Canon Canonet

Tpical Value: £50-£110 retail 2nd hand

Condition: Fully working / no marks

Further Reading: Camera Wiki

Acquisition: Purchased secondhand

Notes: My first brand new camera
Early fully electronic compact camera with auto everything

An eBay purchase to relive an earlier dream

In the mid seventies I dragged my mother around camera shops in London, ostensively looking for a Lubitel. But, in the end, I saw my first second hand Canon Canonet and fell in love. Even though this is a sixties camera, it was fully automatic exposure. It had a wind lever on the base and that gave very fast wind on. In fact that was its downfall. I used to see how fast I could wind it and broke the gears. so into the bin it finally went.

This was an eBay replacement many years later.

The Canon Canonet was released in 1961 and is remembered as Canon's first entry into the intermediate-class camera market, and also the first of the highly successful Canonet series of 35mm automatic-exposure rangefinder cameras.

The top plate only houses the shutter-release, with a locking ring for time-exposures, the frame counter and an accessory shoe.

The clean lines of the top are achieved by putting the advance lever underneath, together with the rewind crank, rewind release and back catch. The advance lever had an end which hinged downwards, making it easy to operate using the left middle- or third-finger. These controls on the bottom necessitate corresponding holes in the every-ready case.

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