Yes, thanks for pointing out. This is also the case in other A series cameras such as AE-1. I have mentioned them in other videos. Most users have lost them long ago. Replicas can still be purchased on Aliexpress from China.
A great camera and a nicely done video. one tip, the plastic hot shoe cover has a protruding bit at the front, that is meant to be used to open and close the battery door, as you said the door is a week point and easily damaged and the plastic bit fits in the slot just right.
Excellent video. The A-1 was my second camera, and definitely head-and-shoulders above the AE-1 in terms of functionality and dead-on exposure. I do not know how Nikon compared at the time (I couldn't afford them then!), but they would have been hard pressed to match the A-1 metering. For simplicity, the AE-1 was great, for more demanding work, the A-1 was more accurate. Watching the review reminded me of things I had forgotten since it's been over 40 years since I had one. Cheers!
Thanks for the great comment and for sharing your experience. I note that you use past tense, as if you no longer use these cameras. Hopefully these videos will get you fired up and energized to pick up the A-1 again and re-live the good memories. I had lost my first camera, a Rollei 35. So, I bought a new one exactly the same re-lived my high school days.
Nice video. Canon A1 was my first body and I still love it. It was a real revolution with its PASM capabilities (even if the minolta introdipuced the ASM one year before and the program mode is not used a lot if you want to manage your image) its little but so pleasant to use grip, it’s fabulous 5im/sec optional motor and numeric leds in the view finder. When I bought it - I was 15 and I hesitated a lot with the Nikon FE which was more simple but probably as efficient and perhaps better to learn reflex photography. The main issue of the canon A1 is that you can t use the dof lever when you are in aperture priority … which is for me a big issue because if you are in A mode (or Av for canon) you do want to evaluate this. This is why I said the Nikon FE was a little better for learning photography :). Then the shutter was not so good (this is the only part I needed to change on mine (a usual issue on the ’for A line which begins with a strange noise and finishes by replacement). But as you said it s piece of history which settled Canon as a very technological brand and Nikon needed to wait for the FA with its matrix exposure to generate a new important technology break in photography. Canon did it again with the t90 which is probably one of the best film camera before the autofocus area like the Contax RTS 3 or the Leica R8. But perhaps you will speak of these cameras later.
Thanks. Some excellent points made. I will be covering Nikon FE and Leica R8. I have already covered Contax RTS and Leica R6.2 (which I would also highly recommend). Unfortunately we don't have a Contax RTS 3, because the finder was faulty and had to be returned. In the next 2 days watch for the video on Canon AE-1. In my opinion, the best learner camera which also lasts one or two lifetimes is Nikon FM2n, which I also covered.
Actually, the Minolta XD has the P mode. You have to set the camera to shutter priority, the shutter speed to 1/125 and the aperture closed to minimum. It actually is the first SLR to feature PASM... It has to have a MD lens in order to work... I use mine all the time like that 😊
From what I’m reading that’s not the case though. You can shoot in either aperture or shutter priority mode. From everything I’m reading that’s that. Perhaps the LENS you’re using was manufactured in a way to add aperture functionality to the meter in the camera, essentially creating an accessory that allows you to shoot full auto but only in one focal length. This was the first CAMERA with full auto.
The Minolta XD (aka XD 7 or XD11) does not have a true Program Mode, but it does have ASC (Automatic Speed Compensation). For ASC to work you first set Shutter Priority to 1/125. ASC will then auto correct exposure by varying the shutter speed from 1/125 if the camera feels the aperture range of the lens can not give you the correct exposure.
@@TechHeritage It should be much more than 2 stops because it will vary both shutter speed and aperture to give you a correct exposure. Much like program mode.
