The Canon AL-1 is an obvious member of the “A” Series of cameras. It is actually the last of the series with which it shares a cast aluminum alloy body and plastic top deck. It also incorporates an early attempt at an Auto Focus system.
The AL-1
A First Attempt at Auto Focus (Almost)
You might look at the AL-1 as one of Canon’s quirky cameras that did little to advance the A Series and that is true in one sense. Technically there was nothing in it that was not available in the A-1, except for the Focus Assist feature which sets this camera apart. This is the feature that makes this camera interesting as it points in the direction that Canon and other camera makes were moving.
By the time of the AL-1, which was introduced in March of 1982, camera makers had solved the problem of automatic exposure. Canon’s own A-1
had Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, and Program or fully automatic exposure. The next hurdle to clear was that of Auto Focus (AF). And this was a big problem for Canon because the FD lens mount was not able to accommodate the requirements of full AF operation. The problem was not completely solved until Canon abandoned this lens mount for the EF mount.
From the top the AL-1 holds no surprises. There are two exposure modes, Manual and Aperture Priority. The Automatic “A” on the aperture ring is not used on this camera. It will not give accurate exposures.
On the bottom plate on the right are the two contacts for the Power Winders A and A2. At the left end is the power coupler for them. Also at the left side is the battery compartment door and its poorly designed latch.
Inside the camera the layout is familiar. It is the same as the other “A” Series cameras. The camera back is not user removable
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To focus the lens it was necessary to turn the lens barrel and that requires a motor. Where to put it? It cannot go in the camera body because there is no way for it to turn the lens barrel through the FD lens mount. If you put it in the lens, as EOS eventually did, there is no way for the camera to communicate with the motor. Again the FD lens mount has no such linkage and no electrical communication.
When Canon moved to the “T” Series of cameras they experimented with adapting the FD mount by either putting the distance measuring sensors in the lens with the motor, the FD 35-70mm f/4.0 AF, or by putting electrical contacts on the FD mount for use on the T-80, as on the AC 35-70mm f/3.5-4.5. Neither solution worked well and they were soon overtaken by the EOS lens mount. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.
With the AL-1 Canon put the distance measuring circuitry in the camera body and then used LEDs in the viewfinder to tell the user which way to turn the lens barrel and when the lens was actually in focus. The Focusing Assist feature was engaged by pressing the shutter half way, as was the exposure metering. And, of course, the viewfinder had the ground glass so you could focus in the usual manner if you wished. This system Canon called “Quick Focus” and it was touted as an aid to focusing and was never actually considered true auto focus.
The way it worked was while looking through the viewfinder one of the Focus Indicators would light up. The red one on the left pointed right and that is the direction to turn the lens barrel to move towards perfect focus. The red one on the right pointed left and worked the same way. When you had good focus both red arrows were dark and the green circle in the middle illuminated. Only one of the three indicators were ever on.
How this actually worked escaped me originally and I assumed a large dollop of magic was involved. However I looked into it further and learned a great deal about it. If you want to get into it read my post on Contrast Detection Autofocus.
If you look at the main mirror in the camera body with the lens removed you will see that it is divided by a grid of lines that are densest in the center and more widely spaced as you move out to the edges. These lines are actually partially silvered areas which allow about 50% of the incident light to pass through the mirror but not enough that the lines appear visible in the viewfinder.
The light that passes through the mirror strikes another mirror attached to the back of the main mirror which reflects it down into the bottom of the mirror box where the magic happens. That light is passed through a Triple Beam Splitter which separates the light into three separate streams which are then fed to three CCD (Charge Coupled Device) linear sensor arrays which then calculate when the contrast in the images is the greatest. The sharper the focus the higher the image contrast. The output from the three CCD sensor arrays is then fed to the LED (Light Emitting Diode) Focusing Indicators in the viewfinder. Is that clear? It isn’t for me either. As I said, it’s magic.
The focus screen is a laser matte surface right across the image, inside and outside the central circle. For me this screen is not easy to focus on. The scale on the right is shutter speeds because the camera in Auto mode functions in Aperture Priority. You set the aperture as you wish and the camera indicates the correct shutter speeed. The unique feature is the Focus Indicators in the bottom center.
The main mirror in the AL-1 is covered in what appear to be a web of dark lines. In fact these lines are semi-transparent mirror that reflects about 50% of incident light up to the ground glass focusing screen and the rest passes through the mirror and some of it is reflected down into the bottom of the mirror box. This web of lines is too extensive to be used just for the Quick Focus feature. From the layout it seems to me to be connected to the center weighted average metering.
The back of the AL-1 is very plain and it has no Memo Holder. Eliminated to keep costs down it seems a poor economy to me given how useful the Holder is.
The AL-1 is powered by two common AAA 1.5v alkaline cells. The battery compartment adds a substantial finger grip to the camera.
If you gently lift the main mirror you can see the sub-mirror on its back and the Triple Beam Splitter in the bottom of the mirror box. But be careful as this is all very delicate and has to be kept really clean.
AL-1 Characteristics
This camera body feels small in the hand. It has the same aluminum alloy body and plastic top deck as the other “A” Series cameras. The back is not user removeable like the AE-1 or A-1.
The viewfinder is bright but the focusing screen, which is not removeable, is a plain laser matte screen without a microprism focusing area or split image.
The exposure metering system employs an SPC (Silicon Photo Cell) sensor for its superior sensitivity and linearity. The metering pattern is Canon’s usual “Center Weighted Averaging” pattern.
The camera has a four axis shutter with fabric curtains. Speeds on the shutter dial are B and 1/15th to 1/1000th however, if you are using the camera in Av mode, speeds of 2 and 1 second and ½, ¼ and 1/8th second are available as well. All speeds are electronically controlled and so this camera will not function at all without a battery installed.
