Definitely. The urge to pixel peep is there, but it’s amazing how something that looks grainy as hell on a monitor prints up just nicely. I scanned a bunch of Velvia 50 slide film many years ago and was shocked at just how grainy this low-grain filmed appeared to me vs a high ISO digital image. We’ve gotten spoiled and forget film grain can be pleasant.
I used the K1000 in Photography class in 1985. They were incredibly rugged and cheaper than the comparable Nikon FM2.
I normally do “picture day” at the small school where my daughter teaches–there are only about 50 students, and it’s cool to be able to do something nice for them free of charge.
Last year I brought along a 6x6 film camera just for fun and got some neat shots.
All of the “real” shots were done with a Fujifilm XPro2 with the 90mm X-mount lens, with a two light setup using off-camera flash and umbrellas.
After I developed everything, I was so overjoyed with how the B&W shots came out…then I started working on the children’s photos.
I was looking at the eyes of one boy, when I zoomed in and realized I could see the details of each of the ribs in my lighting umbrellas in the reflection off his cornea. I also noticed how the dark tones of his African-American skin were so perfectly rendered–a thing that would never have happened in the era of “Shirley Cards”
That’s with a seven-year-old digital camera, albeit with one of their best portrait lenses.
That was the sobering moment where I realized that film is now best enjoyed as art.
But I still prefer film photos!
I received my new-to-me Canon F-1 New today. I haven’t had a chance to look at it yet… but it does make me want to get the AE-1 Program and A-1 in for CLAs.
The New F1 is a nice camera. I sold mine when I switched to digital (Nikon D70), but I kept my A1, because I think that is a more iconic camera.
I put batteries into my OM-4, and it was dead. As it turns out, it works better when you put both batteries in!
I took the OM-4 out, loaded with Kodak 400TX B&W film that had been in it for four years. There’s a roadside memorial that was erected in 2000, more than three years before I moved up here. I wanted to get a picture of it with the lens wide open so the background would be out of focus. Unfortunately it’s a bright day, and I don’t have an ND filter. I took a couple of frames anyway.
I progressed into Blaine and took more photos, then stopped to buy my wife some chocolate truffles. Oops. No wallet. I had to drive home and come back. I went to the old train station and took some more pics. As I advanced the film lever, I discovered I’d only had 24 frames instead of 36. Shorter than expected day. It will probably be Friday before I can get down to the photo shop in town for developing.
Super cool!
It’s crazy that you and I bought similarly priced film cameras that were both delivered on the same day. I am jealous of your F-1. Happy shooting!
And my A-1 and AE-1 are pristine (no reason not to buy perfect ones as the prices are so inexpensive) with no Canon Squeak whatsoever. Nevertheless, as they are my only film interchangeable lens cameras with reasonably priced lenses and proper TTL viewing for macro shots, I want these two Canon cameras to be my Gold Standard. If anything, the A-1.
As we are sharing our new-to-us cameras, my Rollei 35 arrived today!
This camera’s serial number places it between 1968 and 1970 or so. The original owner bought it, shot half a roll of film, and tossed it in a drawer. I bought it from an estate seller.
It’s a “Made in Germany” model with the Tessar 3.5 Zeiss lens.
The seller wasn’t joking, it is immaculate. He included a battery with the little voltage converter widget. The light meter is working–they often aren’t on these cameras. No idea if it is accurate.
I immediately printed out an adapter to hook up my shutter timer and got the following:
1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15: Trash
1/30 => 1/36
1/60 => 1/63
1/125 => 1/102
1/250 => 1/243
1/500 => 1/625
So it’s probably as close to accurate as it ever was.
The lower range is handled by a different clockwork mechanism, and there is a known minimally-invasive technique to free up those gears with naphtha and a bit of thin clock oil. Since nobody hand-holds at 1/15s, I am not sure I’ll even bother.
Time to go out shooting!
I can’t remember the last time I used an AE-1 Program. I’ve never used the A-1 since I bought it four or five years ago. (I replaced my original AE-1 Program with an Olympus OM-4 and an OM-1 back in the late-'80s)
ISTM that the difference between the AE-1 Program and the A-1 is that the former’s automatic exposure modes are Program (fully automatic) and shutter-priority, whereas the latter offers both shutter- and aperture-priority. Is there more to it than that? Or is that basically it?
The F-1 has film in it. I took a blank shot before I figured out that I couldn’t see anything because the viewfinder was closed. There are a few more frames left. I’ll have to burn those off, and I’ll take it in for processing when I take today’s film in.
As I recall, the A1 had Programmed, Aperture, and Shutter priority auto-exposure. It also had an electronic (LED) exposure display.
According to this page (which I haven’t read yet; emphasis mine):
The Canon A-1 was THE fully-automatic SLR of its day, and it was among the first. For the history books, though, the A-1 was the first SLR camera anywhere with all four PASM modes (Program, Aperture priority, Shutter priority and Manual).
The AE-1 Program had Program, Shutter priority, and Manual modes. So as far as I can see, the cameras are essentially the same; only the A-1 has the additional aperture priority mode, and it has a sexy black finish. I’m wondering if I’m missing something.
The Canon A-1 is a far superior camera to the AE-1 and AE-1 Program IMHO.
