The T50 is a manual focus fully automatic exposure camera. It is basically a “Point and Shoot”. But look at the lens! This is professional glass allowing this camera to take great pictures.
The Canon T50
The “Point and Shoot” SLR
You will not find much written on the Canon T50. What there is tends to be dismissive of this rather odd SLR that Canon introduced in March of 1983.
This camera was the first of the “T”
Series and the first SLR Canon offered after the last of the successful “A”
Series, the AL-1.
In the first years of the 1980’s the camera market saw much effort directed towards the compact automatic camera suitable for snapshots of family or memories
from travel and vacations. To serve this market Canon itself had introduced “Point and Shoot” cameras: the A35F in 1978, the Snappy 50 and 20 in 1982 and the New Sure Shot in 1983. The other manufacturers were also targeting this market segment.
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At the same time the sales of SLR’s had begun to slow probably as a result of both the availability of these very versatile “Point and Shoot” cameras and saturation of the market with very good auto exposure SLR’s who’s features had reached a plateau before the coming introduction of auto exposure. This is when Canon felt there was an opening to market a “Point and Shoot” SLR that had automatic exposure but that could take advantage of the wide range of Canon lenses already available. The idea was to market a camera that would appeal to entry level users who would be happy with an automatic camera but who wanted a little more versatility and the option to upgrade the lens. The T50 was the result.
Unfortunately, in the effort to attract these “in between” users the T50 turned out to be an “in between” camera. Those who collect cameras have traditionally ignored the “point and shoot” style camera and there is little written about them. The collectors have been interested in full featured technically advanced cameras and so they too have tended to ignore the T50 as being an SLR “point and shoot” and an aberration. This is unfortunate because this is an excellent camera and it occupies a distinctive niche in the development of the SLR.
The design of the T50 was highly regarded at the time and in 1983 the camera received the “Good Design Award” from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry which was an arm of the Japanese government. It is interesting to note that the T50 is the first camera model to carry Canon’s new Canon Logo style that has been in continuous use down to our present day.
The top deck of the T50 is very simple. No film advance lever and a Selector Dial with only four positions. Rewind crank is on the left with ISO Setting under it.
The bottom of the T50 is very simple with the battery door on the left end (in the picture). Be careful with that door. It looks like the one on the AL-1.
Characteristics of the T50
The first thing you notice when you pick up the T50 is that it is made of plastic. A tough resilient material, no doubt, but it is still plastic. And Canon has not tried to hide it by giving it a metallic finish as it did with the top deck on the “A” Series. The color is totally black, well a really really dark grey, and there is no leatherette on the body. The camera is all plastic as Canon’s top tier cameras would be from this point on. This break with a tradition that went back to the first Canon cameras in the 1930’s was to be permanent. From the T50 on all Canon cameras into the EOS and EOS R cameras have continued in this style.
Another thing to notice, which is often overlooked, is the “Eyecup T” on the eyepiece. This is the first use on the Canon SLR’s of the rubber eyepiece that slips over the plastic frame of the eyepiece. Another tradition that began here was that these eyecups fall off and get lost. Most T50’s that you come across now in the collector market have lost theirs somewhere along the way.
The next thing to notice is that this camera body has a built in motorized automatic film advance and as a result has no film advance lever. From this point almost all Canon cameras will follow this lead. Film rewind is still by a crank on the left side of the top deck. The camera advanced the film after each press of the shutter button. If the button is held down the camera will continue to fire at about 1.4 frames per second.
The shutter is also in indicator of things to come. With the EF camera of 1973 Canon used a shutter curtain composed of metal blades that travelled vertically. They then abandoned this style of shutter in favour of the horizontally travelling shutter curtains. With the T50 the vertical travelling metal blades were reintroduced and they were destined to become Canon’s standard electronic shutter.
The shutter is controlled by the camera with settings from 2 seconds through 1/1000th of a second. The user cannot control this and nowhere does the camera report the shutter speed or aperture it is using.
And finally, in the list of things to notice, this camera cannot be used in manual mode. And that is the main reason it tends to be ignored by more “serious” photographers. In the right side of the top deck is the “Selector Dial” which has four positions. There is “Self” which is the ten second self timer. The “Program” setting is the operating position for the camera. “L” is the off position and the camera should be set here when not in use to protect the batteries. The fourth position is “BC” which is the battery check. It is spring loaded and must be held in position. If there is sufficient battery power you will hear a rapid beeping sound. This is very faint and you should hold the camera to your ear to hear it.
And that is how you use the camera. The only other thing you have to do is make sure your lens is in the Auto position. That means the aperture ring is set to the green “o” or “A”. If the lens is not set to automatic the shutter speed defaults to 1/60th of a second and you cannot control it. I suppose it is possible to fiddle with controlling the exposure at this speed but why bother? Just buy a T70 or an AL-1.
This camera is automatic so it cannot be used in “stop down” metering mode. You cannot use R or FL lenses. They must be FD or FDn lenses. Also, any lens that does not have an automatic diaphragm, such as the FD Reflex 500mm f/8.0 mirror lens cannot be used because you will not get accurate exposures. The User Instructions say that the FD 7.5mm f/5.6 Fisheye lens, the TS 35mm f/2.8 or the FD 20mm f/3.5 and FD 35mm f/2.8 macro photo lenses should not be used either. The T50 was usually paired with the FDn 35-70 f/3.5 – 4.5 lens.
