Solid Reliable Tough

Heavy

I owned and used two F-1 (mechanical bodies) for 20 years before making the jump to these new-fangled cameras we got now-a-days. I carried these two bodies and a half dozen lenses with me to dozens of countries and they consistently performed on-demand and as-needed without a hitch. The only problem I ever had with either body was that one of the flash synch sockets fouled out. I never got it fixed since flash photography was never my strong suit, and I had one body that was uncompromised. These cameras were reliable in the extreme. I never babied them either. They were banged and scratched from 20 years of travel and field use. They still performed wonderfully. I hemmed and hawed about making the switch. The event that made me do it, was I (for the first time in my life) dropped my camera. It fell onto a conrete floor. It barely survived and functioned marginally after that since it landed on the upper left side of the body and damaged the meter switch, the rewind crank, and the door mechanism. Sad day. I do not miss the weight of these tanks. But I do miss their simplicity and reliability.

Customer Service

never used in 20 years

Similar Products Used:

Canon FTb, TLb, AE-1, Elan IIe, Elan 7e

* Modular design lets you build just the camera you want. * Availability of both aperture-priority and shutter-priority automation. * Various metering patterns available.

* No mirror lockup -- absolutely inexcusable in a "professional" model camera. * Top shutter speed is limited to 1/1000 second in aperture-priority Auto mode. what''s that all about? The Nikon F3 has no such limitation, as well as more accurate shutter timing. * The finder is very poorly sealed against dust -- I was constantly having to remove it and clean it out. You can actually see light if you look through the finder from the side, indicating the absence of any seal. * Requires accessories to perform many basic functions, such as exposure automation. Yes, you can use aperture priority without the AE finder FN, but you get no exposure information. Shutter priority requires a motor drive. *Changing the metering pattern requires replacing the focusing screen. *Fairly noisy and prone to vibration. *Needlessly complex design.

I bought a New F-1 new in 1981 or 1982, and was impressed by its specifications. But its performance didn''t really measure up to its promise. The entire shutter assembly needed replacement after less than 100 rolls of film. It just froze up one day for no apparent reason, and I babied that camera -- didn''t treat it roughly at all. Its flash system was fried by a "non-Canon" flash that worked perfectly on all my other Canons. The New F-1 is needlessly complex, particularly its electromechanical shutter design. If you look at the original review of the camera in Modern or Popular Photography (I forget which), you can see a wildly inaccurate shutter, especially at the higher speeds. (This is also true of the Pentax LX, which uses a similar electromechanical shutter.) By comparison, the New F-1''s direct competition, the Nikon F3, has an incredibly accurate shutter -- and its operation is smooth as silk, something I cannot say for the Canon.

Customer Service

Expensive and slow.

Similar Products Used:

Canon Ftb Canon A-1 Canon F-1 Nikon F3 Nikon F4 Nikon FM2 Nikon FE2

Solid and precise. Very, very dependable. It really is "the Tank" of 35mm. Old FD lenses are plentiful and affordable with quality and variety that equals Nikkor, but for a bit less coin.

It is a Tiger Tank, not an M1 Abrahms Tank. The Mercury batteries it needs are long gone. You can get an OM-1 from the same era for a lot less money, and have it overhauled by Camtech and still spend less than a clean F1n or fairly used New F1 costs.

Mine was the F1n, the upgrade to the original F1 before the New F1 of the 80''s came along. It was a truly great camera......for it''s day. I really loved the camera, but decided I liked the OM-1/OM-2 better. Canon never did make a semi-auto counterpart to the all-manual F1n, like the Olympus OM-1/OM-2 duo of the 70''s. The EF could have been that camera, but motor drive capability and interchangeable screens & finders, TTL flash, etc., were not developed for it but instead it was dumped for the AE-1, (which feels like junk compared to my OM-2). There was no TTL flash for doing macro work. On the plus side, the F1n was about as solid an all-mechanical camera as there ever was. You could lock up the mirror AND aperture for doing precise telephoto work. The heavy body balanced well with bulky telephoto lenses. The semi-spot meter was precise and easy to use once you were accustomed to it. Just don''t try to do metering by moonlight. The fact is this: Olympus continued the development of the all-metal and manual SLR, and ended up with a camera that does things the F1n cannot do, such as support TTL auto flash, in their OM-3Ti. Better yet, get an OM-4Ti and get some automation as well as advanced multi-spot metering in manual mode, plus flash sync all the way up to 1/2000 with a T280 flash. My F1n never broke, but then again neither has my OM-1. I like taking the burden off my shoulders. Canon FD lenses are truly great, but my Zuiko lenses are just as good besides being considerably smaller and lighter. The F1n and New F1 are great at what they are, but they have been surpassed when you consider the OM-3Ti/OM-4Ti combo from Olympus which are current production still, along with some of the better Zuiko lenses. It is possible the Pentax LX is also a better camera when everything is considered.

Customer Service

Never used Canon service, but my brother did on the old EF that I sold him many years ago, and they did a good job.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon F & F2 (never liked either as well as the F1), Minolta XE-7, Olympus OM-1 & OM-2 (my favorites)

Easy to take, the look is nice, durable, and strong

a little heavy, have to change the settings a lot

I think that this camera is great for still pictures. It''s hard for action because you''ll have to adjust the settings and stuff. But overall it''s a great camera for still shots. It works nice and the shutter has a nice sound. =o) It takes pictures at the right moment if you try it to action shots. Most likely your pictures will come out the way you want it to, if it doesn''t it''s your own fault! hehe. Yeah, it''s a wonderfully made camera.