Since you have both, surely you can feel the differences in build quality alone. And the black A-1 looks so much better (again, IMHO), though black AE-1’s exist.
(pause while I go grab both cameras off of the shelf)
With that said, they are more alike than they are different, which is why I have them. I want to be able to load color in one and B&W in the other, or maybe have a wide-angle lens on one while shooting macro with the other.
Features that are different:
Most important: The A-1 has aperture priority as well as shutter priority; the AE-1 is simply shutter priority.
The A-1 displays shutter speed and aperture in the finder; the AE-1 Program uses a series of aperture LEDs on the right side. With the A-1 you always know the exposure settings, but with the AE-1 you never know what shutter speed it chose when in Program mode. The only way to know its shutter speed is to set it yourself.
The A-1 has exposure compensation; the AE-1 does not.
There are timed shutter modes for 2 and 10 seconds on the A-1; the AE-1 has a single 10-second mode.
The A-1 has a double-exposure mode; the AE-1 does not.
A-1 has a “all dark” mode where the LED is shut off; AE-1 does not.
The A-1 has shutter speeds as long as 30 seconds; the AE-1 stops at 2 seconds.
The A-1 can shoot faster with the motor drive than the AE-1, though both can use the motor drive. I believe there are a couple of more modes available for the A-1.
Quibbles:
The AE-1 Program is more plasticy: notice the ISO dial and rewind.
The AE-1’s rewind lever is angled, and tends to fold up on itself while rewinding; the A-1’s rewind lever lays flat.
The A-1’s focus screen requires a technician to change; the AE-1 was designed for the consumer to change the focus screen.
The A-1’s focus screen is darker. The AE-1 Program was released with a much nicer bright focus screen.
Things like stopped-down metering are equally weird on both cameras.
With all that said, people describe the A1 as “quirky” and it does earn that title. The A1’s star feature, aperture priority, is funky because you have to select the aperture on the camera body, not on the lens. This is likely because of it being easier for the camera to tell the lens what aperture to use vs. reading the set aperture from the lens.
They were great cameras for their time and are excellent cameras for students today.
When I go out shooting Canon, it’s A-1 all the way.
Now that you asked this question, I realized I ought to do a video comparing these two cameras–it’s a pretty good topic, and though I’m sure others before me have made similar videos, I’ll do my own.
Thanks for the rundown.
they are more alike than they are different
Having not yet used the A-1, this is my impression.
That’s why I have two or more bodies for my collections.
When I bought my first AE-1 Program – my first 35mm SLR – it felt like a professional camera. When I sold it and bought an Olympus OM-4, I saw I was mistaken. Compared to my other cameras, except for the OM-10, the AE-1 Program does feel more ‘plasticy’. But man, I loved it in the '80s!
I would love to see it! Just be sure to note your A-1 bias at the beginning. 
Until I get around to the A-1/AE-1 video…
Here’s the video I did covering the new Pentax 17 camera. If you haven’t figured out already from my mentioning it five times, I like this little camera.
I went out this morning to shoot a roll with the Rollei 35 and it gave me great joy.
For some reason I thought I was out of “anything other than HP5” so I bulk loaded a roll and already had it in the camera when I realized I had some TMax100 in the bag. I would have preferred going out with the TMax for this camera’s first shots since 1970.
Nevertheless, I am happy. Here are three of the photos:
Poison Ivy
House on the Canal
Crooked Window
Nice pics! It must be handy having a darkroom! 
No darkroom work needed for those–just a changing bag, a Paterson tank and some HC-110 developer and fixer. I used DSLR scanning for the digital images and converted them using Negative Lab Pro.
With that said, I’m about to mix up some chemicals for doing some prints this evening. My basement office works for the task–no running water needed in the office, it’s a short walk to the basement sink.
I’ve taken a few minutes to reacquaint myself with the AE-1 Program. The ‘light meter’ is very simple.
Program mode:
Shutter speed set to Program, and aperture set to A. There is a green P, and the aperture that the camera has chosen is displayed.
Shutter priority mode:
Shutter speed set to something other than Program, and aperture set to A. The aperture the camera has chosen is displayed.
Manual mode:
Shutter speed set to something other than Program, and aperture set to something other than A. The aperture the camera would have chosen is displayed.
The AE Lock switch seems a little clunky. When taking a picture of a backlit subject, approach the subject until she/he/it fills about ⅓ of the viewfinder. Press the shutter release halfway, and press the AE Lock switch… but don’t release the shutter release. Back up to compose the picture – still holding the shutter release halfway in – and then take the picture. It seems to me it would be easier to get close to the subject to get the reading, and then just set the suggested aperture on the aperture ring.
AE Lock doesn’t need a half-shutter-press. There are two buttons on the left side, one that sticks out farther (and is therefore easier to reach), and one that is set back a little.
The one that sticks out is just an alternative to half-press of the shutter.
The button that is set back deeper (above the first one) is the AE Lock.
The way I remember them is the one that is hardest to get to is the one that actually does something; the other is just preview.
Just get the exposure you want with the AE Lock button, hold it, then reframe, then shoot with the shutter release–no half-press needed.
It’s imperfect, but not terrible. And this feature is exactly the same on both A-1 and AE-1.
(I just grabbed the AE-1 Program to verify I wasn’t passing along bad info. This is correct info.)