Canon EF
If you like your Canon cameras to have a degree of electronic precision and automation without any of the plastic involved with the Canon SLRs of the 1980s and 1990s, then the Canon EF is the camera for you. Produced between 1973 until 1978, the Canon EF was based upon all the success of Canon's flagship professional SLR, the F-1, but the EF was marketed more toward the advanced amateur photographer. The Canon EF is an incredibly well-built, all-metal, durable tank of a camera, that also incorporated some state-of-the-art electronic advancements that would go on to be become standard in succeeding generations of Canon SLR cameras.
The most notable feature of the Canon EF has to be its shutter. The EF is the only camera to use the Copal Square vertically-traveling, metal-bladed shutter. This shutter is an electro-mechanical hybrid. For shutter speeds ranging between 1/2 to 1/1000 of a second, the operation is entirely mechanical and can be done even in the absence of batteries. With shutter speeds between 1 to 30 seconds, the timing was done electronically. This did require battery power, but also allowed for long exposures that were precisely timed and did not require the use of bulb mode.
The Canon EF has two exposure modes: full manual and shutter priority. It also features a center weighted metering pattern that favors the bottom of the viewfinder, helping to alleviate under exposure due to bright skies. One should keep this in mind when metering while holding the camera vertically. The EF was rounded out with several other useful features such as a self-timer, mirror lock up, exposure lock, depth of field preview, and multiple exposures. It also has a nifty on/off switch that turns the meter on and pops out the film advance lever 15 degrees in one small movement.
Affectionately referred to as the "Black Beauty," the Canon EF has done a lot to earn the respect and admiration of film photographers over the generations. With its short production run, the camera is not commonly found on the used market but if you stumble across one, be sure to give it consideration.
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