October 22, 2012

Canon Sureshot Ace

Another 75p Charity shop bargain, in very good optical, mechanical and cosmetic condition. I bought this for the top mounted viewfinder to see if that could be used in street work, but the camera is so noisy it doesn’t work brilliantly for that use.

About

This is a quite chunky fully automatic viewfinder camera, marketed by Canon from 1998.

What is interesting about this camera is its top panel ‘easy viewer’ which makes it easier for people with glasses and also allows easy operation at low levels. It also has a miniature remote control which pops out and a swivel peg on the base which allows tilting the camera up to allow remote shooting when place on a table to take self portraits. And all this before the inception of MySpace!

It has a built in automatic flash with a Guide Number of 9.

Lens and focus

The lens is a 35mm Canon f/3.5 with three elements in three groups, possibly similar to that on the Sureshot AF-7. It has autofocus via an IR beam, with a close focus of 0.96m. You can activate focus lock by half depressing the shutter. The field of view is 54° x 37 °, to fit a full length portrait in the vertical frame you need to be about 11 feet distant.

Exposure

The published exposure range is EV 9 (1/40s at f/3.5) to EV 17 (1/125s at f/32). This is the limit of the meter, so whilst using ISO 400 film could allow exposure at EV 7 with those settings it cannot meter this – using a faster film will allow for a faster shutter and smaller aperture in the conditions it can meter, but won’t give better low light capabilities. Also, as it seems that if the fastest is 1/125 anything above ISO 400 could overexpose on a sunny day.

The manual does not indicate how the flash responds, from my tests so far it seems to fire at slightly above EV 9 – in the darkest conditions the camera can handle. Effectively this is a sunny day or flash subject camera. I also assume these exposure settings are stepped and not continuously variable.

The Manual comments to only use ISO 50, 100, 200 or 400 slide film, suggesting that it does not register fractional values for DX coding.

Gallery

Vital Statistics

Type: Fully automatic 35mm Lens-Shutter autofocus camera.
AF System: Triangulation system with near-infrared beam. Prefocus enabled.
Lens: 35mm f/3.5 (3 elements in 3 groups).
Shutter: Electromagnetic programmed combined shutter and aperture. EV 9.5 (1/40s at f/3.5) – EV 17 (1/125s at f/32).
Metering: Silicon Photo Cell for full-auto program exposure; range of EV 9 – 17.
Film speed: ISO 50 – 1600 (with DX code).
Viewfinder: Albada type reverse Galilean; 0.45x magnification 85% coverage; autofocus frame and picture frame, focus warning lamp. Additional low-angle viewfinder with roof prism. 0.08x magnification at 12″.
Flash: Built-in, fixed, automatic. Guide No. 9 (at ISO 100 in meters).
Self Timer: 10s.
Accessories: Tripod Bush, Built in angle stand, detachable remote control, wrist strap, sliding lens cover.
Remote Control: Detachable, IR beam, 2s delay; range up to 5m.
Transport: Automatic motorwind.
Power Source: One 6 V 2CR5 lithium battery.
Dimensions: 139 x 76 x 50 mm, 335 g (with battery).