Canon EOS-1: A History & Review | This Old Camera #17

[@cameraman655]

Initially, I was one of those ‘FD’ shooters cursing Canon when they announced the ‘1’ and tossing the ‘FD’ system into the trash bin. I was in love with my F1s and the newly acquired T-90, I felt betrayed. Two years later, I was rockin’ 2x EOS1(N)s, the FD system was in the rearview mirror, there was no going back. Many credit the ‘EF’ system for dethroning the Nikon system from it’s lofty perch as the top dog of pro camera systems back in the 90s. Whether that is true or not, I don’t know, but as a wire service shooter back then, I recall seeing the sea of black Nikkors at many sporting events and press conferences, turning into a sea of white EF glass in the early 90s.

[@frankzappa3834]

And it's pretty much stayed even through today!

[@AzrielKnight]

Thanks for sharing :)

[@frstesiste7670]

There are no doubt that the all electronic EF-mount and AF motors in the lenses dethroned Nikon as the top Pro system. Maybe not that obvious for the lower end models, but I guess the effect of having the top pro cameras and lenses affected the lower end market as well. What I don't get is why Canon didn't design EF for some compatibility with FD-lenses. It would have made the transition to the new system easier for many people. As long as you had to start from scratch going from FD to EF you might as well switch brands.

[@goldenhourkodak]

Yay! My favorite series on KZbin is back.

[@AzrielKnight]

Expect more soon!

[@christophermorris7616]

The new lens line were revolutionary, I was already 10 years into an FD lens system. When I made the complete switch in January of 1990. To afford the switch, I was in Panama 🇵🇦 for the US Invasion. And Canons Latin America was headquarters there. With the immediate funds I made shooting video of the invasion. When things settled down. Canon sold me a complete kit at an amazing price. 20-35mm 2.8L, 80-200 2.8L 50mm 1.0L & 300mm 2.8L. The auto focused changed everything. The body had two serious flaws though. The sound of the film rewind is at an extremely high pitched screaming sound. You 100 percent had to make sure you changed the auto rewind setting to off. You would then have to bury the camera under your armpit to subdue the sound. The other problems were the control buttons, sand and moisture would get underneath the buttons, enabling them unresponsive. You would have to use camping tent repair tape over these buttons to keep the camera operating, otherwise you couldn’t change important settings and would be stuck at whatever settings you had.

[@estebanclark3092]

I got one from a camera shop for 13 bucks. It was marked "parts" but everything looked good cosmetically so I took a very easy gamble and bought it. The battery cost more than the camera, and I didn't expect much, but I turned it on and everything worked! I just finished a roll with it and developed it. Everything looks good!! Best 13 bucks I ever spent.

[@AzrielKnight]

Sweet baby Jesus that's awesome.

[@JoshuaRastia]

Yay for the return of This Old Camera!! Hope you keep making more vids for this series :)

[@AzrielKnight]

I will be. I've been spending a lot of time behind the scenes getting things ready. Expect another one soon!

[@rickyzagalo]

As someone has already said here, this is a happy return of one of the best old cameras video series, if not the best. I greatly appreciate all the magazine's articles and advertising you show, fundamental history milestones and, of course, to listen to your experience and comments. And it's kind of funny because I didn't like my experience with a EOS1. I have several old cameras, rangefinder and slr, Minoltas Nikons, Olympus that I like a lot and, I often shoot with. One day I started investigating the 90's Canon, cameras with very good looks and features and, I looked and tried an EOS 3 and an EOS 1, as I had read they were the reference because of their professional competence but honestly , I did not like both, I didn't get a good use experience. To me there's something wrong with the Canon buttons in general, (with their digital cameras remains the same), maybe lack course to have a convincing feel, some are hidden behind a door and those functions with use of two buttons, with a disorganized look of arrows in several directions, honestly that were ergonomics and design options not very well achieved. Of course none of this makes sense to the Canon's supporter's, that's only my feels when I pick up one of these cameras. I ended up buying an EOS 5(A2e) and a 30 (Elan 7e) which, although maybe being of a lower leaguer, at least in prestige, take pictures equally with heaps of brilliance and competence and, unlike the 1 and 3, for me are nice to use. Cheers,

[@dps6198]

I have all three generations; 1, 1N and 1V and all three work beautifully.

[@AzrielKnight]

Awesome!

[@pipinfresh]

Glad you are back doing this series again.

[@AzrielKnight]

Thanks Pip, I've been working hard making a database of magazines and what's in them, expect more soon!

