Do you love photography? Do you wish you could own and use a piece of photographic history? This gorgeous classic film SLR camera can be yours, the Canon AE-1. This is a manual focus SLR that was produced by Canon, Inc. between 1976 and 1985. The camera comes in a strong but light metal body making it reliable and durable to this day.
The Canon AE-1 has full-manual control whilst offering precise and stable timing of shutter speeds. The focusing screen is bright and the split-screen focusing aid is precise. The camera uses centre-weighted metering and has accurate and easily adjustable metering abilities.
For the AE-1 Canon chose to make this camera shutter speed priority rather than aperture priority. The AE-1 has large dial on the front right corner of the camera making it easy to adjust the shutter speed dial without taking your eye away from the viewfinder. However more importantly makes the camera as easy to use as if it was program full automatic giving full flexibility to any user of the AE-1.The aperture needle in the viewfinder reacts in real time, allowing you to properly estimate the light quantity over your chosen scene.
Overall this is a beautifully built and highly sought after classic from Canon, you'd be really lucky to get your hands on one while they're still around (or if the 5D Mark 2 is a little out of your price range), buy one here today.
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Price Range: $200 - $360
 Canon AE 1 35 mm Camera US $360.00   |  CANON AE 1 Student Camera 2 lens filters accesories US $249.99 |  CANON AE 1 SLR CAMERA POWER WINDER 28 50mm LENS US $209.99 |
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I’ve had the AE-1’s newer brother, the AE-1 Program, for 25 years now. I cannot say too much about the camera’s quality and reliability. It’s too bad that there is no way to convert it to some sort of digital camera. I would love to be able to keep using my AE-1P and the related accessories for a long time to come. Availability of accessories is huge. There is more stuff out there than you could find a use for, from both Canon and aftermarket sources. I’m only now really looking at a digital SLR because it’s just getting hard to deal with getting film processed. I’m looking once again at a Canon, I can only hope that it will serve me as well as my AE-1P did. My brother has the even higher model, the Canon A-1, the difference being mostly in having some more modes to play with. The AE-1P has full-manual, Shutter-priority automatic, and full program exposure control, along with flash synced mode. The A-1 adds aperture-priority to this.
Pros:
Utterly anvil-reliable for years and years. Tons of available accessories. Will serve both a beginner and a pro equally well, with appropriate lenses. The only thing that goes wrong with this model is a squeal that develops after years of non-maintenance, and the occasional dead main camera battery.Mine takes a battery about every 5 years or so.
Cons:
Not digital, and no way to make it digital.
It’s heavier than the lighter new digital cams, and carrying around the bag with several lenses, a flash, etc. can be wearing.
Not autofocus (which can be both a pro and a con, really), though I understand that autofocus lenses were made for it.
No program mode in the standard AE-1 (the AE-1P had full-auto-exposure control)
No aperture-priority mode (if you want the extra modes, get the A-1. I think the AV-1 was aperture-priority)
As a young U.S. Marine stationed at 29 Palms CA, the Canon AE-1 was the first major purchase I made for myself. Back then, a private didn’t make much (1980) so it was a considerable investment for me. I took the camera everywhere… Desert training, mountain training, cold weather survival training, aboard multiple ships and deployments. I still have the camera and still have all the pictures. GREAT camera and GREAT times…
Pros:
Like a Timex, this camera took a lickin but kept on clickin… Over the years I burned up many an accessory (speed winders, lenses & flashes) but like the energizer bunny, the camera just kept going and going and going…
Cons:
That I can’t turn back time and do it all over again…