The T70, introduced in April of 1984, looks like the T50. The body is a metal frame embedded in a tough polycarbonate plastic. Note the absence of levers, cranks and dials.
The Canon T70
The Picture Taking Computer
The photographer of March 1983 can
be forgiven if, when he picked up the
new T50 camera, he thought
Canon had created a camera that
would be a dead end like the two
EX cameras of the late 1960’s.
It was plastic, it was automatic
only, it was really a “Point, Focus
and Shoot” and appeared to have
no future. It was certainly of little or
no interest to serious picture takers.
What our photographer would have had seriously wrong was that the T50 was the beginning of a line of thinking that ran
The front of the camera is almost featureless. On the lower left, in the picture, is the cover over the Remote Control Socket. Above it and to the right is the Exposure Preview Button.
The Memo Holder has reappeared on the back of the T70 after being missing on the T50. And on the right side is a diamond hatched area to provide a better grip for your right thumb.
The T50 broke with that tradition by creating a metal frame sufficient to hold the internal mechanism and the whole frame was embedded in a polycorbonate plastic material. Added to that were a plastic top and bottom deck to seal it all in. Tough, inexpensive, easily moldable, it was the construction method of the future. And for Canon it began with the T50.
But it was the camera that came next that really pointed the way. The medium may have been film but the message was computerization. The T70 was a full featured camera controlled by an 8 bit customized microcomputer that recognized 1200 separate commands. The shutter, the diaphragm, the film transport and rewind was all electrically controlled and powered and the status of the camera was displayed on a large LCD Screen on the right side of the top deck. The LCD screen was a first for Canon SLR’s.
The T70 is often overlooked by collectors and film shooters and that is a shame. It was an amazing camera capable of really excellent photography and it was a joy to use. The design is identical to that of the T50. In fact the T70 won the Good Design Award in 1984 awarded by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of the Japanese government just as the T50 had done in 1983.
In 1982 the editors of several European photography magazines and websites came together to select a Camera of the Year in Europe. This group evolved into EISA, the Expert Imaging and Sound Awards, whose sole purpose was to award a camera every year with the title Camera of the Year. The T70 received this award in 1984.
Collectors now may not be enamored with the T70 today but in 1984 it was highly thought of by some serious people who should know.
All of the T70’s controls are on the top deck and the status of the camera is displayed on the LCD screen on the right side of the prism housing. The controls are different but nevertheless intuitive and easily mastered.
The battery door is on the bottom, left end in the picture. Left of center at the bottom is the film rewind button and slide switch which is used to begin the auto film rewind. Other than the tripod mount there is nothing else on the bottom..
Characteristics of the T70
On a basic level the T70 is a 35mm camera with some automatic features. It is the automatic nature of the camera and the way these features are implemented that is unique. Introduced in April of 1984 the T70 remained in production until the EOS camera arrived in March of 1987. The standard lenses that usually came with it were the FDn 35-70mm f/3.5-4.5 or the FDn 28-55mm f/3.5-4.5.
On the T70 everything is controlled by buttons on the top deck. On the right side are two buttons called “Down” and “Up” and below them is a large LCD screen where settings are displayed. On the left side are a slide switch and three buttons. So, to set the ISO speed of the film you press the button labeled ISO, that’s rather intuitive, and on the LCD screen appears the current setting and you use the “Down” and “Up” buttons to change the setting. Press “BC”, for battery check, and a dashed line appears across the bottom of the LCD screen. Two or three dashes says the battery is good. One or no dashes says the batteries should be replaced. And by the way, even if the battery check says to replace the batteries you can try to fire the shutter. If it does fire the exposure will be correct. So you can see, this camera is intuitive and easy to use.
Film loading is easier than easy. Insert the film cassette, lay the film leader across the film advance sprocket and close the back. The camera will automatically advance the film to the first exposure immediately, or if the camera is turned off, the next time you turn it on.
