The Canon FL/FD System

The three generations of FD SLRs: A-series, F-Series, and T-Series (from front to back)

  Updated June 30, 2021
 
​    Welcome to our second system overview, this time featuring the Canon FL/FD system, in our "Choosing a Vintage SLR System" series. Following a brief introduction we will break things down via the format of 1) Lenses, 2) Bodies, 3) Flash, 4) Accessories, and 5) Reliability & Servicing.

​    Canon was an early entrant into the SLR market in 1959 (the same year as Nikon) with its Canonflex model in what it called the R-mount. Compared to its competitors Asahi Optical Co. (Pentax), Chiyoda Kogaku (Minolta), and Nippon Kogaku (Nikon), Canon got off to a slower start in SLRs as far as sales went. This was due to a couple of factors: 1) Canon remained focused on the rangefinder market as the others went pretty much all-in on SLRs, and 2) the Flex and its immediate descendants the RP, and R2000 were quirky machines with a bottom plate-mounted film advance trigger which was rangefinder-derived. The R-mount, with its breech lock lens coupling, did serve as the basis for the succeeding FL and FD mounts, although it used different internal controls for aperture functions. With the final R-mount camera, the heavyweight RM (1962), Canon went more mainstream with the control configuration and it was their first SLR with a built-in meter. They still remained fourth in sales, however, because they trailed the other three manufacturers in camera/lens automation. 

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​    This led them to introduce the FL-mount in 1964, which added fully automatic aperture control to lenses and laid the groundwork for their first TTL (through the lens) metered SLRs, the Pellix (1965) and the FT (1966). The FL-mount SLRs still required the user to manually stop-down the lens aperture to take an accurate meter reading (like the Pentax Spotmatic), whereas, by 1966, both Minolta and Nikon offered full-aperture TTL metering. It would take Canon until 1971 to adopt full-aperture metering with the introduction of the FTb and its newly christened FD lenses. That was the breakthrough they needed. The FL system had moved them into third place in sales by the mid-'60s and by 1972-73 the FD line became the top-selling SLR system, a position it would hold for the next decade. In 1979, Canon introduced its New FD line of lenses, featuring a faster, more convenient mounting system that was fully backwards compatible with all FD and FL bodies. With the debut of the new EOS EF auto focus mount in 1987, the FD mount's days were numbered. By the mid-'90s, it would become an orphan, which means bargains for the vintage SLR shopper today :-). But is the FL/FD system for you?

 
  Lenses

​    The FL/FD lens lineup is one of the most extensive, stretching from 7.5mm fisheyes to 1200mm supertelephotos, in a wide array of maximum apertures. Canon pioneered the use of fluorite elements to combat chromatic aberration in SLR telephoto and supertelephoto lenses and also was an early adopter of aspheric (non-spherical) elements to improve optical performance. Lenses featuring these and other advanced optical technologies came to be designated as "L" lenses with a thin red stripe to distinguish them from the standard lineup, a practice Canon has continued to this day with their EF line of auto focus lenses. There were three basic generations of FL/FD lenses:

