I picked up a Canon AE-1 Program a while back, mostly out of curiosity. It came out in 1981, it’s a 35mm SLR, and it’s probably the most common “serious” film camera you’ll find in a charity shop or on a French brocante table for silly money. Mine’s been through a lot of rolls since, and I still reach for it more than I expected to.
The thing that sold me was how it handles exposure. In Program mode it sets shutter speed and aperture itself, so if I just want to point it at something and not think, I can. That’s handy on days when I’ve got my hands full and don’t want to fuss with settings. But it’s not just an automatic box: switch it over and you get full manual control, plus shutter priority and a bulb mode for long exposures. I’ve used the bulb mode for a couple of night shots and it did exactly what I needed, nothing more complicated than holding the shutter open and counting.
Build-wise, it’s a metal body, and it feels like it. Solid, a bit heavy, no creak in the hinges. There’s something about handling an old metal camera after a run of plastic ones that just feels right, even if that’s pure nostalgia talking. The viewfinder is bright and clear with a split-image prism in the middle, so focusing manually is quick once you know what you’re looking for. There’s a hot shoe if you want to bolt on a flash, and a self-timer, which I mostly use for the odd self-portrait when there’s nobody around to hand the camera to.
For the record, here’s what you’re working with:
- 35mm SLR film camera
- Program, shutter priority, and manual modes
- Metal body
- Split-image prism viewfinder
- Hot shoe for flash
- Self-timer
- ISO 12 to 1600
- Shutter speeds from 1/1000 down to 30 seconds
- Aperture range f/1.2 to f/16, depending on the lens
Only real gripe: because it’s so well known and well liked, prices have crept up over the years. It’s not the bargain it once was. That’s the price of being a favourite, I suppose.
Would I recommend it? Yes, easily, whether you’re starting out with film or you’ve been shooting for years and want something you can trust without thinking too hard about it. I’ve had mine for a good while now and it hasn’t let me down once. The way it moves between automatic and manual without any fuss means I can shoot however the moment demands, and that’s really all I want from a camera.
Here’s a straight scan next to a version with a few basic tweaks in Lightroom, nothing heavy. Curious what you make of the difference.
The idea here is to give you a raw image from the film scans and show you what you can get with a minimum of fuss in Lightroom with some very basic edits. What do you think?
And below is a small selection from the last roll I developed, shot in 2022 on the streets of Nantes. More to come, I’m sure, now that I’m back into film properly.
