So what's the deal with Canon New F-1 Aperture Priority? Not intrinsic to AE Finder?

[RLangham]

I have the AE Finder FN, which according to most people "unlocks" the ability to use aperture priority AE on the Canon New F-1. This is the official Canon line from the manual, this is what various reviews tell me and it seems to be well-known. (If you look on Camera-wiki dot org, the wording is non-commital, and that's because I wrote it. I revamp the article on nearly every SLR I get, make it look professional and add more information.)

However, with the camera set to "A" and the finder removed completely, and my hand shielding the focusing screen, the camera appears to behave in aperture priority mode--not perhaps perfectly (lord knows I wouldn't waste film to test this), but the length of the exposure definitely depends on both the light and the aperture setting. So it seems like the capability is in the body, not the finder.

I have not had any of the non-AE finders for this camera, only the AE-F-FN. Is aperture priority locked out when they're installed? Or does it still work, just without the AE F FN's built-in shutter-speed indicator in the viewfinder?

Obviously you would not want to use it with a waist-level finder as stray light would get in!

 

[Mackinaw]

You guessed it, aperture priority automation is built into the camera body, not the finder. The AE Finder FN allows you to see the shutter speed that is being set, but you don't need it for aperture priority automation. If you're willing to go blind, set the camera's shutter speed dial to "A" with the standard finder attached and fire away.

Jim B.

 

[dynachrome]

With the AE Finder you would not set the aperture ring to A or O. You would set the shutter speed dial to the A setting, pick your aperture and the camera will select the correct shutter speed. For shutter priority automation the winder or Motor Drive must be attached. Lately I have been using the regular Finder FN more.

 

[RLangham]

With the AE Finder you would not set the aperture ring to A or O. You would set the shutter speed dial to the A setting, pick your aperture and the camera will select the correct shutter speed. For shutter priority automation the winder or Motor Drive must be attached. Lately I have been using the regular Finder FN more.

When I say "set the camera" I should have said "set the shutter speed dial." I was using it in aperture priority mode, not shutter speed priority.

I have the winder as well but mine doesn't work for the shutter speed priority. I think the servo in it is gone bad, as detailed in another thread.

 

[RLangham]

You guessed it, aperture priority automation is built into the camera body, not the finder. The AE Finder FN allows you to see the shutter speed that is being set, but you don't need it for aperture priority automation. If you're willing to go blind, set the camera's shutter speed dial to "A" with the standard finder attached and fire away.

Jim B.

Which is very interesting, since the manual, and a promotional pamphlet that I have lying around somewhere, certainly suggest that it can't be used that way without the AE finder.

Certainly an aperture-priority camera with no shutter speed indication isn't much of an aperture-priority camera at all, sort of a point-and-shoot type of interface, but Canon seems to have been a little unscrupulous here. Wanted you to go for the more expensive package certainly.

 

[RLangham]

By the way, I mentioned in the other thread that the "lollipop" match needle indicator on the aperture scale is off by +1 stop (i.e., it shows f/22 when the lens shows f/16).

Am I wrong or does it seem like this affects the aperture priority mode? It seems to choose a shutter speed one stop too slow, as if it also thought the aperture were one stop higher.

Obviously this is easy to compensate for in either mode, since I can just compensate by hand in match-needle mode or set the compensator in AE mode. But am I wrong in thinking that AE has been affected?

 

[Paul Howell]

If the meter is off by a stop metering in either manual or AE will be off a stop. You can of course compensate in a number of ways, the easiest for me is to set ISO one stop slower.

 

[RLangham]

If the meter is off by a stop metering in either manual or AE will be off a stop. You can of course compensate in a number of ways, the easiest for me is to set ISO one stop slower.

Yes, I could compensate with the film speed or by turning the exposure compensation wheel, to the same effect. I rather prefer the latter since it lets me keep track of the box speed or in this case my rating of some expired fomapan.

But it's not the problem you describe. You're describing, I think, an incorrect sensitivity of the meter, which could still be fully functional by compensating the film speed. What I have is a mechanical misalignment in the aperture indicator mechanism that causes it to be factually incorrect about the aperture. The ring appears one notch too high on the aperture scale at the side of the viewfinder, while the needle on the same scale behaves correctly.

Now what I did not anticipate is that this misalignment would also translate to the AE circuitry being wrong about what aperture the camera was set to... Can anyone confirm that the same mechanism is responsible for both the viewfinder aperture display (moving ring) and the AE circuit's sensing of the aperture?

One further question. Is it normal that the right hand meter display stays visible while the AE display is visible along the bottom? I was under the impression that the former would be hidden when the latter was revealed. This seems to be what my promotional pamphlet and the manual both indicate. On mine both are visible at once when the camera is set to A, which is how I noticed that the aperture display was incorrect (since putting it in A reveals the Judas window showing the physical aperture ring.)

 

[Paul Howell]

As I don't have a Canon F I did not think about the exposure compensation feature, most pro camera of the time were so equipped.

 

[RLangham]

As I don't have a Canon F I did not think about the exposure compensation feature, most pro camera of the time were so equipped.

Well, it's about the same thing anyways. It's rotating the same contacts inside the dial whether you turn the outer part or the inner part.