1. FL (1964-70) - This series of lenses featured very high build quality, with all metal and glass construction. They had fully automatic apertures, with front or mid-mounted aperture rings. Lens coatings were comparable with other manufacturer's offerings of the same era. Focal lengths ranged from 19mm to 1200mm. Canon introduced their first fluorite element-equipped SLR lenses in 1969 with the FL-F 300mm & FL-F 500mm f/5.6 telephotos. 
2. FD (1970-79) - This generation of lenses saw the greatest amount of variation in mechanical construction with up to four different versions of certain lenses being produced throughout the decade. FD lenses moved the aperture ring to the rear of the lens, mirroring most other manufacturers of the time. Canon also changed to linear movement of the aperture linkage (with equal spaces between f-stops versus the unequal spacing of the then-standard non-linear apertures used by their competitors. This more-accurate method of regulating the aperture would pave the way for Canon to introduce the first Program mode SLR in 1978. The first edition FDs are often referred to as "chrome noses", denoting their unpainted, polished snouts. The next versions had black-enameled snouts and the aperture ring also gained a lock for use with auto exposure SLR bodies. Advanced lens multi coating (which Canon termed Super Spectra Coating or S.S.C.) began to proliferate throughout the lineup, with only the basic 28/2.8, 28/3.5, 35/3.5, 50/1.8, 100/4, 135/2.5, 135/3.5, and 100-200/5.6 lenses retaining the simpler S.C. (Spectra Coating) treatment. Rear internal focusing for telephotos was another innovation introduced during this period. Over the course of the '70s, Canon sought to simplify construction and reduce weight and production costs for its amateur lenses. Canon began using the "L" designation in 1978 for its premium lenses. 
3. New FD (1979-89) - The final generation of FD lenses (aside from the L series) went even further with weight loss and cost cutting. This is reflected in their more plasticky (a highly technical term, I know ;-)) feel than the previous generation of FD lenses. On the plus side, optical performance was generally as good or better than the previous FDs and all lenses, besides the ubiquitous 50/1.8, now had Super Spectra Coating even though it was no longer signified by engraving on the lens. The major improvement was the change to a faster, more convenient lens mounting system, with a spring-loaded release button mounted on the rear of the lens.

   
​    Features. Canon heavily promoted its "breech-lock" lens mounting system as superior to the bayonet mounts of other manufacturers. They claimed that there was no wear on the lens or camera flanges because the locking ring did the turning, as opposed to the flanges. While literally true, the amount of wear on the lens/camera flange on a conventional bayonet mount is so minimal that in practice there was no real advantage. This mounting system was not as fast or convenient as standard bayonets until the New FDs were introduced. Perhaps the greatest rebuttal to the purported superiority of the breech lock was Canon's own abandonment of it when they introduced the EF auto focus mount. Nevertheless, it works ;-).
     
​    As with the other Japanese camera companies, the mid-to-late '60s brought major improvements in lens performance for Canon. This was primarily due to a co-operative effort (then-common in Japanese industry) among the lens manufacturers to develop new, high-performance glass types. Many new optical formulas were introduced and the evolution of multi coatings really began to accelerate. 1969 brought the debut of the first fluorite-equipped (to combat chromatic aberration, which becomes more apparent with longer focal lengths) lenses from Canon. Fluorite is actually a crystal, and does not "grow" large enough for lens-making purposes in its natural state, so Canon developed a way to manufacture fluorite crystals synthetically. This takes much time and expense, so fluorite-containing lenses are always a premium product. Canon initially distinguished such lenses with a thin green ring and "FLUORITE" engraved at the front of the lens. They would use this marking until 1978, when the introduction of the "L" designation with its red ring was from then on used for all high-performance lenses (although the green ring would return in the EF auto focus series to designate Diffractive Optical lenses). In 1971, Canon brought its first aspherical lens (the FD 55/1.2 AL) to market, with a special hand-ground element, to create the top-performing super-speed optic available at the time. The 55/1.2 AL (and its successor, the 50/1.2 AL S.S.C.) also featured a radioactive element containing thorium oxide that yellows over time, but can be cleared up via exposure to UV light. By the time the New FD lenses came along, Canon had developed automated aspheric-grinding machinery that greatly reduced the cost of producing such optics, and had also phased out the use of thorium glass. By the late 1980s, aspheric elements were being used in compact camera and consumer SLR lenses by most Japanese manufacturers.

​    Build & Image Quality. Canon was the first of the Big 5 to make use of high-quality plastics to replace metal components in lens construction. The early FDs were all metal and glass (except the plastic front name ring), and were usually among the heaviest optics for their focal length/maximum aperture among the principal camera companies' offerings. By the mid-'70s, beginning with the second-generation FD lenses, Canon began to try and reduce weight and production costs by substituting aluminum for brass in certain components, and reducing the amount of aperture blades in their lower-end lenses. By the time the New FDs came along, plastic had really begun to take over. If you are looking for the lightest weight FD optics, these are your best bet. A New FD lens still has a much better manual focusing feel than any concurrent auto focus lens. The FLs are not as well-corrected optically as the later FDs, but some people prefer the rendering they give to go along with their better feel and construction. As far as coatings go, it is no contest, the S.S.C. lenses outperform any S.C. lens as far as resistance to flare and ghosting, and, in most cases, maintaining contrast with brighter light sources. How much that matters is again a personal decision. Using a hood with any lens (but especially non-S.S.C. versions) is always a good idea to maintain contrast.