The T70 LCD Screen
In addition to being the first Canon camera to use buttons and slide switches instead of knobs and dials it was the first Canon camera to employ an LCD to display camera settings. This screen is not a decoration but an essential part of the camera’s operation. There is no shutter speed dial, ISO speed dial or frame counter window. All of that information appears on the LCD screen, not all at once but as the information is required and relevant. And some icons displayed serve more than one purpose depending on the buttons being used.
For instance, there is no rewind crank to watch to reassure you that the film is advancing correctly or to
These are the possible symbols and icons that may appear on the LCD screen although not all at the same time. Those displayed will be relevant to the state of the camera at the time.
confirm that there is film in the camera. Instead there is a film canister icon that appears on the bottom of the LCD screen only when there is film in the camera. The battery check dashes also serve to indicate that there is film engaged in the film advance mechanism. But these dashes do not appear if the film is rewound into the canister. And finally, when the film is being advanced correctly the battery check dashes “walk” across the bottom of the screen. But, if you press the Battery Check (BC) button the cassette icon disappears and these dashes serve to indicate the battery condition.
There is a lot of information that can be displayed on this screen but only that information that is relevant to the camera operation at a given time is displayed. Watching the screen you know exactly what the camera is doing. Really smart!
The User Manual says that the LCD screens may begin to fade after five years and require replacement by Canon. However, that does not appear to be a significant problem. I have three T70’s in working condition and none of them have problems with the LCD screen after fourty years in service.
The T70 Shutter
The shutter is similar or the same as the one on the T50. It is electrically controlled and has metal blades that move vertically. Speeds run from 2 seconds to 1/1000th of a second and X Sync is at 1/90th of a second.
There is no threaded cable release socket however Canon offers as an accessory a device called the Cable Release Adapter T3 which attaches to the Remote Control Socket. This will accept a standard cable release. When using the Bulb setting you can keep the shutter open and the film frame count changes to a timer and counts the seconds that the shutter is open. Or you can use the Remote Switch 60T3 which we look at below.
The T70 Vewfinder
The T70 viewfinder is a model of simplicity. The screen itself is basically the same as the AE-1 or T50. It is a laser matte screen with a circular microprism focusing area with a split image prism in the middle. There is an additional circle outlining the approximate area of the Partial Metering pattern.
Down the right edge are LED’s indicators that display exposure conditions. On top is a red “M” that appears and flashes when the lens is set to Manual. Below that is a Green “P” that appears when the camera is in one of the automatic modes. Then comes a red Asterix which appears when the camera is set to Partial AE metering. Then there is a green Lighting Bolt that lights up when a Speedlite reaches full power. And finally below that in red is the Aperture that you or the camera is selecting.
If there is too much light or too little one or other of these LED’s will flash to indicate the problem. Details of how to read them is set out in the User Instructions.
The T70 Light Metering
Canon SLR’s to this point have offered what Canon called Center Weighted Average metering. This meant that almost the whole image area was sampled but the closer to the center of the screen the greater the weight given to the reading. The T70 offered another mode as well: Partial Metering which was a reading of the center 11% of the image. This area is marked approximately by a circle inscribed on the focusing screen. The exposure mode is selected using the Mode Selector slide switch which also contains the On-Off setting.
Partial Metering is not true Spot Metering because the area it covers is too wide. However, it does measure the light in the circle inscribed on the view screen and allows the user to more closely determine the correct exposure in a small part of the image.
This Canon T70 Brochure, Publication C-CE-208 (1984), explains the functions of the T70 in great detail. It is a must read!
The viewfinder is simple. The actual ground glass is very similar to that in the AE-1 with an added scribed circle to indicate the area of Partial Metering. Information that is not in the viewinder will be found on the LCD panel on the top deck.
T70 Exposure Modes
Once the camera takes its light reading, it must process that information and decide how to react to it. These are the Exposure Modes of which there are several.
The User can ignore the readings and simply set the camera to Manual and select the aperture and shutter speed himself. To do this simply set the camera to Tv (shutter priority) and take the lens off Automatic. Aperture is set on the lens and the shutter speed is set with the Up and Down Buttons.
Or the User can use Shutter Priority where the user sets the lens to Automatic and then sets the shutter speed and the camera sets the aperture.