Power is provided by two 1.5 volt AA cells. Canon recommends Alkaline-Manganese cells (LR6) but the regular alkaline cells are cheaper and much easier to find. Canon does say not to use Ni-Cd cells.
While talking about the batteries, the T50 is the next camera after the AL-1 and its battery door problem. The battery door on the T50 looks very like the same door although it does not have the same reputation for breaking. But a word to the wise: be careful with it.
Light Metering
Light metering is based on a Silicon Photo Cell (SPC) and takes place at full aperture. Film ISO range is 25 to 1600 and is set on a dial under the rewind crank. The metering pattern is Canon’s standard “Center Weighted Averaging” found on the “A” Series cameras.
The T50’s focusing screen has a laser matte finish with a circular focusing area of micro prisms with a split image in the center. This is the same screen as found in the AE-1. Of course focus is totally manual but on this type of screen it is very easy to do. There are no aperture or shutter speeds shown in the viewfinder. There are three LED indicators visible on the right edge depending on the situation.
If the lens of off the automatic setting a green “M” flashes. If a Speedlite 244T is being used there is a green lightning symbol that flashes when the Speedlite reaches full charge and is ready to use.
Near the bottom of the left end of the camera is a small cover over electrical contacts for remote triggers.
The T50 shutter is composed of metal shutters that travel vertically which was to become the standard shutter in the rest of the “T” Series and the EOS cameras.
To understand how to operate the T50 there is no better read than the Instructuon Manual.
The Dealers’ Notes that Canon sent out to its vendors is agreat source if technical information about the T50 camera and Speedlite 244T.
The viewfinder screen is the same as found on the AE-1 without the meter needle and scale on the side. The explaination of the symbols on the right side is in the Instruction Manual below.
Inside the T50
looks pretty much like any other SLR except for the vertically travelling
multi-bladed electonically controlled shutter. Above the open back is the rubber eyepiece that was to become standard on Canon’s cameras to follow.
The T50 requires two AA cells which are available almost everywhere. The battery door looks like it may be delicate and care should be taken when loading or unloading batteries.
There is one variation of the T50 that you may come across. There was what Canon calls a “Privately Labeled” T50 that was created for sale in the United States only at US Military Post Exchange (PX) Stores called the T-5. It was in fact a T50 with a different label and was available from approximately 1983 through 1986. This camera was never used officially by the US Armed Forces. It is unlikely many were made as it is rather rare to find one, especially in good condition.
I don’t have a T-5, yet, but I have some rather poor photographs of one. I created the picture opposite based on my T50 and when I get a good copy of the T-5 I will replace it.
Canon created the Speedlite 244T specifically for the T50 camera. This Speedlite was used with the camera in Program mode with the lens set to Automatic mode. Film with ISO 100 or 400 were the only ones allowed and there is a switch to set one or the other. Once done, the camera and flash work together to give proper exposure. When the 244T is charged the shutter speed is automatically set to 1/60th of a second and the green LED in the viewfinder lights up to tell the user the camera is ready to take a picture.
The Instruction Manual for the camera recommends the 244T and does not discuss other flash units. However, once the lens is taken off Automatic mode the shutter defaults to 1/60th and the aperture can be set wherever you like. I believe this means that any flash unit can be used utilizing the flash guide number.
To be a little more automatic, the “A” Series flash units, the 011A, 133A, 155A, 166A, 177A, 188A, 199A, 533G and the 577G should all function on the T50 as well. On these you set the ISO speed on the Speedlite and then select an aperture from the calculator on the back of the unit. Once done the flash unit will read the flash illumination reflected back and when it calculates that the subject has received the correct amount of light the flash is extinguished. Make sure you don’t rely on this short description but rather read the Instruction Manual for the flash unit you are using.
The Speedlite 244T was designed for the T50 and is the only flash recommended in the Instruction Manual.
The Speedlite 244T was designed for the T50 and is the only flash unit recommended in the Instruction Manual for it. The best place to learn how to use it is in the Speedlite Instruction Manual.
Technical information on the Speedlite 244T can be found on page 6 of these Dealers’ Notes supplied by Canon to its vendors.
Accessories
Because the exposure is automatic and cannot be managed manually many accessories cannot be used on the T50. These include the bellows units and most extension tubes because the don’t allow the body and the lens to communicate AE information back and forth. However, extension tubes such as the FD 15-U, 25-U and 50-U can be used because they do pass AE information.
On the left end of the camera is a screw in cover over an electrical connector which can attach to a Remote Switch T3 with which the camera can be fired remotely. A 30 meter extension cord was available for use with it as well.
There was an infra-red wireless switch as well, the Wireless Controller LC-1 which connected there and also an intervelometer called the Interval Timer TM-1 Quartz which could be set to take a picture at intervals from 1 Second to 30 minutes in 14 steps.
And of course the T50 had access to Canon’s wide selection of FD and FDn lenses which allowed it to capture excellent images.
Using the T50
Once you accept the limitations of the T50 it is a pleasant camera to use. Film advance is quick and reasonably quiet. The focusing is like any Canon SLR, such as the AE-1, and the split image makes accurate focus reasonably easy.
For most situations the exposures are consistent but an experienced photographer will miss the ability to adjust that exposure to get into the shadows or create special effects. But for every day picture taking, like we do with our cell phones, this is a good camera. Think of it as a “Point and Shoot” with superb image quality.
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