course, when I opened the camera back and saw the film still on the take-up reel, mocking me, I realized what I'd done. I've not done it since. :munch:

Dennis S · Apr 15, 2009

darinwc said:
One more problem I found. The rewind crank will spin on its head. I ran a roll through it this evening when there was a truely beautiful sunset. I thought I had the roll rewound but when I opened the back there was the film dying in the lamplight. I thought I had the rewind button pushed down but apparently not. After I tried the rewind button again I was able to rewind it but I dont know how much film I lost in the process =[
Is this normal?

I have noticed with my F1 that I have to keep the button firmly pressed all the way through the roll-up.

Vanishing Point Ent. · Apr 19, 2009

I have owned both F1n & New F1, ( or as I like to call it New F1N, that covers all the bases ). You will notice with Canon's Mark II, nonsense, it still can't name a camera worth a damn.

O.K. If you have a camera with an AE prism, you have a New F1. The New F1, with AE prism comes standard with an A screen. With the normal prism it's a P Screen. This was explained above,so I won't duplicate it here.

The AE prism, when the shutter is locked on " A ", gives you Aperture Priority, controlled from the
Aperture Dial.
With the addition of a winder or Motor, you can have Shutter Priority, by locking the aperture dial on " A " & controlling the exposure by the Shutter Speed dial.
If you put both of the camera's shutter & aperture dials on " A ". You get an Unknown Error. It won't tell you, but they never designed it to work that way & everything will be under exposed. It
should have given yo a Program Mode, but it's a Pro camera, which didn't have such things.

Get the Motor Drive FN. It gives you a faster advance speed, plus the added benefit of Motorized rewind. It's really a joy, to watch the rewind knob spin around unassisted.
The Original F1 Motors never had this feature.

My biggest problem was that I was having the Shutter Priority underexposure everything. It took a total of 9 months to figure this out including Canon in Irvine, CA., U.S.A.. They would take the Motor off & test the camera, which would test fine. Only very methodical testing by me, made the problem apparent.

One final Caveat. NEVER get an Olympic Canon New F1. These can be determined by the gold instead of white lettering. These were among the 1st New F1's. I traded a regular New F1 for it & the Gold one ate batteries something fierce. I know of a friend that had the same problem & it soured him on Canon.
The thing is this problem can be corrected on a White One, if it happens it's rare, once fixed no problem. but it could never be corrected on the Gold one.
Unless, of course everyone was lying to me & never bothered to look at it. But I had already paid for the repair twice, an independent & Canon Irvine, CA., U.S.A..

I finally dumped them all for Canon EOS film bodies which I shoot to this day.
I won't bore you with which.

2F/2F · Apr 19, 2009

Vanishing Point Ent. said:
One final Caveat. NEVER get an Olympic Canon New F1. These can be determined by the gold instead of white lettering. I traded a regular New F1 for it & the Gold one ate batteries something fierce. I know of a friend that had
the same problem & it soured him on Canon.
The problem is this problem can be corrected on a White One, but it could never be corrected on the Gold one.
Unless, of course everyone was lying to me & never bothered to look at it. But I had already paid for the repair once.

Yeah...That gold paint really drains the batteries, don't it?!?!?

Vanishing Point Ent. · Apr 19, 2009

2F/2F said:
Yeah...That gold paint really drains the batteries, don't it?!?!?

You can jest, if you like, but since these were the very first New F1's, there seems to be some kind of design problem, with the spring contacts in the Lock / On switch.
Mine was fixed several times with no success, even at Canon Irvine, CA., U.S.A..

I never noticed a problem, with my white lettered F1's

As I said, maybe I was getting the run around. I did say that right ?

Since this all about my experiences, these are my experiences, but I have discovered, about 5 other people with the same camera & the same problem. Maybe a bad batch ?
If so, get a White lettered one & avoid the problem, like I said.

2F/2F · Apr 19, 2009

Vanishing Point Ent. said:
You can jest, if you like, but since these were the very first New F1's, there seems to be some kind of design problem, with the spring contacts in the Lock / On switch.
Mine was fixed several times with no success, even at Canon Irvine, CA., U.S.A..

I never noticed a problem, with my white lettered F1's

As I said, maybe I was getting the run around.
I did say that right ?

Since this all about my experiences, these are my experiences, but I have discovered, about 5 other people with the same camera & the same problem.
Maybe a bad batch ? If so, get a White lettered one & avoid the problem, like I said.

So, you are saying that it is a serial number issue, if anything, not a gold paint issue. This may be. However, consider this: The Los Angeles Olympics model came out in 1984. The New F-1 came out in 1981. Why would they make a minor internal design change only on L.A. Olympics models (especially one that was detrimental)? If they were the first ones built, then they sat for three years at Canon before being shipped to retail stores. Is this the case?

If there is any reason not to get the Los Angeles Olympics model, it is because it is more expensive than a standard one, but is exactly the same camera functionally.

Perhaps the problem with L.A. Olympics models is that the kinds of folks who would spend more money for a different color paint never actually used the cameras, and they sat and rotted.

Pumal · Apr 19, 2009

benjiboy · Apr 13, 2013

David A. Goldfarb said:
All the F-1 cameras are a little more "modular" than they need to be (like, on the original F-1, a flash shoe is an accessory), but I've been very happy with my New F-1 for over 25
years now.

Count me in too,I have two Canon F1N AE bodys for about twenty three years, and IMO they are the best professional 35mm SLR ever made, and I have owned the Nikon F and the F2 in the past, they were great, but the F1N is better

darinwc · Apr 13, 2013

I hate it when my old posts get bumped, and I see just how silly i was.

benjiboy · Apr 17, 2013

darinwc said:
I hate it when my old posts get bumped, and I see just how silly i was.

It's my fault Darin I didn't notice how old the preceding posts were, but I.M.O if anybody ever made a better professional S.L.R. than the F1 in all three of it's versions I have yet to hear about it.

RichLPhotography · Apr 18, 2013

hey guys... I just joined his forum to learn about some rangefinder stuff I just purchased... and I happen to see this thread. if anyone is interested I'm selling a Canon New F-1 (mint condition) and an FD 50L and FD 85L. Let me know if you're interested and I can provide the link.

benjiboy · Apr 18, 2013

RichLPhotography said:
hey guys... I just joined his forum to learn about some rangefinder stuff I just purchased... and I happen to see this thread. if anyone is interested I'm selling a Canon New F-1 (mint condition) and an FD 50L and FD 85L. Let me know if you're interested and I can provide the link.

Welcome to the forum Rich, if you want to sell something on A.P.U.G. you have to be a subscriber and advertise in the classified section.

Les Sarile · Apr 18, 2013

benjiboy said:
It's my fault Darin I didn't notice how old the preceding posts were, but I.M.O if anybody ever made a better professional S.L.R. than the F1 in all three of it's versions I have yet to hear about it.

Have you provided a write-up on what made the F-1, F-1N and New F-1 the best in your opinion? I would be curious to read your perspective.

Canon F1n first impression and questions

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