Chris's camera pages
Canon FX
Manufactured in 1964, the Canon FX is a 35mm SLR camera which used the same lens mount as the earlier Canonflex models, but the mechanism used to operate the automatic diaphragm was quite different. A new line of lenses, the FL type, were introduced at the same time to replace the earlier R type used by the Canonflex models. The standard lens on this example is the common FL 50mm f/1.8, but the camera was also sold fitted with the desirable FL 50mm f/1.2 lens instead.
Unlike its predecessors, this Canon SLR has all the controls in conventional positions. The film advance is by top-mounted lever at the right-hand end of the top cover, the single shutter-speed dial is beside the prism hump, and the shutter button release falls between the two towards the front edge. The film rewind is by conventional fold-out crank at the top-left, with the exposure meter dial at the rear edge nearer the prism hump.
The CDS exposure meter is a match-needle type coupled to the shutter-speed dial. The meter is not a through-the-lens type we have come to expect, the meter cell is mounted on the front of the top cover instead.
The Canon FX has a mirror-lockup feature activated with the lever on the left-front of the camera. This was mainly done to allow the use of a 19mm lens which protrudes to far back into the camera to allow for the mirror, but presumably will also be a useful feature to prevent shake when using the camera on a tripod.
This camera is in great condition, and I think it must have spent most of the last fifty years tucked-up at the back the cupboard. It even came complete with the original box and instruction book. Now I'll just have to track down a proper Canon lens cap...
A copy of the Canon FX instruction manual on Mike Butkus' excellent website.