Canon TLb
The Canon TLb is for the photographer who loves the Canon FTb but wishes the camera were a bit more pared down, a bit simpler. In truth, that is exactly the point of the TLb. Introduced in September of 1974, the Canon TLb was a stripped-down version of the Canon FTb, destined initially for the export market (the TLb was eventually sold in Japan beginning in April of 1976).
The Canon TLb is as solid as any SLR camera of its era. The lucky photographer who picks one of these cameras up is met with an incredibly durable, all mechanical camera that is capable of lasting a lifetime. The TLb is a straight-forward camera with simple controls that are fast to learn and easy to use. Sure, it is missing a few features found on the FTb, such as a top shutter speed of 1/500th, as opposed to the 1/1,000th of the FTb. Nor does the TLb have a hotshoe. The shoe atop the camera will hold a flash just fine, but said flash will need to be plugged into the PC socket on the camera body to sync with the shutter. The TLb also is missing the QL - quick load - innovation that Canon was popularizing at the time. Yes, this did make loading film a bit faster and easier, but countless photographers have survived just fine without it.
In its way, the TLb reminds us that a varied list of innovations and features are often unnecessary. The best endeavors are often built by mastering the most basic of concepts, and the TLb embodies that notion beautifully.
za/sd
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