Canon A-1 and Cinestill Feb 2015
In previous posts I have covered Cinestill 800T extensively but I wanted to touch on why I have settled on the Canon A1 as my go to night photography film camera. Firstly there are many lenses available for this system and little demand for them as the don’t fit modern Canon cameras. The amount of shutter speeds directly selectable through the dial is fantastic, I can’t think of another film camera that has 30 seconds as a physically selectable option. Then there are the two self timer modes. 2 or 10’seconds, I find that 2 is often enough as it allows the camera to settle after pressing the shutter but not such a long wait that conditions change. The final two nocturnal features are the ability to turn off the Viewfinder LEDs and block light from the viewfinder eyepiece with a small internal shade. Putting all these together makes the Canon A1 a fantastic camera for working off a tripod at night. It’s primary weakness in this area is it’s lack of mirror lockup and that it apparently eats batteries during long bulb exposures, my experiences usually fall within the 30 second range so that hasn’t been an issue.
