an enhanced AE-1

The Canon AV-1 was a 35mm single-lens reflex camera introduced by Canon in 1979. The AV-1 is in essence an enhanced AE-1, with aperture priority AE rather than the more expensive — but easier to use shutter speed priority AE.

Even though the cameras would cost more to produce and therefore to buy, shutter speed-priority AE cameras were important to Canon since users could set and use shutter speeds easier than aperture settings. However, in the United States and other markets, aperture-priority AE 35mm cameras were more popular.

When this camera appeared, a new type of FD lens was introduced, featuring instant mounting & un-mounting of the lens. This was called the New FD mount and did away with the older type of mounting ring which was fitted on to the rear of the lens and was awkward to use and needed two hands (and which used to wear), to a newer, easier system whereby the user lined up the red dot on the lens, with the red dot on the camera and simply turned the whole lens until it clicked into place.

A low-cost FD 50mm f2 lens was made available for the AV-1, rather than the more expensive f1.8 and f1.4 lenses.

All the other AE-1 accessories also fitted the AV-1

Aperture priority. That's a Canon?

Canon SLRs are synonymous with shutter speed priority automation in exposure control and it is kind of odd to discuss an aperture priority AE camera. But the AV-1 was a conventional looking, aperture priority automatic exposure (AE), single-lens reflex (SLR) camera just like most SLRs available during the late '70s and mid '80s. All you have to do is:

1) Mount the lens
2) Load and check the battery
3) Select an aperture (the f-number on your lens, which relates to diaphragm opening) best suit your needs on Depth of Field control and snap, that's all.

Although Canon has highlighted the point where it is important to have the appropriate shutter speed to achieve a sharp picture and prevents blurred pictures that will be created due to unsteady camera movements, the Aperture priority AE mode still has its place in Canon's stable. In fact, other than Canon and Minolta which offered both Shutter-priority and Aperture-priority AE in one of their respective models (See Minolta's XD-7 in within the MIR site), the other major camera manufacturers only have aperture priority AE as the prime automation for exposure control for their models until the mid-80s. Any AV-1 user can guess what the initials stands for - Aperture Value, which were also used by Canon to signify the Aperture-priority AE mode in all its cameras having this mode, including the models in the EOS System.

Even though there were more technicalities involved, the other way around should be more logical - because with electronically-controlled shutter, stepless shutter speeds like 1/189 sec or 1/25 sec can be made possible while mechanical aperture value control can never be made stepless or to such refined values as the shutter speed (However, the later Canon EOS System made it possible to do so). Well, that was a fussy remark because most of the time, other than the usage of less tolerance slide film, the printer in any of the numerous one-hour color lab can create more damage to your final print than the little exposure variation we are talking about.

All you need to do is turn the aperture ring on the lens to set an aperture, focus and press the shutter button. The camera does all the rest - provided the main control dial has been set to the "A" mark.. When shooting your subject under backlighting condition, you only need to push an extra switch to compensation for the exposure (Add more light to a backlit scene to make sure the eventual photograph won't turn out too dark).

The AV-1 uses Centre-weighted Average as its metering option. For excessive backlit situations, using the backlit compensation button may not be enough to provide the adjustment needed to ensure a correct exposure. In this case, move in closer to the subject until it fills up the frame (or when the brightly-lit area is hidden), press the backlit button, lock in the setting by maintaining finger pressure on the shutter button halfway, move back, recompose and shoot. Alternatively, if you are shooting with a zoom lens, just zoom in and get a close-up meter reading, lock it and zoom back to the focal length where you want to shoot the subject at.

Not just a Flash in the Pan

Just slip one of these flashes onto the AV-1, set an aperture on the flash, and set that same aperture on the lens. The flash would give out just the right amount of light to your subject. You can also shoot continuously at 2 fps (frames-per-second) wiith the Canon Power Winder A or even the newer Power Winder A2.You can use many of the other system accessories within the huge Canon FD photographic system. The AV-1 was one of the few Canon bodies that offered Aperture Priority AE mode instead of the more familiar Shutter Priority AE, an autoexposure feature that the camera manufacturer is very popular with. For those enjoys wuch simplicity of operation, the AV-1 camera is good enough to be used for most of the common photographic applications. I believe the Canon AV-1 is an extremely well made SLR camera and it offered a good performance for its price, but if you are looking for a used SLR body to start your photographic journey, please note that the manual focus Canon FD-mount system has been replaced with the autofocus, fully electronic-type of lens mount in the EOS System. The two system are not compatible with each other. You have to be alert on this if you are putting the AV-1 as one of your primarily consideration when looking for a used SLR camera. I like to ensure that any of the visitors to my site will be well informed on most facts pertaining to the discontinued Canon manual focus models.

There are some strength and weaknesses in the camera design as well, the most noticeable is still the use of the outdated horizontal travelled fabric shutter curtain design (Contax, Nikon and Yashica have already used vertically-traveled metal-type of focal-plane shutters then), since its usage can affects other specifications such as the maximum sync speed that could be offered. Anyway, if you already bought an AV-1 camera, this site may be helpful for you to understand this camera better (or an orientation for some who doesn't know that the camera they have is the Canon AV-1 all these years..) - don't let what I have mentioned earlier to put you off, either. Sometimes, you tend to use 'modern standard' to measure an old faithful, which is not fair at times, despite my earlier remarks - given the price (below US$120 for a used unit), I would still rate the AV-1 as a very attractive option for entry-level photo enthusiasts.

 

Download the AV-1 User Manual here (a .pdf file)