    Noteworthy Lenses. In their adoption of aspherics and fluorite, Canon proved to be as innovative as any other member of the Big 5 during the '60s & '70s. Especially with their premium lenses did they push optical performance to new levels. Here are a few highlights from this period:

• 1965 - The FL 19mm f/3.5 was the first super wide retrofocus (reverse telephoto design) lens to come to market from a Japanese manufacturer (by a two-year margin, to boot). Previous super wide angle lenses (including Canon's) were symmetrical designs (having rear elements that protruded into the mirror box of an SLR, requiring the mirror to be locked up and an accessory viewfinder attached to the camera to use such optics. Even though the technology of the day could not maximize the performance of this design, super wide angle development accelerated as a result of this lens.
• 1969 - The FL-F 300mm & 500mm f/5.6 lenses mentioned earlier introduced levels of telephoto performance unheard of to this point. Fluorite has very low dispersion, meaning that chromatic aberration is greatly reduced compared to lenses using standard types of glass. Naturally-occurring fluorite is very rare and only "grows" to a size usable for microscope optics. Canon had to invent a method of artificially growing fluorite crystals structures to a size suitable for SLR lenses; no small feat! By 1974, Canon had come out with the FL 300mm f/2.8 S.S.C., which also used fluorite elements, and had such high resolution that when photographs were taken of Henry Kissinger reading a confidential document at the Helsinki Accords in the summer of 1975 in combination with a 2x teleconverter, the text of the document could be read easily in the photos!
• 1971 - The FD 55mm f/1.2 AL was the first aspherical SLR lens with an automatic aperture. It gave better correction of spherical aberration than any other super speed optic available at the time. More importantly, it led to Canon developing more economical methods of producing aspheric elements to the point that there are few lenses produced nowadays that do not utilize their unique corrective capabilities.
• 1973 - Canon introduced the first 35mm format tilt-shift lens, the TS 35mm f/2.8 S.S.C.. The perspective correction that it offered meant that professional architectural photography was no longer the preserve of large-format cameras.
• 1975 - The next telephoto improvement by Canon appeared in the FD 400mm f/4.5 S.S.C.. Conventional telephotos become more difficult to focus and grow more cumbersome because of the need to create a powerful focusing mechanism to move the large, heavy elements back and forth. Canon worked around this problem by developing a focusing mechanism that moved only the rear group of elements, which are much smaller and lighter than the front elements. This enabled them to reduce the size, weight, and focusing effort of the big telephoto lenses. All modern big telephotos still use this rear-focus design.

   Miscellaneous. In the FL lineup, Canon basically used two filter sizes, the oddball 48mm for smaller-apertured lenses (and the super-telephotos with drop-in rear mounted filters) and the more standard 58mm for larger aperture optics. Exceptions were the FL-F 500/5.6 (95mm); the FL 100-200/5.6 (55mm); the FL 85-300/5 (72mm); the FL19/3.5R (Series 9 or 82.6mm). The FDs brought greater standardization, with 55mm being the normal size, with 58 and 72mm rounding out the front mount sizes. Drop-in filters for the big telephotos were either 34 or 48mm. For the New FDs the only change was a drop from 55 to 52mm as the normal filter size. Everything else carried over. 

