The AV-1 is a variant of the A series developed as an entry level model to compete with the myriad of spec’d down SLRs of lesser brands (Chinon, Cosina, Ricoh, Vivitar and the private label cameras sold by Sears and the like). It was primarily designed for the US market. It’s an aperture priority auto-exposure camera, which is stripped of any ability to control the exposure manually or in semi-automatic mode, or to pre-visualize the depth of field. But it will accept most of the accessories of its bigger A series brothers (winder, flash, …), and of course Canon’s FD lenses.

The shutter speed selected by the camera is indicated by a needle in the viewfinder, and a button on the left side of the camera can be used to adjust the exposure if the subject is backlit. A trained photographer will feel deprived of control on the camera, but in simple situations, it’s good enough.

Most AV-1s I’ve seen have a broken battery door. The one I found is not different. But it does not prevent the camera from operating, and delivering good pictures in the standard situations that an amateur would face.

Because it’s an automatic-only camera, the AV-1 is not a very sought after item, and it can be found for next to nothing – I bought mine as part of a bundle of 4 cameras, for the princely sum of $8.95.

Canon FD Lenses

The Canon FD lenses are abundant and, because they could not be mounted on modern Canon autofocus bodies, they remained cheap.   With the advent of full frame mirrorless system cameras (the Sony A7 family), it became easy to use an FD lens on a modern camera, and the most sought after lenses (mostly the “AL” or “L” fast prime tele objective lenses) are now selling for prices in excess of $1,000. Zoom lenses are not as highly valued, the most expensive ones selling for $500 to $700.

Zoom lenses (even those with a very good reputation when new like the three ring 35-105 F/3.5 I’m using for this blog post) are somehow disappointing today, even when mounted on a old film cameras: they’re large and heavy,  sensitive to flare, and three rings (zoom, focus, aperture) is a lot to play with for photographers used to working with modern autofocus bodies. That being said, this particular zoom is a very beautiful piece of glass.

It was Canon’s  first  35-105 lens. It is a true (or parfocal ) zoom which stays in focus when magnification/focal length is changed, with a constant F/3.5 aperture. The front element of the lens is rather large, and the zoom requires 72mm filters.

It was replaced a few years later by a much more compact lens,  with a sliding aperture (f/3.5-4.5), an aspherical element and a 58mm filter ring. Canon derived an autofocus version of that lens, and it’s the precursor of the consumer grade trans-standard zooms still sold with digital SLRs today.

I  bought my copy of the lens from a Japanese store on eBay. Their description of the articles is sometimes difficult to understand (poor translation in English), but in my experience, Japanese resellers tend to have very nice items at a very reasonable price.

Japanese resellers generally ship with Chronopost. This global service is extremely efficient and works seamlessly with the US Postal Service:  you typically get your purchase delivered to your door step by the USPS in 3 to 4 days.

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