What is a Four Axis Shutter?
The focal plane shutter in the AL-1 is composed of two fabric curtains that travel across the image area with a gap between them that can be adjusted to control the length of time the film is exposed. If each curtain is running between two rollers you have a total of four rollers that are rotating on four axes.
This method of moving the curtains tends to be the most consistent and accurate method of exposing the film although it is more complicated to implement.
Film speeds from ISO 25 to ISO 1600 can be set on the dial under the rewind crank.
The camera is powered by two AAA 1.5v cells which are very common and easy to come by. However, the door on the camera compartment has a very easily broken latch. This is further compounded by the heavy force exerted by the two AAA cells when you close the door. It is simply a bad design and most AL-1’s I have come across have this same problem. All of my AL-1’s have broken latches.
The normal lenses issued with the AL-1 were the FDn 50mm f/1.4 and the FDn 50mm f/1.8.
It is interesting to note that the AL-1 is the last Canon camera to carry the 1960’s era Canon logo. As far as I can tell this logo first appeared on the Canon L1 rangefinder camera in 1957. The new logo, first appearing on the Canon T-50 has continued in use to the present day.
In the top image on the right you see the Canon name on the front of the AL-1. The first time I can find this form of the word “Canon” is on the rangefinder Model L1. This logo continued in use on SLR’s until the AL-1 which was the last to use it. In the lower image you see the Canon logo on the T50 which was the next SLR released. This logo has continued in use to the present day.
Because this post is not about how you use this camera you must turn to the Instruction Manual for Complete operating instructions.
For more technical information about the AL-1 there is no better source than the Dealers’ Notes published by Canon.
AL-1 Variations
The only available variation of the AL-1 of any significance was the one in all black finish. It was exactly the same camera in every respect and it had the same problem with the battery compartment door.
The AL-1 was marketed as the official camera for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics but no cameras were so labeled.
In this ad for the Canon AL-1 you can see the Logo for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angles in the lower right corner with the words “The Official 35mm Camera of the 1984 Olympic Games”. But no cameras were issued with that logo or words.
The AL-1 is designed to work with the Speedlites 011A, 133A, 155A, 166A, 177A, 188A, or 199A. These Speedlites will set the cameras shutter speed to 1/60th second automatically and if the instructions are followed the exposure will be controlled automatically.
The camera below is shown with the Speedlite 199A which has a rotating head to allow for bounce flash. How exactly to use this Speedlite is explained in the Instruction Manual and even more information is available in the Dealer Notes for it.
This AL-1 has the Speedlite 199A mounted in the hotshoe. The AL-1 omitted the PC Socket on the front of the camera making the hot shoe essential for flash photography.
Other accessories that compliment the AL-1 are listed on the last page of the Dealers’ Notes for the camera shown above. These actually make this simple camera capable of some serious photography.
Using the AL-1
Before using the AL-1 you will probably have to do something about the battery compartment door. The batteries exert a lot of force on the door which has undoubtedly contributed to the door latch usually being broken. If yours is not, be very careful with it because it will probably break with use.
The battery doors on my AL-1’s are broken. So you have to use tape to keep the door closed. Don’t use a plastic tape because plastic tapes tend to stretch and they don’t hold the door firmly shut. I have found that masking tape
A factory issued black AL-1. These cameras must have been issued in large numbers because they are easy to find on the collector market in good condition and for very little markup over chrome copies.
Accessories for the AL-1
Being an “A” Series camera the AL-1 is heir to a wide variety of accessories. One it cannot use is the Data Back A introduced with the AE-1. The camera back on the AL-1 is not removable and, anyway, there is no PC Socket on the front to plug into.
The Motor Drives A and A2 will operate on the AL-1 giving the camera the ability to advance film automatically or shoot continuously at about two frames per second.
This is the AL-1 with the Power Winder A attached to it. To my mind this is the best of the Power Winders as it is small, light and the least awkward of them. For shooting sports action it is really useful.
To get the details on how to use the Speedlite 199A there is no better source than the Canon Instruction Manual.
The Speedlite 199A is described on Page 4 of these Dealers’ Notes for several different Speedlites.
is best. It does not stretch but it is not hard to remove from the camera. Wrap the tape from a quarter the way up the front to a quarter the way up the back.
Once you overcome this hurdle the camera is actually a delight to use. Film loading is the same as for the other “A” Series cameras. The controls are where you expect them to be. If you use it in Manual Mode your speeds are shown on the shutter dial. You simply set the shutter dial and aperture as you wish. But if you use the camera in Av mode then set the shutter dial at “A” and set the aperture as you wish. The camera will select the appropriate shutter speed.
You cannot use the green “A” or “o” setting on the lens. If you do the light measurement will likely be inaccurate. This camera does not have a Program setting that sets shutter and aperture for full auto exposure.
The Quick Focus system works really well in good light. However, in low light levels or very low contrast situations it struggles. You are really thrown back on traditional focusing. The screen, however, has no microprism area or split image to assist so that focusing can be a problem especially in low light situations.
If you have and AL-1 in which the Quick Focus feature is not working you can still use the camera in Manual Mode so long as the shutter is functioning.
This is really a sunny day camera but as such it is an excellent film camera. And with Canon optics it is capable of really great images. Is it my favorite camera? No, this is not an A-1 and I even prefer the AE-1 or AE-1 Program. But it is a good solid camera for film photography.
This page is not a review of this Canon equipment but rather a record of an item in my collection. I have no connection with Canon and receive no remuneration nor benefit for this listing. It is for my own use and possibly your enjoyment!.