The

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

AL-1 was an FD mount,

35mm 35 mm may refer to: Film * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM, a "musical exhibition" by Ryan Scott Oliver that features music ...

single-lens reflex camera In photography, a single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is a type of camera that uses a mirror and prism system to allow photographers to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured. SLRs became the dominant design for professional a ...

introduced in March 1982. Its main feature was the "Quick Focus" focus-assist system that was aimed at those who had trouble focusing through the

viewfinder In photography, a viewfinder is a device on a camera that a photographer uses to determine exactly where the camera is pointed, and approximately how much of that view will be photographed. A viewfinder can be mechanical (indicating only direct ...

—either novices, or those with poor eyesight—and was intended to head off competition from the first full-

autofocus An autofocus (AF) optical system uses a sensor, a control system and a motor to focus on an automatically or manually selected point or area. An electronic rangefinder has a display instead of the motor; the adjustment of the optical system h ...

cameras from other manufacturers, such as the

Pentax ME F The Pentax ME F was an amateur level, interchangeable lens, 135 film, 35 mm film, single-lens reflex camera, single-lens reflex (SLR) camera. It was manufactured by Pentax, Asahi Optical Co., Ltd. of Japan from November 1981 to 1984. The ME F was ...

Features

As a lower-end camera, the AL-1 did not offer a long list of features. Instead, Canon focused on providing core functionality and lowering price. The AL-1 provides focus-confirmation, aperture-priority autoexposure (controlled by a through-the-lens silicon photocell), manual shutter speeds from 1/15 to 1/1000 of a second, and a 10 second self-timer. It also added a larger grip, and the convenience of using of AAA cells for power. However the battery door is one of its weakness as most of the cameras that are found today on the market have a battery door that is broken or has been replaced. Its body was constructed from a special

polycarbonate Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate ester, carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, toughness, tough materials, and some grades are optically transp ...

that was then painted to imitate metal. An ISO hotshoe, A-series power winder connections, and cable-release socket provide an acceptable level of compatibility with accessories. It was also the last Canon SLR to use the Canon logo, which resembles the Japanese romaji font used on Canon cameras since the 1960s on a

pentaprism A pentaprism is a five-sided reflecting prism (optics), prism used to deviate a beam of light by a constant 90°, even if the entry beam is not at 90° to the prism. The beam reflects inside the prism ''twice'', allowing the transmission of an i ...

. The camera uses Canon's breech-lock FD mount, and so users could choose from the wide variety of Canon FD lenses, as well as those from third parties. Users could also utilise Canon R and FL lenses, but with some limitations. In 1987, Canon abandoned the FD mount in favour of the EF mount along with the

EOS In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Eos (; Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek ''Ēṓs'', Attic Greek, Attic ''Héōs'', "dawn", or ; Aeolic Greek, Aeolic ''Aúōs'', Doric Greek, Doric ''Āṓs'') is the go ...

camera system, which uses the same concept as the T80 but with a new and incompatible mount designed around an all-electronic interface.

Autofocus

The AL-1 marked Canon's first public foray into autofocus technology. While far from a true autofocus system, the camera acted a test for Canon engineers to evaluate phase detection for SLR cameras. The QF focus-assist system uses traditional phase detection linear

CCD CCD may refer to: Science and technology * Charge-coupled device, an electronic light sensor used in various devices including digital cameras * .ccd, the filename extension for CloneCD's CD image file * Carbonate compensation depth, a property ...

arrays in the base of the camera. Light is diverted to these sensors through a partially silvered mirror. When the light of the subject is in phase, the image is in focus. Below the viewfinder image, two red arrows indicate which direction to turn the focusing ring to achieve focus. Optimum focus is indicated by a green light (circle) between the two arrows. Contrast detection is the system used for

on most compact

digital camera A digital camera, also called a digicam, is a camera that captures photographs in Digital data storage, digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film or film stock. Dig ...

s in recent years. Due to the camera's lack of features, it was never overly popular and so it would be 1985 before Canon expanded on the concept, even though its competitors raced ahead. In 1983

Nikon (, ; ) is a Japanese optics and photographic equipment manufacturer. Nikon's products include cameras, camera lenses, binoculars, microscopes, ophthalmic lenses, measurement instruments, rifle scopes, spotting scopes, and equipment related to S ...

introduced the F3AF, a special version of their pro-series F3, which used a special viewfinder with a built-in autofocus system connecting electronically to a motor in the lens. In 1985

Minolta was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, lenses, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It made the first integrated ...

introduced the

Maxxum 7000 The Minolta MAXXUM 7000 (7000 AF in Europe and α-7000 in Japan) 35 mm format, 35 mm Single-lens reflex camera, SLR camera was introduced in February 1985. It was the first camera to feature both integrated autofocus (AF) and motorised film advan ...

(Dynax 7000 in Europe and Asia), the world's first body-integrated autofocus SLR. Canon reacted to this with the T80, which integrated the focus system into the body and, as with the F3AF, connected electronically with a motor in the lens.

References

External links

YouTube video
describing the function of the focusing element in the Canon AL-1

{{Table of Canon SLR AL-1