Going Analog - Rolling with the AE-1

-Oh! You have a "new" camera! the nice lady at the photoshop noticed.

And what a camera! I would have added but I complied only to answer:

-It's a beauty, isn't it?

-I suppose it is, I don't know much about cameras generally, not to talk about film photography.

Probably a photoshop shouldn't have been her first choice in the line of work considering that declaration.

Anyway, that's what I have to say after using this pretty ancient camera: WOW! and after seeing the results (once I got used to it). Still, she is nice enough to call the old guy, developing photos every Wednesday, out in the front, to take my roll out, as they were already used to me and my old Zenit.

Only this time, the Canon was not the Zenit and the easiness with which one is able to rewind the film and take it out has nothing to do with the "communist" approach. This thing, the camera, is a very nice piece of mechanics and after the time I had to get used to it, I can say that they've made a great job with this one, considering the times, the materials available and the limitations of technology.

Of course, I ruined a film roll at the beginning but I expected that. When you start using a new camera, especially one from the "old guard", there is an accommodation period, as the entry stages of a new relationship. The Canon AE-1 is also one of those cameras that you manage to shot straight out of the box if you let the automatic control of the aperture take control. As I'm a "manual type" of a guy I did decide to try my first roll of film on the totally manual mode... which is nice, but at first, until you get the vibes together, you get to ruin a lot of shots.

On the latest rolls (of which I selected a few shots for this article) I went on fully on the Automatic Control of the Aperture, which the AE-1 does thanks to the first chip in the industry that was able to do just that.

And what can I say?! At least during daylight, for an electronic made during the Cold War, it does a hell of a job.

The second roll I burnt in Craiova (which I'll present in another article) while the third roll I decided to spend at the seaside, during my first weekend on the beach this year. To my natural luck, I decided to go in what turned out to be, probably the most crowded weekend of the year. I guess that every fucking citizen came to the beach during that weekend and every child with his parents decided to drop by on the seaside walkway in Mamaia. It was so crowded that even on the wide areas of this walkway we were having troubles not to hit other people. It felt awful.

But sometimes, you are lucky that you have a child and you have to be, latest, at 7 o'clock on the beach, so at 10, maximum, you can leave, in order only to come back at 5. But that's the best part of the day in the peak season. Even though at some level I get drained out of energy, on another one, having the whole day in front of me makes perfect sense. I'm not a morning person...

I love the grain this camera adds to every photo. It is pretty grungy and sometimes if the shutter speed isn't adjusted, it somehow tries to compensate details, in the grunge. It's the perfect camera to have around you if you love the vintage look to your photos. It is fast, point and shot if you leave on the Auto Aperture mode. You have a nice lever to stop the camera (somehow of a three-point-on-off-button) so in this way no accidental pressing of the shutter may occur and the battery will not drain. Canon thought of everything when they made this camera and as a Nikon lover (mostly because of the intuitive menu), on this vintage Canon, I love the way the commands are placed. It is easy to learn and easy to use.

On top of it all, as mine came without the strap, I decided to order one of those shoulder straps for it, that costed something like 15 euros. Best decision I ever made. It's not only easy to wear camera wear but it's also a cool one. It matches the style of this camera (at least) and somehow it made me think about changing to one of these shoulder straps also on my main DSLR.

-You only got 6 shots on this film.

That's how the lady welcomed me when I went in to get the shots of my first film that I shot with the Canon.

-Well, I have to get in tune with the camera...

-Aha... next time use a digital camera. Failures will not cost you money...