And then there are three Program modes where the camera selects the aperture and shutter speed. The difference between them lies in the relationships between aperture and shutter speed. These are Standard Program AE, Tele Program AE and Wide Program AE. For a description of how they differ take a look at the T70 Brochure above.
R and FL Series lenses and close-up accessories without FD mount Signal Pins can be mounted on the T70 in Stop Down AE Mode. You do this by mounting the lens or closeup attachment and pressing the Mode button and using one of the Up-Down buttons until the “do-nut” symbol appears on the LCD screen. Then set the aperture and the camera will select the shutter speed. The problem is that you have to open the aperture to focus and then stop down to take the light measurement and then fire the shutter. Do note that the User Manual says that the FL 19mm f/3.5, FL 35mm f/2.5 and the FL 58mm f/1.2 cannot be used on the T70 so these stop down provisions do not apply to them.
Miscellaneous Notes
Like the T50 this camera is powered by two AA cells, either alkaline, carbon-zink, or Ni-Cd. What is not so well known is this camera also has a BR-1225 or CR-1220 Lithum battery mounted under the top plate. This battery powers the memory circuits for the film speed and frame counter when the AA cells are out of the camera body. Canon says that the lifetime of these batteries is about five years and that they must be changed by a camera technician. This memory is usually powered by the AA cells and the lithium cell is only called upon if the AA cells are out of the camera. If you only change the AA cells when the camera has no film in it you will never need the Lithium cell which will obviously maximize its life. As for the lifetime of those cells, my three T70’s are still going strong after forty years. But even if they fail, all I have to do is change the batteries when the camera is empty and no problem.
This camera works without film in it and you cannot tell from the sound that the camera is empty. So it is important to watch the LCD screen for the status of the camera. But, the camera is dead as a brick without the AA cells.
The T70 has no PC Socket and flash synchronization must be through the hot shoe. There is no Depth of Field Preview on the camera and it also lacks Automatic DX film sensing and Mirror Lockup. These are not serious omissions, especially when you consider the other features and abilities of this camera.
Because the T70 is revolutionary its functions and procedures can be confusing. Spend time with the Brochure above and the Instruction Manual to fully understand it. It was really a remarkable camera for its day.
The T70 is simple to operate but it differes from all cameras that preceded it. Before taking the T70 out for a photo walk spend some time reading this manual and going over the camera’s controls.
The Notes that Canon provides to their dealers to describe the T70 and its accessories are most interesting and the last page contains a list of accessories available.
For all of its modern
innovations the inside of the T70 is typical for Canon SLR’s of the day.
Note the metal sections of the vertically travelling shutter. Make sure not to touch these as they are easily damaged.
The Speedlite 277T was designed for the T70 where its use was almost totally automatic. It could be used as well on the T50 and other cameras of the “A” Series. Refer to the Manual for the 277T for details.
T70 Flash Photography
Just as Canon released the Speedlite 244T for the T50 camera when the T70 came out they introduced the Speedlite 277T designed for the T50 and T70. On the T70 flash photography became almost automatic with the Speedlite actually setting the shutter speed and aperture and displaying the selected aperture in the viewfinder. The user could also set the aperture himself.
On the back of the flash the user first set the film speed. Then there were two switch settings. The “Program” setting allowed the Speedlite and camera to chose both speed (190th of a second) and aperture. The second
The use of the 277T is to be found in the Instruction Manual
setting “F.No. Set” allowed the user to select one of eight f/stops on the Speedlite and that aperture would then be set automatically on the camera.
The 277T could also be used on the F-1, A-1, AE-1 and AE-1 Program and the AL-1, AV-1 and other cameras with some restrictions. These are set out in the Speedlite’s User Manual. The Manual also warns against using this Speedlite on cameras other than those by Canon as it was designed specifically for them. This unit cannot be used in multiple flash setups or with slave units.
The T70 Instructions recommend that flash units other than those by Canon not be used on this camera. I have not experimented with any flashes other than the 277T so it is hard to pass any comment. The Instructions for the camera should be read closely as well as the Manual for the desire flash unit considerable testing should be done before using a different flash in critical situations.
