1959: Canonflex
This was Canon’s first 35mm single lens reflex. Unlike its rivals at that time, it offered a selenium cell exposure meter.
The meter clips into a large accessory shoe on the front of the body, using a toothed gear to mate with a gear track on the shutter speed dial. Thus, as the speed dial is turned to select a setting from
1-1/1,000 second, a disc on the meter simultaneously rotates to align apertures against a scale on which a needle swings to indicate the f-stop. Or, turn the shutter speed dial until the needle lines up with a chosen aperture and the correct shutter speed is now set. It’s like a kind of manual programmed automation.
The camera has two more unusual features. The first is a base-mounted film wind lever operated by the left hand while shooting with the right. The second is twin apertures setting rings on the standard lens. One at the front selects pre-set apertures, the one behind it rotates to open and close the iris and indicate depth of field in the viewfinder.
The Canonflex’s eye-level pentaprism viewfinder incorporates a split-image rangefinder and is interchangeable with a waist-level finder that offers 4X magnification. The camera accepts a range of Canomatic lenses from 50mm f/1.8 to 1,000mm f/11. They fit to the camera via a breach lock mount, similar to, but not the same as, the Canon FL and FD mounts that followed later.
At a whopping 14x9x8.5cm and weighing a hefty 1.1 kilos, the Canonflex is a bit of a beast. But if you enjoy shooting with a piece of photographic history, it’s a beauty.
The Canonflex marked the beginning of the 35mm SLR for Canon
View from the top, showing how the meter connects to the shutter speed dial
The base-mounted
film wind lever on the Canonflex