[@Fauxtonics]

Once the EOS-1 was released, I sold my T90 for $1 more than what I had paid for it, along with my 24 f/2.8, 50 f/1.4, 85 f/1.2, and my 200 macro. And bought the EOS 1 and their trinity of zoom lenses. To shoot with an EOS 1 is to understand why Canon became the professional’s choice for a 35mm SLR. As noted in the video, the EOS 1 could focus on horizontal and vertical lines. In contrast, Nikon’s F4 could not. If that wasn’t reason enough to make the switch to an EOS 1, the use of a rear focusing button sealed the deal. This button, activated via custom function #4, allowed the user to pre-focus on a spot, say 2nd base, and then wait for the decisive moment to take the shot. In contrast, the Nikon F4 didn’t have this capability. Therefore, the user had to: 1) press the shutter button half way and wait, or 2) put the camera into manual focus. This feature alone made the EOS 1 a favorite among sports photographers and photojournalists. Looking at press pools at sporting events like the Super Bowl, one saw a sea of white lens (Canon’s pro lenses are white while Nikon’s are black). Pros were switching from Nikon to Canon in droves. So much so that saying someone “made the switch” was taken to mean they sold their Nikon gear for Canon. Lastly was Canon’s introduction of professional quality zoom lenses like the 20-35, 28-80, and the 80-200. Meanwhile, Nikon sat on their laurels stuck in the 60s with the belief that zooms were inferior to prime lenses. But with the use of aspherical lens elements, Canon proved them wrong. Canon had the versatile 20-35 and 28-80 f2.8, while Nikon had their 35-70, which was an antiquated inferior and less versatile design. It would take the better part of a decade for Nikon catch up, but by that time Nikon had lost the vast majority of the professional and advanced-user market.

[@SchardtCinematic]

At least Canon learned thier lesson when bringing out the M mount and the RF mount by bringing out adapters to allow EF lenses to work on both. Plus thanks to Fotodiox. I am able to put my old FD mount lenses on any of my Canon EF mount cameras and I own 3. One being an old used Canon Rebel G 35mm film camera.

[@mysteryman1579]

As a Nikon shooter I really enjoyed this episode Azriel! Excellent as always 👍🏻

[@berkeleygang1834]

Same here.

[@AzrielKnight]

Thanks to you both :)

[@christopherbgriffith]

So glad to see new episodes in this series. 🎉

[@AzrielKnight]

Thanks Christopher, expect more soon!

[@J.R.Y.]

A trip down memory lane! Thanks Az.

[@AzrielKnight]

No problem. :)

[@frankzappa3834]

And Nikon still hasn’t made a camera to match this! Great episode, and an even better Camera!

[@AzrielKnight]

Thank you :)

[@Alex-B2357]

Fighting words!

[@arvinlouiseagtarap8242]

Here I was, watching this video considering this camera -- and BAM, the reviewer is Calgarian! Hello Fellow Cowtown-er! :D Great video, Review, and shots! Hope i see you shooting around downtown one of these days!

[@AzrielKnight]

Hey Arvin, drop me a line on Instagram , always looking to go shooting with people :)

[@oliverkhoo]

Love these old camera review

[@AzrielKnight]

Thank you!

[@gelderlandproduction]

Absolutely fantastic review. Thank you so much for your efforts in getting its history and functions. Bravo!

[@AzrielKnight]

Thanks very much Michael!

[@klofisch]

Lol "Ever tried to find a 2CR5 Battery in Al-Hajara Desert?" :D

[@AzrielKnight]

lol, good point but he probably had the speed booster which took AA's

[@RobertLeeAtYT]

I’ve come close to buying used 1, 1v and 1n at various points over the past 15 years. I backed off each time. Price was a consideration of course as these were still expensive used. More importantly, however, I’ve always had a suspicion that most have already had a hard life. The EOS-1 series were often the staples of in press pools and the like. Nope, bought the EOS-3 instead (and accumulated a couple of A2 and A2e along the way too). The 3 was interesting. This was Canon’s tech demonstration platform. It was also targeted toward the doctor and lawyer photo hobbyist crowd. Picked up a cabinet queen ten years back.

[@tomislavmiletic_]

In a year that Canon EOS was introduced, I was still burned by awful electronics found in minolta cameras that where freezing already at 5 C (and back than we had strong and long winters). So I stepped back and worked with fully mechanical Nikons for years. I finally jumped the gun in 1995 when I bought than new EOS 5, which I, miraculously, still have, course EOS 1 was still way too expensive, even used one. But that 28-105mm lens that came in the kit... my god, I'm not sure was that my copy only but that was one of worst the lenses I've ever used! While usable at 28mm, at 105mm it was a wash. The 28-90mm, which I got in another kit years later, was smaller, lighter, and way sharper at all focal lengths.

[@AzrielKnight]

The EOS 5 is a great camera. I've done a This Old Camera on that as well!

[@michaelbarfield528]

Great review! I almost bought an EOS-1 in 1991, almost.......

[@Baer9471]

Years later, EOS cameras are a big success

[@klofisch]

One thing what is missing is that are two motor types where used in the lenses. Not only Ultrasonics....also i simple direct drive for the cheap lenses like 1.8/50 Version I and II as example. The simple 80-300 Zoom came also in USM and a non-USM-Version............100DM difference in 1997

[@AzrielKnight]

Peter, agreed, but I don't think many people in the day would buy Canon's flagship and then a cheap lens.