Similar Products Used:

None

This is a working horse. I have use this F1N from 1984 and it is built to last.
I always work manual mode and set both shutter speed and aperature manual with spotmetering.

1/90 sec flash sync speed. (I want 1/250).

No exposure lock in auto mode.

Excellent product for every photographer who want a great camera. Pitty, Canon not producing this F1N anymore.

Customer Service

Worlvide.

Similar Products Used:

AE-1, F1 old.

I own the 1980 Olympics/Lake Placid version.
Fully manual. If the battery fails, no problem.
Strong, reliable.
Mirror lock-up for those who need it.
Good for night & bad weather-especially up here in the Northeast.

Heavy-as compared to newer cameras.

Good camera if you want a fully manual professional model. Cheaper than a new Nikon F-3. As one person said-it's the last of a dying breed.

Customer Service

Never used.

Similar Products Used:

Canon A-1, Pentax, Mamiya

Extremely durable and reliable.Modular and easy to clean. I can function even without batteries.

In my experience, there is none that I can recall of except a little bit heavy.

I have been using this camera since 1980. It functioned well and gave good results from the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas. It is comparable to my F2s. Nowadays, it could be a very good camera for beginners and starting students in Photography.

Customer Service

None up to this time.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon F2,F2As,F3,F5, Olympus Om 1n, Pentax MX

-extremely durable
-simple to use, yet an advanced camera
-good features

-ran in to one small shutter problem that was easily repairable

A great camera and good value. I am 14 years old and inheritted it from my oncle who has been doing photography for alot of his life but began using automatic cameras when he had a kid. Me and my brother use this camera well.

Customer Service

highly available

Similar Products Used:

None

Very accurate metering, durability, optics, versatility.

None, except those of perception*

You can call me a Canon freak. Out of photo school in the early '70's I used a Leica kit and it was superb, but macro and superwide was not its forte, without lots of extra (and expensive) gear. I switched to Canon because a friend had a fairly complete kit and I could borrow from him. Ultimately he switched to Nikon and at a crucial point in his career Nikon made it impossible to get new lenses. I think he gave up photography in disgust. I have been shooting with Canons for 25 years, although I have used other brands if a paper stocked a camera and lens combo that was useful to me. So to the Camera:
There are two versions. The F1 and the F1n. When other reviewers talk about electromechanical shutters they are referring to the F1n, the last of the all-metal, fully interchangable everything professional cameras by Canon. My F1 is more than 20 years old. I bought it at a pawn shop in Gulfport, Mississippi where my wife was first assigned by the Air Force. The metering system was always dead accurate, especially with a screen permiting spot metering. I carried and used a Luna Pro for incident readuings, but never feared using my F1 alone in a quick shot. Canon, Sigma, and Tamron optics have always done a good job for me. When I could afford it, I bought Canon, if not, one of the other two. I even have a Vivitar zoom in my kit. All reviewers comment on the hardiness of the camera. I have often joked that you can use an F1 to knock someone upside the head, but the truth is that you can push your way through a crowd (of other photographers) using the camera as a ram without hurting it. While my wife was stationed in Japan, I lusted after a new F1n. I traded the old reliable in for it at a local shop. The F1n was (and is) great, but it was heavier with an added motor drive and the new AE viewfinder (the two in combination provided a choice of shutter or aperature priority auto exposure) and there were limitations, I thought, to the electromechanical shutter without the use of batteries that the old F1 did not have. Before we left Japan, I bought back the F1.
I have used them both ever since. If I need a tank and a motor drive, the F1n gets the call. If it's storming, snowing, or there's a riot around the corner and the situation is in doubt, the F1 goes around my neck. Even now, with a complete EOS kit, I still toss a backup kit of F1, F1n, or T-90 in the back of my vehicle for whatever may happen.
Now for the * under weaknesses: Yes, they are heavy, They require swapping focussing screens for meter pattern changes, and it's getting harder to find parts and accessories. But (and here's where perception comes in) the weight lends steadiness to slower shots. With the F1's and a heavy lens, using them as one would shoot a rifle, sharp exposures down to 1/15th unsupported are entirely possible. As for the screens, I've stuck with the grid 10 percent semi-spot. The lines are a good reference for buildings, composition, lining up people and the 10 percent area is a good compromise between averaging and true spot metering. The answer to the other is to buy anything you can find that will fit your F1. You'll find a way to use it if you really like to shoot.

Customer Service

Canon, great. Non-Canon, you take your chances.

Similar Products Used:

Pentax, Nikon, Mamiya, Minolta

Solid. Use as wheel chock. Partial shutter speeds without batteries (see other reviews). Well sealed from the elements. Large variety of accessories (if you can find them). No snag rewind knob if using motor.

Low contrast focusing screens. To change metering patterns you need to change the focusing screen. AE finder needed for AE readout . No mirror lockup. Motor drive was (is) large. No OTF flash. A bit heavy compared to F3, R7, etc.

I briefly owned one in the late 80's. After using Zeiss and Leica optics, I just didn't care much for FD lenses of that era. Although good, they just didn't compare. Also, I couldn't live without MLU or OTF flash.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon, Leica R, Contax SLR