Canon AE-1 35mm SLR Film Camera 

Canon Inc., 1976

Polycarbonate, glass-fiber, metallic simulated plastic, optical glass

14.8 x 9 x 4.9 cm (body only); 14.8 x 9 x 8.5 cm (with lens) 

Made in Japan. Acquired from original owner Lynda Fairbanks whom originally purchased in 1981, then personally purchased at Value Village in Guelph in 2017

Personal Collection

The Canon AE-1 35mm SLR Film Camera was first introduced in April of 1976 and became Canon’s most successful camera of all time. Fashioned in Japan, Canon released the model and manufactured them from 1976 until 1984. AE-1 stands for Auto Exposure One, which refers to a technology of automatically measuring the exposure of what is being captured through the lens. This was a mechanism ahead of its time, and for many other film camera models produced at the time, it made for a standard learning tool for photographers everywhere. The AE-1 also paved the way for future electronic cameras and signalled the transition from all-mechanical to electronically controlled operations. 

This object speaks to a timeline of how images were made in relation to the modern world of immediate image making at the touch of a button that we have come to rely on to document and share experiences globally. The Canon AE-1 was selected to demonstrate the universal commercial model for film cameras that made image-making look easy. The juxtaposition of a film camera next to a digital age camera is an interesting comparison of simplicity versus complexity. Standard film cameras are quite easy to breakdown in order to understand the physical mechanics of how they are constructed as opposed to digital cameras and their notoriously evolving, complex technology. The use of the film camera was less pervasive, limited to those trained to use the cameras. The functionality of old versus new technology is crucial for understanding not only the future of image making but how we assess and experience events and crises in the global context today.

Alexis Freitag