    Recommendations. The best bargains in FL/FD land are in the standard focal lengths and apertures. With the latest resurgence in the popularity of film (2020-onward), FD glass has taken a jump in value (to just about on par with Nikon glass) compared to some other orphaned mounts, such as Minolta SR (aka MC & MD). "L" lenses, while providing the ultimate in performance for the era, are in another price bracket, entirely. Particularly in FD mount, the aspherical (24/1.4; 55/1.2 AL; and 85/1.2) lenses come at a very steep price due to their rarity and hand ground elements. New FD versions generally come it at at least half of the price, due to changes in construction and higher production numbers. Canon was very strong in super telephotos, as well. They were taking a serious run at Nikon's position in the professional market, starting in 1970, particularly with high-speed and long-reach lenses. If you are into manual focus wildlife shooting you need to give the Canon FD series a close look. Prices for FD supertelephotos can be 1/2 of their modern EF (auto focus) equivalents (of course lacking 30 to 40 years of development and features like Image Stabilization) but are also trending upward. Image Stabilization for FD lenses requires a prehistoric contraption known as a "tripod". Be sure to include that in the cost of procuring such optics ;-). 

Chrome FTb-N (1973)

  Mechanical SLR Bodies

   F Series

• 1964 - Canon kicked off its new FL mount with the FX SLR. While the FL lenses were developed to enable TTL (through the lens) metering, the FX was a transitional body. It had a CdS (cadmium sulfide) sensor built into its left front shoulder, in the manner of the Minolta SR-7 (1962). Later in the year, the FP debuted, lacking the built-in meter of the FX. An exterior clip-on meter was offered as an option.

​    Continuing with our timeline:

• 1965 - Canon introduced what would be the first in a series of unique SLRs featuring a fixed, semi-transparent (pellicle) mirror. Fittingly dubbed the Pellix, it did away with one of the bugaboos of the standard SLR - vibration due to the mirror flipping up. Unfortunately, the drawback was a much dimmer viewfinder, due to the limitations of mirror coatings of the day. (30 years later, it would be a more viable option.) Canon also developed a special lens just for the Pellix, a pancake 38mm f/2.8 Tessar-type design that slightly protruded into the mirror box. The swing of the mirror in standard SLRs would result in contact with the rear of the lens (not desirable), so this lens was exclusive to the Pellix.
• 1966 - The first true TTL Canon SLR debuted - the FT QL. This model was to become the backbone of Canon's mechanical SLR lineup for the next several years. Although the FT had TTL metering, it required the photographer to manually stop down (close) the aperture to take the meter reading. Other manufacturers had already progressed to full-aperture (meaning the camera automatically compensates for the wide-open meter reading) metering, so sales did not set the world on fire ;-). Nevertheless, Canon was starting to catch up to the others. QL stands for Quick Load, Canon's clever system to simplify film loading. The Pellix was also updated with QL.
• 1968 - The TL was a stripped-down FT QL, lacking the self-timer, QL system, and the 1/1000 top shutter speed of its forebear. It would be the final FL body.
• 1971 - A BIG year for Canon. The new FD mount arrived with a brand-new professional SLR, the F-1. The FD mount caught up with (and surpassed in some areas of automation) the competition, with provision for full-aperture TTL metering and auto exposure. Alongside the F-1 was the FTb (basically an FT QL updated to the FD specification). It would become Canon's first million-selling SLR (in only three years) and one of the best selling mechanical SLRs of the early '70s. It was on the back of the FTb, primarily, that Canon would rise to the top of the SLR market in the 1970s. The new FD bodies maintained full compatibility with FL lenses, utilizing stop-down metering, of course :-).
• 1972 - The pellicle mirror reappeared, this time in an extremely limited edition of the F-1 designed especially for the Summer Olympics. The aptly-named F-1 High Speed Motor Drive could blast through film at the then-unprecedented rate of nine fps (frames per second). Canon was definitely gunning (literally) for Nikon by now. (Nikon had introduced a high speed F that maxed out at seven fps at the Winter Olympics just six months prior.)
• 1973 - Canon updated the FTb into the FTb-N. Shutter speeds were now displayed in the viewfinder, a larger shutter release was fitted, the film advance lever got a plastic tip, and an F-1-style self-timer/stop-down lever was fitted. It remained Canon's best-selling model. This would be the peak for an amateur-level mechanical Canon SLR.
• 1974 - The TLb was more-or-less an FD-updated TL, being de-contented from the FTb-N even more so than the original TL had been from the FT. No Quick Load, a plain centerweighted meter instead of the 12% partial meter of the FTb(-N), no locking mechanism for the stop-down lever or mirror-lock-up, no hot-shoe, no self-timer, no PC-socket cover, and no lock for the shutter release were among the deletions. The top shutter speed was 1/500 sec. rather than 1/1000 and the viewfinder shutter-speed display was eliminated. Originally sold only overseas, in April 1976 the TLb became available in Japan, probably to move out existing inventory and provide a bare-bones SLR in the Canon lineup until its A-series replacement (the AT-1) was introduced in December of 1976.
• 1975 - The short-lived TX appeared as a hot-shoe-equipped TLb. With the TX, down came the curtain on the FD mechanical bodies and mechanical bodies in general in the Canon lineup (excepting the F-1). Like the TLb, the TX was intended as an overseas-only offering, though it never was released to the Japanese market as its forebear eventually was.
• 1976 - Speaking of the F-1, it got a mid-life refresh (it was now referred to internally as the F-1N) including: a shorter film advance stroke, a larger stand-off for the advance lever, and the plastic tip for the lever along with several internal improvements. Maximum ISO rating rose to 3200.