[@SirPandaEsq]

I love these videos, keep up the good work!

[@AzrielKnight]

Thank you, next one should be out in a couple weeks :)

[@willhorne35]

This is an excellent video

[@thedondeluxe6941]

Love my EOS-1. In fact I just bought yet another older EF lens, just so I can use it on both my digital bodies and on my EOS-1 :-)

[@AzrielKnight]

I love that about it!

[@thorstenjaspert9394]

You can attach the latest EF L lenses and squeeze out the highest sharpness of a film ever before. The EOS 1 it was a big through in the world of film photography. Canon set a new landmark. Till to the launch of the R system the EOS system was over 30 years state of the art. 👍

[@stillben]

great bit of archival researching...thanks

[@AzrielKnight]

Thanks Ben :)

[@SinaFarhat]

Great work! One of my favourite cameras is the 1v!

[@AzrielKnight]

I've heard that a few times, would like to try it.

[@SinaFarhat]

@@AzrielKnight I should mention that it is a very electronic heavy camera so repairing one can be tricky!

[@dumkopf]

This is great. I love my Eos-1v. Personally I think they surpass any of the Eos [x]D line. Though, never handled a 1D.

[@AzrielKnight]

I'd like to try the 1V at some point.

[@trevorsowers2202]

I’m a big fan of the 1V. I sold some other cameras to buy more 1V’s. I now have 3 and I shoot them all the time! The digital 1 series have built in grips so they only work as a huge camera but the 1V can have the motor drive removed to make it more compact and I absolutely love that.

[@yassinerizzani4600]

interesting, while nikon focused its first professional af camera on reliability, canon focused on focus speed and performance. but what about the minolta 9000 and minolta 8000i. those were also advanced professional af cameras.

[@AzrielKnight]

I do plan on talking about those Minoltas at some point, as I came across lots of info on them during my research.

[@Butterfly07949]

Great review would have been nice to have touched on the EOS 1RS though with it highest frame rate at the time for sports photography.

[@AzrielKnight]

Thanks Marc. I honestly didn't come across any information on the 1RS.

[@RobertLeeAtYT]

Ahh, the RS was an interesting camera. It used a pellicle mirror. This is semi-transparent. A third of the light went to the viewfinder. The rest went on to the film plane. The mirror is fixed in place and doesn’t flip up at all. The frame exposure rate then is limited really only by the film transfer motor. The thing was targeted solely to the action photographers. You can immediately see the disadvantages though right? The VF is relatively darker. The film also loses 1/3 of a stop. The other disadvantage at the time was that any dust or dirt on the pellicle mirror also shows up on the film. Funny that this exactly is the problem we have today with digital. It was a sore point back then though. With a reflex mirror, a dirty mirror just means smudges in the VF. You’re still guaranteed a brand new and clean “sensor” for each exposure.

[@artem7804]

I missed these

[@AzrielKnight]

Expect more soon!

[@whfowle]

There is no doubt that Canon has someone on staff that knows how to read the tea leaves! They have disappointed so many photographers over the years by abruptly changing everything in order to make something better. Yet, they are now the market leader in cameras and lenses for pros. With the change to mirrorless, they have finally decided to make these cameras backward compatible with the large family of EOS EF lenses. Good for them! But while they were trying so hard to beat Nikon, they let Sony slip in the back door and now we have a race to see who can corner the market. Two powerful well funded Japanese giants of technology battling it out.

[@hedger0w]

7:35 No easy flash for you. :)

[@RickJohnson]

Damn, beat me to it! Eee-Zed doesn't sound like Eee Zee, aka easy.

[@AzrielKnight]

I am fully aware I said it "wrong" I kinda did it on purpose to be a troll :P

[@map3384]

I love my 1n. Slap the 40mm pancake lens on it and you got a real winner.

[@AzrielKnight]

I look forward to trying the 1N!

[@keithswindell6212]

The original F-1 that you show was replaced in 1981 by the New F-1... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_New_F-1

[@northof-62]

I miss Modern Photography

[@AzrielKnight]

It's a fantastic magazine. RIP

[@user-ss6zt2mo1l]

Fuck Digital. I want a modern day Canon Film Camera.

[@AzrielKnight]

lol, that would be nice.

[@thorstenjaspert9394]

I agree. Canon could implement the amount of Fokus Points of the latest EOS 1 D in analogue EOS 1 new generation film camera. Film based photography becomes equal to digital.

[@scottlarson1548]

The body was plastic? Like my D30?

[@AzrielKnight]

Was the D30 made from polycorbonate?

[@scottlarson1548]

@@AzrielKnight Yes. I was never able to dent it or scrape it up unlike all my 1D cameras.

[@TheZacman2]

Imagine having autofocus.