Canon T series 1983 - 1990

[tonyp1]

I’m running a feet of these. T50 T70 T80 T90. Anyone else still running these interesting pieces of canon history?

 

[Taylor K Nankervis]

Owned a T90 from, I think 1986 to 1989. One of the very best of the new breed of electronic cameras, and it was a true delight to use. The unusual (at that time) aesthetic presentation paved the way for the Canon EOS bodies that soon followed, heralding the end of the traditional FD lens mount. Would still anoint the T90 as one of the greatest of all time (among many) , but it seems the passage of decades has not been kind to these workhorses, with many gremlins in the circuitry and operation.

 

[Paul Howell]

I had a T90 for a year or so along with a brace of FD lens. I thought it was great camera, as good my F3P, very capable 1/4000 top shutter speed, flash sync at 1/250, 4 1/2 or was it 5 1/2 built in motor drive. I passed mine on to a friend as I did not want to go down the Canon FD system rabbit hole.

 

[Taylor K Nankervis]

I thought it was great camera, as good my F3P

Nikon's F3HP behemoth was the camera I owned and loved before the T90. Before that still was the Olympus OM4. I cycle toured around Tasmania in winter (Tassie is neither dry nor flat! ) with the ginormous F3HP bouncing around in a huge Karrimor handlebar bag. That camera looked quite the imposing beastie next to an oh-so-cute Olympus XA!

 

[koraks]

I have and regularly use a T90. Lovely camera, although noisy and there's no (easily accessible) way to make it leave the leader of the film out when finishing the roll. Those are the only minor issues I see. Otherwise it's a great piece of equipment. Extremely durable, too.

I've had a T70 for a while, too, but the user interface sucked and I got rid of it.

 

[loccdor]

Yes, I've been using a T90 for 15 years as my main camera for the FD lenses. It's a great machine. I'll need to take it out again soon, it's been sleeping for the winter.

 

[ChrisLLUK]

Yes. Still using a T90. Great camera.

 

[Rrrgcy]

Yes. One camera-one-Lens rule for-one trip.
Here a Canon T70 rocking a JC Penney lens. The only camera I took w me to MN for a few weeks. Tank-like Grinding shutter noise included. Love it. (Albeit I run it fully manual as this is my only lens)

 

[ChrisLLUK]

Still using a T90. Great camera.

 

[LenB]

I was gifted a T70 and have it close at hand in case I need something quickly for the back yard.
Not my favourite by any stretch, but it is s good little camera. (Lately, my quick grab is a different beast, namely a Pen FT)
I think the appeal of the T70 is that the meter works well without the hassle of 625 batteries for my F-1 or EF to be ready to go.
If the meter doesn't matter, I prefer those.

I didn't know I would like the T70 but it makes me wonder if I should try a T90.

 

[Paul Howell]

If you shoot wildlife the built in motor drive at 4.5 FPS is a nice feature, flash syn at 1/250 is so an improvement over the F1. Although the T90 does not have matrix metering it allows for averaging of up to 8 or 9 readings, not a true spot meters but allows for a partial metering along with average. I only passed mine on as I did not want to go down another rabbit hole of another system.

 

[LenB]

Those are really good points!
One of the reasons I keep a camera ready at my desk is to be ready for backyard bird photos. I have 2 200mm 2.8 lenses.On FD, and one EF. Great lenses for my yard.

 

[LenB]

Dang! You folks made me do it.
T90 on the way.

Enablers!

 

[tokam]

I bought a T90 / 300TL combo in 1987. Just noticed recently that the lower rubber bumper on the shutter curtains is starting to degrade. Tiny amounts of rubber appearing on the shutter curtains. Will see if a Q-tip and Isopropyl alcohol gently applied will clean it off.

Still have a collection of other FD bodies - EF, AE-1, A1 and new F! to keep me going.

 

[Vonderwolf]

I loved my T90 back in the day, but it started doing the EEE message and I stopped using it. Fast forward to a couple months ago when I bought a T90 on eBay because it had been recently serviced and was supposedly in great condition. It was and it shot a roll of film perfectly. Then the weirdness started happening. I didn't get any EEE errors but suddenly the camera would make a soft humming noise when you press the shutter button but it never took a picture. I ended up sending it back but along the way I tested some things. What was 100% reliable in getting it to fail was using Energizer lithium batteries. You would put them in you would take a couple shots and everything seems fine, but leaving them in the camera overnight with it off caused it to lock up the very next time you try to use it. Apparently there is something about the amperage in those batteries that causes issues. I used some 1.2v Eneloops in it and it was fine. They even funnier thing is that the eBay auction listing specifically recommended you use the Energizer lithium batteries. I guess they never left it overnight huh?

If you want to use a T90 keep this in mind. May save you a few headaches.

 

[loccdor]

Yeah. I use 1.2V rechargable Ni-MH in it. Had it since 2011 and shot it most recently a couple weeks ago - no problems.

After 10 year storage in 2023 it was getting an occasional EEE error, I left the shutter open on bulb mode overnight and haven't seen the problem since.

 

[koraks]

I'm also using it with NiMH's. They virtually never need to be recharged...camera is presently in active use; I use it in bursts with it sitting idle for months in between. No problems so far. I recently 'converted' it to leave the film leader out after rewinding.

 

[gorbas]

What happened with our member Andreas Thaler, he was all about fixing and bringing back to life T90s?
It looks like he did not post for more than a year?

 

[aw614]

What happened with our member Andreas Thaler, he was all about fixing and bringing back to life T90s?
It looks like he did not post for more than a year?

He's posting quite a bit on /r/analogcommunity on reddit

 

[blee1996]

What happened with our member Andreas Thaler, he was all about fixing and bringing back to life T90s?
It looks like he did not post for more than a year?

He got into some fights with one of the mods, and quit photrio.

 

[MattKing]

He got into some fights with one of the mods, and quit photrio.

We moderators work as a team, and Andreas knows he is welcome on Photrio.

 

[gorbas]

He got into some fights with one of the mods, and quit photrio.

Too bad! He was very serious about giving new life to the old cameras. Thank you!

 

[gorbas]

We moderators work as a team, and Andreas knows he is welcome on Photrio.

We are losing too many great people here, Matt! For whatever resons.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Yes, it's true, I'm no longer active here on PHOTRIO, but I still follow the posts with interest

After an intense six months on Reddit, I’ve now returned to the calm haven of photo.net and am focusing on in-depth projects centered on cameras from the 1980s:

Nikon FG: A closer look at service and technology

DIY Service and Repair for Electromechanical SLRs: Projects for 2026

It should not matter where I am—anyone interested in my topics can find me via Google; the internet is one big community

Greetings from Vienna,

Andreas

(I no longer have full access here, so my posts no longer appear at the top of the list.)

 

[gorbas]

Nice to see you again Andreas! All the best in your interesting projects! Please visit us here when you can!