The Canonflex is a

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 ...

35 mm

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

single-lens reflex 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 ...

(SLR)

camera A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...

introduced in May 1959 as Canon's first SLR. Its standard lens is the ''Canon Camera Co. Super-Canomatic R 50mm lens 1.8''. The camera was in production for one year before it was replaced by the Canonflex R2000 in 1960.

History

By the 1950s, the Japanese camera industry had turned their interest towards the 35 mm SLR camera, which to that point had been exclusively manufactured in Europe, and in particular in Dresden, Germany. The first Japanese 35 mm SLR camera was

Asahiflex The Asahiflex was a 35 mm single-lens reflex camera built by the Asahi Optical Corporation (later to become Pentax). Asahi Optical introduced its first 35 mm camera in 1952. Unlike the majority of Japanese camera manufacturers of the time, ...

, soon followed by several manufacturers. The Miranda T was launched in 1955. In 1958,

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 ...

and

Topcon is a Japanese manufacturer of optical equipment for ophthalmology and surveying. History 1930s TOPCON was established in September 1932 based the merger of the surveying instruments division of K. Hattori & Co., Ltd. (now known as Seiko ...

followed, while

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 ...

presented their

Nikon F The Nikon F camera, introduced in April 1959, was Nikon Corporation, Nikon's first Single-lens reflex camera, SLR camera. It was one of the most advanced cameras of its day. Although many of the concepts had already been introduced elsewhere, it ...

in 1959, by that time a supplier of

rangefinder camera A rangefinder camera is a camera fitted with a rangefinder, typically a split-image rangefinder: a range-finding focusing mechanism allowing the photographer to measure the subject distance and take photographs that are in sharp focus. Most v ...

s based on the

Contax Contax (stylised as CONTAX in the Yashica/Kyocera era) began as a German camera model in the Zeiss Ikon line in 1932, and later became a brand name. The early cameras were among the finest in the world, typically featuring high quality Carl Zeis ...

concept. Canon had established itself as a 35 mm rangefinder camera manufacturer, featuring a wide variety of camera models and lenses using the Leica 39mm standard lens mount. Upon release, the Canonflex was priced at , which included the R50mm f/1.8 lens.

The first Canon SLR camera

The Canonflex was introduced in May, 1959 by Canon of Tokyo, Japan as their first 35 mm single-lens reflex camera. By the time the Canonflex released, there were already eight competing SLR cameras on the market. Its standard lens is the Super-Canomatic R 50mm 1.8, using the first version of Canon's breech-lock manual-focus

lens mount A lens mount is an interface – mechanical and often also electrical – between a photographic camera body and a lens. It is a feature of camera systems where the System camera, body allows interchangeable lenses, most usually the rangefinder ...

, the R lens mount, which would evolve into the

Canon FL Canon FL refers to a lens mount standard for 35mm single-lens reflex cameras from Canon. It was introduced in April 1964 with the Canon FX camera, replacing the previous Canon R lens mount. The FL mount was in turn replaced in 1971 by the Can ...

and

Canon FD The Canon FD lens mount is a physical standard for connecting a photographic lens to a 35mm single-lens reflex camera body. The standard was developed by Canon of Japan and was introduced in March 1971 with the Canon F-1 camera. It served as th ...

lens mounts over the next three decades. The Super-Canomatic lens features fully automatic aperture operation, using two internal connections. Canomatic and R-series lenses use semi-automatic or manual diaphragms. Though the breech-lock mount itself remained unchanged until the introduction of the EF lenses for EOS autofocus cameras in the late 1980s, the actuating levers of the Canomatic or R-series lenses operate differently from their FL and FD descendants. The Canonflex was inspired to an extent by the company's rangefinder camera models. It has a wind-on lever on the camera's base operated by the left middle finger. This aided rapid shutter release but hindered tripod mounting and rendered the leather case unwieldy. At the right-hand camera front is a wide

accessory shoe file:Canon 350D Hot Shoe.jpg, Canon EOS 350D Hot shoe file:Konica Minolta Dynax 7D hot shoe.jpg, Proprietary hot shoe used by Minolta and older Sony cameras (Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D) A hot shoe is a mounting point on the top of a camera to atta ...

taking a selenium exposure meter, which couples to the shutter speed dial. The camera stayed in production for one year before it was replaced by the Canonflex R2000.

Canonflex RP, R2000, & RM

Canonflex RP

Released in September, 1960, the RP was Canon's budget version of the original Canonflex. The RP had many of the same features as the original, but with a few notable differences: * As a means to cut costs, the viewfinder was a fixed, eye-level pentaprism. * The self-timer's operating mechanism was changed to a simple lever. * The pentaprism cover and top cover were consolidated into one piece. Upon release, the Canonflex RP was priced at , which included the R50mm f/1.8 lens.

Canonflex R2000

Alongside the RP, Canon also released the R2000 as a replacement for the original Canonflex. It was nearly identical to the original, adding a 1/2000 sec. shutter speed and a thumb operated film wind lever. Upon release, the Canonflex R200 was priced at , which included the R50mm f/1.8 lens. Canon R WP

Canonflex RM

Released in April, 1962, the RM was developed as a variation on the original Canonflex chassis. The pentaprism was set lower with the top cover having a taller overall appearance. Additionally, it featured a selenium exposure meter and a low-profile film advance lever built into the top cover.

References

External links

* Canon Inc.
Flex
'' Canon Camera Museum, retrieved November 13, 2018. * Canon Inc.

'' Canon's online Camera Museum, retrieved November 18, 2005. * Gandy, Stephen (2003)

'
Cameraquest.com
retrieved November 18, 2005. {{Table of Canon SLR 135 film cameras Canon R cameras Products introduced in 1959