This is the third model of the Sure Shot Series, the New Sure Shot, introduced in April of 1983 was known in Europe as the AF35M II and in Japan as the Autoboy.2
The
Sure Shot
Series
Canon began life as a manufacturer of sophisticated cameras. Into the 1950’s the average person was taking pictures with the Brownie Hawkeye or similar box cameras. Canon was making excellent copies of the Leica, the premium camera of its day. In the 50’s and 60’s, if you bought Canon you were buying an advanced camera.
When Canon brought out the Canonet in 1961 they began exploring the market for the “everyman” camera. The Canonet
caught everyone off guard with its quality for the price. But it was still an advanced camera and still no where near the price of a Kodak Brownie.
Canon continued to pursue this market with new models of the Canonet and eventually they came out with the A35F in 1978. Still a quality camera with automatic exposure, this film camera was excellent value for the price. And it was capable of taking excellent pictures. Certainly it provided the excellent snapshots that most of its users were after.
Following on after the A35F, in 1979, Canon introduced the first of the Sure Shot cameras. This line of fine consumer oriented cameras was sold from 1979 until 2005, a run of 26 years. In the highly competitve camera market this was an achievement that spoke to the quality and popularity of these cameras until they were finally exlipsed by the digital revolution.
The Sureshot camera (the AF35M in Europe and the Autoboy in Japan) was the first in a long line of Canon consumer autofocus cameras. They were to be a spectacular commercial success. The line ended when it became obvious that the future lay with digital cameras. And with that, film cameras faded from camera store shelves.
Later we shall be looking at the Powershot cameras which were digital. You should note that the Sure Shot cameras were all film cameras.
The Sure Shot Cameras
That follows is a list compiled from the Canon Museum of Canon’s SureShot cameras. The ones that I have acquired are shown in blue.
You should note some confusion in the naming of the first three cameras. The first is called the AF35M and I can find no example with “Sure Shot” on it although the Canon Museum notes this as the first Sure Shot in the series. The second is the Super Sure Shot but in any photos I can find of it the name on it is “AF35ML”. Finally the 3rd in the series the Canon Museum calls the “New Sure Shot” but the only photos I can find show the name on top as “Sure Shot”, “Autoboy 2”, or “AF35M II”. As I discover more about this naming confusion I will udate this note.
| International | North America | Japan | Introduced |
| AF35M (M) | SureShot | AF35M (Autoboy) | Nov 79 |
| AF35ML (M) | Super SureShot | Autoboy Super | Jul 81 |
| AF35M II (M) | New SureShot | Autoboy 2 (M) | Apr 83 |
| AF35J | Sprint | Autoboy Lite | Jul 85 |
| Top Shot | SureShot Supreme | Autoboy 3 | Jun 86 |
| Top Twin | SureShot Tele | Autoboy Tele | Oct 86 |
| Prima Tele | SureShot Multi Tele (M) | Autoboy Tele 6 | Mar 88 |
| Prima Zoom | SureShot Zoom | Autoboy Zoom | Apr 88 |
| Prima Shot (M) | SureShot Ace (M) | Autoboy Prisma | Oct 88 |
| Prima 4 (M) | SureShot Joy (M) | Autoboy Lite 2 | Oct 88 |
| Sure Shot EX (M) | Oct 88 | ||
| Prima Zoom F | SureShot Zoom XL | Autoboy Zoom Super | Sep 89 |
| – | SureShot Caption Zoom | New Autoboy | Sep 89 |
| Prima Auto Zoom | SureShot Zoom S | New Autoboy Panorama | Sep 89 |
| Prima Twin | New SureShot | Autoboy WT28 | Mar 90 |
| Epoca | Photura (M) | Autoboy Jet | Jun 90 |
| — | Photura Caption (M) | – | Jun 90 |
| Prima Zoom 105 | SureShot Mega Zoom 105 | Autoboy Zoom 105 | Mar 91 |
| Prima Zoom 76 | SureShot Mega Zoom 76 | Autoboy Zoom 76 | Sep 91 |
| Prima Twin S | SureShot Tele Max | Autoboy Mini Tele | Sep 91 |
| Prima 5 | SureShot Max | Autoboy Mini | Sep 91 |
| Epoca 135 Caption | Photura 135 (M) | Jet 135 | Mar 92 |
| Prima Zoom Mini | SureShot Zoom Max | Autoboy Ace | Sep 92 |
| Prima Super 115 | SureShot Z115 | Autoboy Super | Sep 93 |
| Prima Mini | SureShot M | Autoboy F | Sep 93 |
| Prima Super 85 | SureShot Z85 | Autoboy J (Jack) | Mar 94 |
| Prima AF-7 | Sure Shot Owl (M) | – | Mar 94 |
| Prima AS-1 (M) | SureShot A-1 (M) | Autoboy D5 | Apr 94 |
| Prima Jr AF | AF-32 | – | 1995 |
| Prima Junior DX | – | – | 1995 |
| Prima Sol | Sureshot Del Sol | Autoboy SE | Mar 95 |
