I Finally Tried the Canon AE-1—Here’s What Surprised Me
I finally got a chance to shoot with the Canon ae-1!
And wow, I get the hype now.
I’m embarrassed to say I’ve actually had this camera collecting dust on a shelf for a long time now. Lately I’ve been trying to do all the things I’ve been ‘meaning to do,’ so the other morning I decided to pull her out and play with her!
Needless to say it was so much fun to finally use this camera that so many of my friends, fellow photographers and students have been shooting with.
But, it was also very eye opening.
Here are some early insights into this camera that I learned even just shooting a couple of rolls!
This camera commands a much slower pace of shooting
The canon ae-1 reminded me a lot of shooting with the Contax 645 because the camera requires more patience and slowness. The focusing system is cumbersome… there is a small circle in the viewfinder and when you’re taking a picture, you have to line up the two halves of the circle to know it’s in focus. So you can’t be as quick with shooting, and getting movement can be more challenging. In order to work with this, you have to be much more mindful and intentional about how you shoot. But, I kind of loved the forced slow down. It was a very enjoyable way of shooting.
The pictures are just so pretty
Again, the canon ae-1 reminds me a lot of my Contax 645 because the pictures it takes are just sooooo pretty. The camera comes with a fixed lens (meaning you can’t zoom in and out, you have to move your body). Typically fixed lenses are higher quality glass and it shows. Because of these reasons, the photos feel very editorial to me and less photojournalistic (though you can definitely still capture genuine moments with it).
Exposure options
There are two methods of shooting with this - manual mode (where you set your aperture and shutter speed) OR shutter speed priority mode (basically an auto mode on the camera where you pick your shutter speed, and the camera automatically sets the aperture). To be honest, I was pretty impressed with the shutter speed priority mode. Which I was not expecting to say! I still wouldn’t rely on it because it’s not consistent. It nailed about 80% of the pictures which was much more than I was anticipating.
My recommendation: a light meter or light meter app is so much better to use so you can manually set your shutter speed and aperture to get beautiful results consistently. Every frame on a roll of film counts. Losing 20% of your shots isn’t worth it
(alternatively…. just for fun to think about… if you love this kind of vibey mistake occasionally, maybe then it’s worth taking the risk?)
This camera travels great
This camera might require you to slow down to shoot, but it travels great because it’s so light and easy to carry around with you. Which is kind of the biggest barrier to shooting every day stuff is just having it be easily accessible to actually do it. I would highly recommend this camera for every day shooting with your family and friends, or traveling 100%!
All in all, I’d definitely recommend the canon ae-1 as a great beginner film camera that can grow with you.
Do you shoot with the canon ae-1?
If you’re on the hunt for a film camera, click HERE to download my (free) Beginner Film Camera guide (which of course I’ve included the canon ae-1 in the list).
xo
Suzy
Ways to connect more with me:
I started a podcast finally! I would say this is for parents, photographers, anyone interested in all things growing and noticing.
Is there a light meter app you recommend or a physical light meter reader? Your references are great and I realize that so many of my photos are more underexposed.
I adore my Canon AE-1—it’s such a teaching camera! You definitely see when a shot comes in underexposed or when the auto program setting misjudges the light. (Most of the time) the photos turn out beautifully! What's the next best film camera to get if you are progressing to another manual option?