Other T70 Accessories
We cannot delve into all of the accessories available for the T70. Have a look at the last page of the Dealer’s Notes above for a list but this is not an all inclusive list because there are accessories that will use the FD lens mount of earlier cameras. Do not be afraid to try various pieces of equipment for earlier cameras to see what can be adapted to the T70.
T70 Camera Cases
The last page of the T70 Dealers’ Notes lists several camera cases for the camera. The most common is the Case S for the FD 50mm f/1.8 or FD 50mm f/1.4. After that is the Case L for a larger lens, the FD 50mm f/1.2, FD 50mm F/1.2L, FD 35-70mm f/3.5-4.5. There were also cases for the T70 when it had the Command Back 70 on it.
This is the Case S for the T70 intended for the FD 50mm f/1.8 or similar sized lenses.
The Case S is easy to identify because it has the name embossed into the bottom of the case as you can see in the center image.
The Command Back 70
The back on the T70 is removable and can be replaced by the Command Back 70 which was designed specifically for the T70. This back will imprint the date up to 2029 on the bottom edge of the film. It can also print the day and time of the exposure or it can print an arbitrary 6 digit number plus the letters A through F. It will also print frame number up to four digits. Not only that but it can control exposures and the firing of the shutter at set intervals. You can find a more complete description of the Command Back 70 here together with a copy of the User Instructions.
The Shutter Button has no threaded cable release receptical. This too has been updated in the T70. Because the shutter is fired electronically it was possible to trigger it electrically as well.
On the front of the T70, in the lower left corner looking at it from the front, is a screw in cap which covers the Remote Control Terminal. This connection will accept several devices that will fire the camera. It is not a PC Socket. It is a three contact plug that is secured by a screw in collar.
The simple replacement for the physical cable release is the Remote Switch 60T3. This is a simple device. There is one button which will fire the camera. It will slide forward and lock allowing the shutter to keep firing or, in Bulb mode, keep the shutter open. That’s it. Almost as simple as a traditional cable release and just as effective.
The Wireless Controller LC-1 is an infra red remote trigger that allows you to fire the shutter from several meters away so long as you have direct line of sight from the Receiver Unit on the camera to the Transmitter in your hand. The Receiver Unit slips into the hot shoe and a wire out the back plugs into the Remote Control Terminal.
The connector on the end of the plug in cable looks like a miniature RCA Jack which will not fit the Remote Control Terninal. You need an adapter called the Remote Switch Adapter T3 This is shown in the illustration on Page 66 of the User Instructions for the T70.
Although the LC-1 works on the T70 the User Instructions say that it is designed for the New F-1 with one of the power winders (for the LC-1 to plug into), A-1, AE-1 Program with Motor Drive MA or Power Winder A2, or the F-1 with Motor Drive MF or Power Winder F. The power
The Command Back often has a problem with moisture in the small LCD screen, as mine does. That’s the black area on the right of the screen.
The Remote Switch 60T3 has just a button to press and you can lock it. That’s all you need to know. Plug it in and press the button.
The User Instructions for the Wireless Controller LC-1 say that it is designed for “F” and “A” Series cameras which came before the “T” Series the the User Manual for the LC-1 says it works on the T70.
Miscellaneous other T70 Accessories
The last page of the Dealers’ Notes for the T70 has a detailed list of accessories that can be used with the T70. These include a wide range of macro photography accessories such as bellows units, macro photo couplers, extension tubes and viewfinder angle viewers and magnifiers. The camera also works with the camera holder F4, copy stands, cable releases, dioptric adjustment lenses and camera cases. And let’s not forget Canon’s extensive range of lenses for every purpose.
This camera may not be a professional top of the line camera but you can see that it is versatile and capable of all types of photography. Today’s collectors and film shooters are overlooking a very capable and historically important transitional camera. It certainly deserves a place in any collection of Canon film SLR’s. And it is a great camera to take out for a walk. It captures great pictures.
BEcause of the FD lens mount the T70 can make use of attachments designed decades before for other cameras. This FL Bellows was origninally designed in the early 1960’s for the FX, FP, Pellix and FT cameras.
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