The

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

AL-1 was an

FD mount The Canon FD lens mount is a physical standard for connecting a photographic lens to a 35mm single-lens reflex camera body. The standard was developed by Canon of Japan and was introduced in March 1971 with the Canon F-1 camera. It served as the ...

35mm 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format ...

single-lens reflex camera A single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is a camera that typically uses a mirror and prism system (hence "reflex" from the mirror's reflection) that permits the photographer to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured. With twin le ...

introduced in March 1982. Its main feature was the "Quick Focus" focus-assist system that was aimed at those who had trouble focusing through the

viewfinder In photography, a viewfinder is what the photographer looks through to compose, and, in many cases, to focus the picture. Most viewfinders are separate, and suffer parallax, while the single-lens reflex camera lets the viewfinder use the main ...

—either novices, or those with poor eyesight—and was intended to head off competition from the first full-

autofocus An autofocus (or AF) optical system uses a sensor, a control system and a motor to focus on an automatically or manually selected point or area. An electronic rangefinder has a display instead of the motor; the adjustment of the optical system ...

cameras from other manufacturers, such as the

Pentax ME F The Pentax ME F was an amateur level, interchangeable lens, 35 mm film, single-lens reflex (SLR) camera. It was manufactured by Asahi Optical Co., Ltd. of Japan from November 1981 to 1984. The ME F was a heavily modified version of the Pentax ME ...

Features

As a lower-end camera, the AL-1 did not offer a long list of features. Instead, Canon focused on providing core functionality and lowering price. The AL-1 provides focus-confirmation, aperture-priority autoexposure (controlled by a through-the-lens silicon photocell), manual shutter speeds from 1/15 to 1/1000 of a second, and a 10 second self-timer. It also added a larger grip, and the convenience of using of AAA cells for power. However the battery door is one of its weakness as most of the cameras that are found today on the market have a battery door that is broken or has been replaced. Its body was constructed from a special

polycarbonate Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, tough materials, and some grades are optically transparent. They are easily work ...

that was then painted to imitate metal. An ISO hotshoe, A-series power winder connections, and cable-release socket provide an acceptable level of compatibility with accessories. It was also the last SLR camera to carry Canon's 1960s-era logo on the pentaprism. The camera uses Canon's breech-lock FD mount, and so users could choose from the wide variety of Canon FD lenses, as well as those from third parties. Users could also utilise Canon R and FL lenses, but with some limitations. In 1987, Canon abandoned the FD mount in favour of the EF mount along with the

EOS In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Eos (; Ionic and Homeric Greek ''Ēṓs'', Attic ''Héōs'', "dawn", or ; Aeolic ''Aúōs'', Doric ''Āṓs'') is the goddess and personification of the dawn, who rose each morning from her home ...

camera system, which uses the same concept as the T80 but with a new and incompatible mount designed around an all-electronic interface.

Autofocus

The AL-1 marked Canon's first public foray into autofocus technology. While far from a true autofocus system, the camera acted a test for Canon engineers to evaluate phase detection for SLR cameras. The QF focus-assist system uses traditional phase detection linear CCD arrays in the base of the camera. Light is diverted to these sensors through a partially silvered mirror. When the light of the subject is in phase, the image is in focus. Below the viewfinder image, two red arrows indicate which direction to turn the focusing ring to achieve focus. Optimum focus is indicated by a green light (circle) between the two arrows. Contrast detection is the system used for

on most compact

digital camera A digital camera is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile device ...

s in recent years. Due to the camera's lack of features, it was never overly popular and so it would be 1985 before Canon expanded on the concept, even though its competitors raced ahead. In 1983

Nikon (, ; ), also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group. Nikon's products include cameras, camera ...

introduced the F3AF, a special version of their pro-series F3, which used a special viewfinder with a built-in autofocus system connecting electronically to a motor in the lens. In 1985

Minolta was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It made the first integrated autofocu ...

introduced the

Maxxum 7000 The Minolta MAXXUM 7000 (7000 AF in Europe and α-7000 in Japan) 35 mm SLR camera was introduced in February 1985. It was the first camera to feature both integrated autofocus (AF) and motorised film advance, the standard configuration for later ...

(Dynax 7000 in Europe and Asia), the world's first body-integrated autofocus SLR. Canon reacted to this with the T80, which integrated the focus system into the body and, as with the F3AF, connected electronically with a motor in the lens.

External links

YouTube video
describing the function of the focusing element in the Canon AL-1

{{Table of Canon SLR AL-1