Terrific build quality
FD Lenses are excellent and cheap these days
Virtually unbreakable
Works without a battery

1/60 sync speed
Mercury batteries not really available

This is my favorite camera ever. It feels great, looks great, and works great. I use mine for headshots all the time. I have owned it since 1978 and it has been in the shop once for a cleaning and calibration. I wish my car was as well built and reliable and just plain good as this camera. Simply superb.

Customer Service

I can get mine fixed but it never breaks.

Similar Products Used:

Canon A1
Canon EOS 3, Elan II
Nikon FM2

This a reliable, strong instrument. Good looking to boot! With intuitive controls and a good line of quality lenses, what more could we ask for?

None; They're getting pretty expensive on the used market.

I love this camera and I'll shoot it into the ground. If I can't find someone who can repair it, I'll buy another and do the same. Current price tag and lack of Canon support knock a star off the rating.

Customer Service

For all intents and purposes, non-existent for F-1s. Parts are scarce. This is the major problem. What a shame - they should have produced a stockpile of parts knowing that mechanical failures would happen long after production of the camera ended.

Similar Products Used:

AE-1; Canon EF

This camera is almost bombproof, and if the battery fails it will still opoerate.. A good all around workhorse of a camera.... And there are loads of add ons so you can customize to suit

The mirror hung up and had to be reapired..

A ggod all around camera for he serious photographer.. Not recommended for a casual shooter.

Customer Service

Good

Similar Products Used:

Nikon, Mamiya, Olympus, Sony Digital..

* last of a dying breed of manual focus professional SLR Canon camera line
* solid, can be used as a hockey puck
* simple to operate and can be upgraded with various prisms (AE, speedfinder, waistlevel) and focusing screens
* combined with motor drive and you have a head turning "cannon" in terms of noise..sounds like a real pro camera
* will work without battery (1/90 sec)
* 100% viewfinder (WYSIWYG)
* doesn't say "steal me" in seven different languages, like a F5 or M6

none, this camera works without rest or breakdown in all weather conditions cold and hot, dusty and damp
* foam dampener biodegraded over time I cleaned it out and replaced it with a foam strip myself (in field operation)

This is the only camera I trust at weddings not to breakdown. (I cannot say the same for the Canon T-90 and the three shutters I had replaced on it.) The F-1 is a real pro camera with just the right amount of electronics while retaining the manual winding and focusing. The back of the camera is solid as a rock, you can hold the camera from the open back without it twisting or breaking off (try that with a Nikon). The machining is very good and equal to the Leica M6 in terms of fit and finish.

Drawbacks include slow flash sync speed (1/90) and lacks 1/4000 shutter speed and TTL flash metering. Manual focus lenses (prime) are no longer in production and consist of older optical designs, which may have been superceeded by newer EOS lenses.

Merits can be summed up as best of the best Canon ever produced before switching over to the EOS line. A good solid all around performer that will not fail under heavy professional useage, while allowing for full user control over the exposure of the film.

Customer Service

never had a problem, actually I never heard of a F-1 camera having a problem.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon F series
Canon T-90
Minolta 9000
Leica M6

Simple operation with many system options - meter pattern is semi spot, changable with focussing screen; stop-down metering & DOF preview possible, mirror lock-up, very rigged construction. Meter in body (not in finder like Nikon F, F2, Minolta XK) so low profile of F-1 prism seems less top-heavy and less prone to bumps. FD breechlock lenses (older style) have a unique feeling of strength,also.

You need to understand the selected-area (semi-spot) meter, this requires a bit more thought than the averaging or center-weighted meters in most of the F-1's contemporaries. A plus if you work with it, a problem for some to transition to. This is not a lightweight or compact camera, it's meant for use with handle flash, too.

Lack of ttl flash metering is only real detriment to this system, still available used with a choice of specialized finders (why hasn't any one else copied the unique rotary speed finder?!) and winder/motor, wide lens line. 3rd party manufacturers and Tamron Adaptall give range of new optics to choose from if needed. The F-1 and F-1n are basis of my review, they are all mechanical except for meter. The F-1New (1981) added much more automation but retained many reliability features of the original. A hobbyist or traditionalist will get decades of use, repairs might be problematic - check before buying any needing work.

The less expensive FTb offers the same excellent features set with the exception of speeds only to 1/1000, fixed screen and prism finder.

Customer Service

Prompt replacement by Canon upon finding mirror cracked during shipment of new body to small-town camera store.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon F, Nikkormat; Minolta XK, SRT;
Canon FTb