Philippines | Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris

I purchased this Super 8 camera from a friend way back in 1977 while stationed in Japan on the USS Midway. I ran quite a few reels of film through it before the video revolution took hold in the early 1980s. I’ve since sold the camera to another collector (a few years back) but I still miss not owning it. What a beast but man was it an awesome camera to use. It’s macro and slow motion capabilities were not to be believed.

Here I am in the Philippines (near the Subic Navy Base) using the Canon with a curious onlooker.

As time went by my original Canon F-1 became somewhat obsolete as new advances in technology and electronics could deliver a lot of camera features in a “compact” 35mm SLR.

The Canon A-1. Lots of stuff packed in a compact camera (compared to the F-1).

I still have a couple of A-1s in my collection – one for show and one for go. Pictured above is the go-to camera in my bag. My Canon F-1 pictured below. This was a beast to carry on a photo walk!

The monster F-1 with all of its goodies. This is my original F-1 that pretty much went with me everywhere in the 1970s and 1980s. See pic below.

Me with the F-1 while walking on the outskirts of Kowloon (Hong Kong) around 1978 or so.

I should mention that both images of me were taken by my very good Navy buddy and dear friend Jim. Sadly Jim and his wife were killed in an airplane crash in late 2001. Jim was a Nikon guy and it was always great fun to see who got the best from their cameras.

Comments are always welcomed as I’ve learned quite a bit from reader feedback. As always, thanks for stopping by and while you’re at it, feel free to visit my camera shop at http://www.ccstudio2380.com (CC Design Studios hosted by Etsy). – Chris Whelan

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris, Chasing Classic Cameras with Chris.

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Purchased new by us in 1977… wow, 40 years ago! It’s still going strong – the automatic exposure is accurate, the Canon electronic zoom lens is flawless, and all controls and gizmos are doing their things. Why? Well number one is it was designed and built super well and it uses readily available double A (AA ‘penlight’) batteries. No out of manufacture mercury batteries and their modern replacements to deal with! Thank you Canon!

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The business side of this gem. It’s a TTL Servo EE electronic exposure system using still available Super 8 film. It operates like an SLR in the sense that you focus and adjust zoom and exposure through the lens. Canon’s 7-70mm f/ 1.4 Macro Zoom (10x) Lens C-8 is razor sharp and produces vivid colors and delivers exceptional contrast.

Macro capabilities are incredible – as close as 10mm from the front of the lens! Slow motion, fades, interval shooting and time lapse plus the ability to manually control the aperture!

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The camera loaded with a Super 8 cartridge and the six AA batteries weighs in at nearly 2 kg! I can tell you that lugging it through Walt Disney World was no picnic… but fun!

Carol exploring her plants via the Canon AZ 1014. This is so 1977! Our home in Yokohama.

The photographer observed! The young lad was friendly and couldn’t figure out what in the world I was filming! Olongapo City, Philippines 1978.

Bug hunting in Yokohama… 1978.

Playing with the camera again makes me want to start filming again… well maybe not. 50 feet of Super 8 movie film disappears quickly and so does the money in your wallet. The camera is amazing but outdated – but, for the money, you can’t beat the quality of the Canon optics that cost thousands today.

Carol and I have so many cameras that we can’t ever use them all before we pass on. So we are documenting our cameras just before they go to auction via eBay and Etsy. So sad but the time’s come to thin out the heard.

Photographed with our Fujifilm FinePix S9900. Carol (photo by me) with my Canon F-1 and me (photo by Jim) was taken with some junky old Nikon! Can you imagine!

Thanks for your visit!

Chris ^.^

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Canon AZ 1014 Super 8 Movie Camera… 1977