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    Recommendations. This will be pretty straightforward: if you are in the market for a mechanical Canon, the FTb-N and/or the F-1(N) (the original 1971-80 version) are the two top picks. There are plenty of FTbs & F-1s available, their only drawback being the 1.35V mercury cell for the meter. There are a few workarounds available, the C.R.I.S. adapter, installing a Schottky diode into the power chain, or using a handheld meter. The F-1 is about 100 grams (3.5 oz) heavier than the FTb-N, but does have a large assortment of accessories available to customize the camera to your needs. Very good to excellent FTb-Ns can be had from $40 - $80 USD, while F-1s go from $150 - 500 USD on average. The other mechanical bodies can do just fine, but you get the most features and best overall value out of these two bodies. Build quality is as good as it gets for Canon manual focus SLRs.

  Electronic SLR Bodies

​   F Series

• 1973 - The EF (not to be confused with the later designation for EOS lenses) was Canon's first electronically-controlled SLR, and it was a beauty...a Black Beauty. The shutter was a vertical-travel hybrid with mechanical speeds from 1/2 - 1/1000 sec. and electronically-controlled speeds from 1 - 30 sec. It used two mercury cells but had a voltage regulator so that modern 1.55V silver oxide batteries can be used with no modifications to the circuitry. It also was the first Canon SLR with a silicon photocell meter. Build quality is unequaled in the electronic Canon universe. An AE-1 bears no comparison to this machine :-). $100 - $200 USD depending on condition.
• 1981 - 10 years after the debut of their first professional SLR, Canon brought the New F-1 to the professional market. This was more than a refresh of the F-1N. Canon went through the whole camera, looking to simplify construction where they could and improving the non-existent weather resistance of the old F-1. The shutter was now a hybrid, with full electronic control but having mechanical backup speeds from 1/2000 - 1/90 sec, and Bulb. There were new finders to go with the new body, and metering patterns could be changed with different focusing screens. While proving rugged, the New F-1 was not finished to the same level internally as the old model. Gears that had previously been polished for smooth film winding were no longer finished to the same degree, leading to a somewhat rougher feel.
• 1984 - Canon brought out a final pellicle mirror-equipped New F-1 High Speed for the Olympics. It was capable of shooting at a blistering 14 fps. These are very rare, being only issued to press photographers. It used a staggering 20 AA rechargeable cells giving 24 volts to reach that speed. A collectors item (weighing enough to subdue a charging rhino if need be ;-)), it made a Nikon F3 with its MD-4 motor drive look positively petite.