| Prima Zoom Shot | Sureshot 60 Zoom (M) | Autoboy Juno | Mar 95 |
| Prima Zoom Shot Date | – | – | Mar 95 |
| Prima Super 28 |
Sureshot Z70W |
– | Mar 95 |
| Prima Super 28V | Autoboy Luna Panorama | 1994 | |
| Prima Super 28 Caption | Sureshot Z70W Caption | _ | Mar 95 |
| Prima Zoom 70F | Sureshot 70 Zoom | Autoboy Luna 35 | Apr 95 |
| Prima BF Twin | Sureshot 80 Tele | Autoboy BF 80 | Aug 95 |
| Prima Super 135 | Sureshot Z135 | Autoboy Super II | Mar 96 |
| Prima Mini II | Sureshot Sleek | Autoboy F XL | Mar 96 |
| Prima AF-8 | Sure Shot Owl (M) | – | Mar 97 |
| Prima AF-8 Date | Sureshot Owl Date | – | Mar 97 |
| Prima Super 105 | Sureshot 105 Zoom | Autoboy Luna 105 | Jun 97 |
| Prima Super 105 Date | Sureshot 105 Zoom Date | – | Jun 97 |
| Prima Zoom 85 (M) | Sureshot Zoom 85 (M) | Autoboy Luna 85 | Sep 98 |
| Prima Zoom 85N | |||
| Prima Zoom 85 Date | Sureshot Zoom 85 Date | – | Sep 98 |
| – | – | Autoboy Luna XL Panorama | 1999 |
| Prima Super 115N | Sureshot Z115 | Autoboy S XL | Mar 99 |
| Prima Super 115N Caption | Sureshot Z115 Panorama | – | Mar 99 |
| Prima Super 135N | Sureshot Z135 | Autoboy S II XL | Jul 99 |
| Prima Super 135N Caption | Sureshot Z135 Caption | – | Jul 99 |
| Prima Super 120 | Sureshot Classic 120 | Autoboy 120 | Sep 99 |
| Prima Super 120 Caption | Sureshot Classic 120 Caption | – | Sep 99 |
| Prima Zoom 76 (M) | Sureshot 76 Zoom (M) | Autoboy Juno 76 | Jun 00 |
| Prima Zoom 76 Date | Sureshot 76 Zoom Date | – | Jun 00 |
| Prima AF-9 S | Sureshot Owl PF | – | Oct 00 |
| Prima AF-9 S Date | – | – | Oct 00 |
| Prima BF-9S (M) | Sureshot BF (M) | – | Oct 00 |
| Prima BF-9S Date | Suresht BF Date | – | Oct 00 |
| Prima Super 90 Wide | Sureshot Z90W | Autoboy EPO | Oct 00 |
| Prima Super 90 Wide Caption | Sureshot Z90W Caption | – | Oct 00 |
| Prima Super 105X | Sureshot 105 Zoom S | Autoboy Luna 105S | Jun 01 |
| Prima Super 105 X Date | Sureshot 105 Zoom S Date | – | June 01 |
| Prima Super 155 (M) | Sureshot Z155 (M) | Autoboy 155 | Mar 02 |
| Prima Super 130 | Sureshot 130u | Autoboy N130 | Aug 02 |
| Prima Super 115u | Sureshot 115u | Autoboy N115 | Apr 03 |
| – | Sureshot 115u Date | – | Apr 03 |
| Prima Super 105u | Sureshot 105u | Autoboy N105 | Apr 03 |
| Prima Zoom 80u | Sureshot 80u | Autoboy N80 | Apr 03 |
| Prima BF-10 | Sureshot BF-10 | – | Apr 03 |
| Prima BF-10 Date | Sureshot BF-10 Date | – | Apr 03 |
| Prima Zoom 90u | Sureshot 90u | – | Apr 03 |
| Prima AF-10 | Sureshot AF-10 | – | Oct 03 |
| Prima AF-10 Date | Sureshot AF-10 Date | – | Oct 03 |
| Prima Super 150u | Sureshot 150u | Autoboy N150 | May 04 |
| Prima Super 180 | Sureshot Z180u | Autoboy 180 | Sep 04 |
| Prima Super 130u Date | Sureshot 130u II Date | Autoboy N130 II | Mar 05 |
| Prima Zoom 115u II Date | Sureshot 115u II Date | – | Apr 05 |
| Prima Zoom 90u II Date | Sureshot 90u II Date | – | Apr 05 |
Now that is quite a list. I have no training or experience in marketing so I can’t explain the thinking behind several models a year for several years! I imagine it does give the impression of advancement and development and new models create a demand for more. But it is all quite beyond me.
Some of the Cameras in the Collection
Here I have gotten ahead of myself. I never intended to deal with the “point and shoots” until much later. There are just too many SLR’s and DSLR’s awaiting my attention. However, organizing my boxes of cameras I began to play with some of them and this page sort of grew of it’s own volition. I will probably not get back here for several years but this will serve as a place mark to come back to.
C-162 (New) Sure Shot
Introduced April 1983
C-155 Sure Shot Owl / Prima AF-7
Introduced March 1994
C-241 Sure Shot Owl / Prima AF-8
Introduced March 1997
C-243 Sure Shot Photura
Introduced June 1990
C-230 Sure Shot 60 Zoom
Introduced March 1995
C-277 Sure Shot Z155
Introduced March 2002
C-285 – Sure Shot Ace
Introduced October 1988
C-324 – Sure Shot 130U II Date
Introduced March 2005
C-298 Sure Shot A-1
Introduced April 1994
I am not in any way connected to or supported by Canon and I have no rights to any of their trade marks. I chose their camera line and have stayed with it although I cannot recall why. But a Nikon camera is fine technology and takes a wonderful picture. So too with Sony and the others. But I have been happy with Canon and so I have begun my collection here. Eventually I may add other brands to my range of interest but that is for another day.