The Canon A-1 is just about the perfect film camera in my view, when you take into account the cost of acquiring one of these iconic marvels, the quality of the lenses, and the general usability of the equipment, then you simply cannot go wrong. The 50mm standard lens is quite something too, and you can pick up extra lenses for silly money on Ebay these days. The variants are good too, we have both an AE-1 and an AT-1 on the shelf here, and they are all eminently usable.
Apart from the f1.4 50mm FD lens I have a 35mm, a 35-70mm, a Sigma 28mm and a 70-200mm, they are all good, but the 50mm is the best of the bunch. No surprise that I use this camera the most, even if it doesn’t have the beautiful quirks of some of the cheaper Russian cameras, or the outright quality of the Mamiyas, it strikes the perfect balance between the two (and having a built in exposure meter doesn’t hurt either…)