Chrome AE-1 w/ FD 50/1.8 lens

    A Series

• 1976 - 1976 was the year that saw Canon take the SLR to new frontiers with its revolutionary AE-1. That camera would vault them into the top sales position for the next 7 years among the Big 5 and not by a small margin. They would also take marketing to another level with one of the most successful television ad campaigns (featuring the heavy use of athletes) in SLR history. The AE-1 basically brought the EF's level of automation to the consumer. To get to that price point, something had to give, and that was component & build quality. More electronic automation enabled further cost-cutting. The AE-1 was the first SLR to feature: plastic body parts, a microprocessor, and more automated assembly. It reduced the amount of parts needed compared to its predecessors by 300. Canon sold 5.7 million of these cameras, making the AE-1 the best selling manual focus SLR of all time. The used market for these cameras remains strong today, with people commonly paying $120+ USD for excellent copies. Beware of busted battery chamber doors on all A-series bodies. Eight months after the AE-1, Canon brought out a simplified, manual exposure-only version, the AT-1. It lacked the shutter priority mode and silicon (SPD) meter of the AE-1, and used the classic match needle metering of the older manual bodies. The AT-1 used the same electronically-controlled shutter as the AE-1, however. If you are a manual mode user, the AT-1 is actually preferable to the AE-1 (which blinks a red "M" at you in the viewfinder whenever you manually override the auto exposure system).

  
​    Carrying on:

• 1978 - The A-1 superseded the AE-1 at the top of the A-series food chain. It was the first SLR to have 4 exposure modes (Program, Aperture-Priority, Shutter-Priority, and Manual). It also featured a full LED numeric display. Lots of features and lots of plasticky dials and controls. It also had one of the first palm grips on an SLR to improve handling. Along with the A-1, Canon debuted the Motor Drive MA which was one of the first, if not the first, accessory drive to feature an additional vertically-oriented shutter release.
• 1979 - Alone among the Big 5, Canon heavily promoted shutter-priority auto exposure as preferable to aperture-priority. Thus, while they had included aperture priority with the A-1, there was no lower-end Canon available with aperture priority. Until 1979, that is. With customers and therefore dealers pressuring them for an SLR that offered this feature, Canon acquiesced with the AV-1. It was an aperture priority only camera, with no manual mode. It did have a redesigned battery door to improve upon the AE-1's easily broken door. It is completely battery-dependent as all of the A-series are.
• 1981 - By the early '80s Program auto exposure (where the camera sets both shutter speed and aperture) was the big thing. The AE-1 was also 5 years old by now, so Canon attempted a refresh by taking the Program mode, palm grip, and MA motor drive capability of the A-1 and creating the AE-1 Program (aka AE-1:The Next Generation ;-)), which slotted in between the two older models. Canon also addressed some of the ergonomic shortcomings of the AE-1 with the Program. The viewfinder now used an LED readout instead of a match-needle. Such changes were successful and the camera sold extremely well. Many users prefer it to the AE-1 and they go for about the same prices nowadays. 
• 1982 - The final A-body would prove to be the AL-1. It was a transitional model, with the basic "A"-body architecture but with some new features reflecting the approach of auto focus. An electronic focus aid and a palm grip housing the AAA batteries were the major changes from earlier models. And so would the A-series reach its limits, which brings us to the final generation of Canon FD-mount cameras...

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The Ultimate FD Body...the T90 aka the 'Tank'

   T Series

• 1983 - As the bottom began to fall out of the consumer SLR market, Canon sought to reverse the trend with the T50, a camera designed to be even more automated and lacking in overrides to appeal to point and shooters. The only things the user had to control besides self-timer mode were selecting which lens to mount and focusing (which would still be too much for many consumers ;-)). The only "override" was a single shutter speed of 1/60 second if the lens aperture ring was moved off of the "A" setting (this was more like a backup in case the aperture ring was accidentally moved). The only operation not automated was film rewinding (another turnoff for the point & shooters). The design of the T50 screams 1980s :-). It carried over the palm grip of the AL-1 and not much else. Even the Canon font was new.

