The Canon AE1 gets all kinds of praise heaped on it when discussing entry level 35mm SLRs that offer auto and manual modes. I have had a bit of a strange fascination with this focal length since it came attached to a Pentax Kx I picked up a while back. Common jobs include replacing crumbling light seals or lubing internal mechanisms that have dried out. This camera is ideal for someone who is trying to learn film photography, the aperture priority mode makes it a lot easier for amateurs to take better shots without having to mess around too much.

Though this might sound technical to the amateur, it’s pretty simple stuff, and it allows the shooter to control one of the most important variables in creative photography; depth of field. It has a needle-interface in the viewfinder which I prefer to LED, but it is not illuminated - so its very bad in dark light). The only other slight negative is it isn't quite as easy to load the film leader into the white finned canister. Both feature semi-automatic (aperture priority) operation, and are part of the Pentax M series which included the manual Pentax MX and briefly the semi-automatic, automatic-focus Pentax ME F.It has come attached to the majority of Pentax cameras I have purchased throughout the years, it must have been their kit lens 😉 I always have 2 or 3 copies lying around and I use the same one to test on my newly purchased Pentax cameras. A, F, FA or D FA Series (with aperture ring): Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual modes. Yes, it’s limited to 1/1000s shutter sped and no manual mode, but correct and reliable metering is way more important I guess. In comparison to other two cameras of the same class I own (Canon A-1 and Fujica AX-5) the Super A is a step forward the Canon because it allows a fully manual mode, yet without showing the lens aperture which is annoying, while the AX-5 has an overall better display with two rows of leds (one for the aperture and one for the shutter speed) so you always know what you are doing.

However, I shot a test roll and the camera behaved correctly, all 38 exposures came out as they should, I used the A 50mm f1. And for those who don’t understand this correlation, ten minutes reading is all that’s required to get up to speed. If your scene is outside the meter’s range, a red LED glows next to OVER or UNDER labels that bookend the numbers. Other improvements over the ME was a faster top shutter speed of 1/2000 s and a warning light in the view finder when EV compensation was engaged.

I would have given the Super A a perfect 10 if it had MLU and exposure lock, but instead I give it a 9.