    Moving along:

• 1984 - For more advanced shooters, the T70 appeared with even more '80s touches: push buttons and an LCD display on the top plate. It also offered two user-selectable metering patterns: centerweighted and 12% partial. Canon continued with their standby athlete-pitchman ads, now featuring Wayne Gretzky ;-). It still wasn't enough to save the manual focus SLR, leading to...
• 1985 - ...the first auto focus Canon SLR, aka the T80. The T80 was a disaster, due partially to its dismal AF performance and the unfortunate (for Canon) debut of the far superior Minolta 7000. There were only 3 lenses available for the T80 and they were bulky and ate batteries, whereas Minolta had a dozen lenses ready when they introduced the 7000 and they were of a size familiar to users. In the long run, the failure of the T80 and the introduction of the next T model would together propel Canon to introduce the most successful line of auto focus SLRs in history.
• 1986 - While more successful than the tire fire that was the T80, the remarkable T90 was also a victim of the AF revolution, and as a result, did not sell in large numbers. But it would prove to be the most influential Canon SLR of the 1980s. Incorporating radical (for the time) ergonomic and styling cues, the T90 also combined the push buttons of the 1980s together with the dial controls of earlier SLRs to set the pattern for the next three decades of Canon's (and not a few of their competitors' ;-)) control systems. Under the skin, it also made major advances in power handling and motorized control of film advance, shutter, and mirror operation. It was the most capable Canon FD body, capable of outdoing the F-1.
• 1990 - There would be one last T, although it would only be a Canon as far as the lens mount went. The T60 was built by Cosina and badged as a Canon to be a no-frills student camera. It was the ultimate in plasticky! This, though, made it the lightest FD body ever and a great body to take into situations you wouldn't want to risk a better quality body. And so ended the FD era.

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    Recommendations. This will be a little more involved than the mechanical bodies, just because of the sheer volume of models available.​ If you are a user of Canon EOS whether film or digital, the T90 will definitely feel most familiar as it was the progenitor of EOS ergonomics. The biggest issue with T90s seems to be that if they sit around unused for a while, the mirror and shutter electromagnets have a tendency to get sticky, causing the camera to lock up and/or display the dreaded "EEE" on the LCD. Have the electromagnets cleaned and the T90 usually lives up to its nickname, "the Tank". If you want traditional-style controls and top build quality, the EF is your camera. If you prefer less weight but similar capability, the AE-1 Program and standard AE-1 are next in line. A-1s have plenty of features but also seem to be less reliable in my experience than the less loaded A- bodies. They are also harder on batteries and the dials feel flimsier to me. The lower-end A bodies are less common but usually cheaper than the others, and you might find one that has enough features for you. A drawback to the A-series in general is their use of fairly expensive 6V batteries (if you avoid the cheap alkalines which have a short life). I use the Duracell PX28L lithium for the longest life and best cold weather performance in my A-bodies and it runs around $7-10 USD. Canon claimed up to 20,000 exposures or about a one-year lifespan for the 6V silver-oxide battery in the plain-Jane AT-1, and stuck to the one-year estimate in all other A-series bodies, which isn't too bad. All A-bodies have the propensity for the mirror dampener to develop the notorious "Canon squeal" as the lubricant dries out. It can be remedied without too much trouble, but finding a body without the squeal is not too difficult, although it can appear at any time.

  Flash

   Canon was never on the cutting edge of flash technology in the MF era. Though they heavily promoted their Canon Automatic Tuning (CAT) flash system in the '70s, it was, in reality, a cumbersome system that only worked with selected 35 & 50mm lenses. They didn't introduce a true TTL flash until the T90, which was ten years after Olympus, six years after Nikon & Pentax, and five years after Minolta. The 300TL was the flash introduced with the T90 that brought Canon into the TTL game. It debuted the hot shoe pin layout still used by the EOS cameras. It can be used on any older FD body with a hot shoe in auto sensor mode, making it the most versatile and desirable flash of the FD system. It can be had for $35 to $40 USD. There was also a TTL macro ring flash, the ML-2, that debuted with the T90.

  Accessories

    Canon had a decent amount of accessories in the FL era with: bellows, angle finders, corrective eyepieces, copy stands, and a low light meter booster attachment. When the F-1 came along, in 1971, it had a whole range of finders, interchangeable focusing screens, the first motor drive for a Canon, among other things. The amateur FDs carried on with a few additions like extension tubes for close-up photography. With the introduction of the AE-1 in 1976 came an explosion in amateur accessories: auto winders, motor drives, data backs, along with all of the previous FD accessories. The Motor Drive MA introduced with the A-1 was quite an innovation with an additional vertical shutter release button and high and low continuous speeds along with single frame advance. The only drawback was the huge 12-AA battery back required to power the drive. The MA is only recommended for the A-1 and AE-1 Program. The AE-1 Program was the first amateur Canon SLR that allowed the user to change focusing screens, with 8 different screens available, a feature that carried forward to the T90. A wireless infrared controller also became available with the A-series. The T-series eliminated the need for external film winders and motor drives, but you now had databacks (Command Backs in Canon-speak) that added additional shooting features like an intervalometer for the more advanced models. Electronic remote releases also debuted with the T-series.

  Reliability & Servicing

    The most rugged and reliable FD bodies are obviously the F-1s, intended as they were for professional punishment. But FTs and FTbs are very simple and rugged machines as well. The EF is a very well built machine, but definitely more complicated to work on than the mechanical models. The F series can be worked on by the few independent repairmen still out there. The abundance of A-bodies means that it is usually more economical to just replace the body if a computer or other electrical component fries. A-1s seem to suffer from more failures than AE-1s or AE-1 Programs, probably because there was a greater load on the electrical systems with the multiple exposure modes and the more power-hungry digital LED viewfinder display. Overall, the A-bodies are decently reliable for all of the cost-cutting that Canon did. The flimsy battery doors and the infamous "squeal" are probably the most common mechanical problems with them. The T90's issues with sticky electromagnets was documented earlier. Although the T90 is definitely the most complex FD body ever built, it is actually still quite serviceable by someone with a good background in electronics and a service manual, and Canon used better components in it than the lesser Ts. As with any other vintage SLR, it's not a bad idea to grab a parts body or two, to provide a little insurance with any of the Canon bodies.

​    When it comes to lenses, a general rule is that the older the lens, the more pieces it can be broken down into for repair purposes. Newer lenses were more modular with lens blocks and aperture assemblies being replaced as single units rather than replacing a single element or part. Older lenses utilized aluminum-on-brass or aluminum-on-aluminum focusing helicoids, whereas most New FD lenses (the "L" lenses excluded) used plastic on aluminum. Ironically, aluminum-on-aluminum ages the worst out of the three constructions. This is because dissimilar materials have less molecular attraction, so that once lubricants break down or dry out, they can still move past each other quite easily. With all-aluminium helicoids, as they wear, aluminum particles become suspended in the lubricant and then, when the lubricant deteriorates, these particles cause more drag as they are caught in between the helicoid threads. This problem can be solved with disassembly, cleaning, and proper re-lubrication of the helicoid.

  Conclusion

   The Canon FL/FD system got off to a somewhat slower start than some of its competitors. However, by the mid-1970's it had risen to market dominance. By 1979, it also had the most extensive lens lineup of the Japanese manufacturers, with only Nikon having a comparable assortment of both standard and professional-level optics. While the "L" lenses are not cheap, they do offer levels of performance approached by few other optics of the period. As for standard glass, the FLs and FDs are some of the best bargains going. If you need big telephotos, the FDs deserve a long, hard look with Nikon, again, being the only other competitor on a close footing as far as selection and capability go. A wide variety of electronic bodies, and a smattering of excellent mechanical ones, should provide ample choices to meet your needs. If there was one area that Canon really lagged behind for awhile, it was flash. They did not bring out a true TTL flash until 1986 and the 300TL is the only real option and it works with any TTL or non-TTL body. Overall, the Canon manual focus system offers a lot for the 35mm film enthusiast to consider. Sources of information and reviews are the Canon Camera Museum and canonclassics.com. It is definitely worth your while to check them out.

​  Next up: the Nikon F system.

  References:

    Canon Camera Museum @ http://global.canon/en/c-museum/
    Canon FD Mount @ http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/photography.htm
    Canon Camera Manuals @http://www.butkus.org/chinon/canon.htm 
    The EF Lens Concept (Eighth Edition, Sept. 2006)