In order to meet the users’ needs, Canon developed two types of cinecameras compatible with each film standard. The “Canon Cine Zoom 512″ was cherished for a long time by users who enjoyed making home movies, and fully deserved being called a masterpiece.Įastman Kodak introduced the “Super 8″ system in April l964, while Fuji Photo Film concurrently introduced the “Single 8″ system. In June l964, the company released the “Canon Cine Zoom 512,” which was equipped with a bright f/1.2 zoom lens of with the magnification of 5X, as well as a spring drive mechanism, which had been the popular in 16mm film cinecameras. “Autozoom 1218 Super” with an extremely powerful built-in 12X zoom lens, compatible with Super 8 systemĬanon continued to improve the 8mm film cinecamera, aiming to adopt the advanced specifications and functions available in the 16mm film cinecameras. “Cinezoom 512,” masterpiece cinecamera employing 16 mm cinecamera’s drive system Since the 8mm film cinecamera was required to reproduce the image of subject in the exactly same format as shown in the viewfinder, it was necessary to use the “Porro prism” system, in which two or three right angle prisms were combined with the variable magnification viewfinder mechanism of the “IV Sb.” With this innovation, Canon succeeded in developing a revolutionary viewfinder that was bright and clear, and produced a real image. Special emphasis was placed on the viewfinder technology. During this tour, Mitarai discovered that the “Kodak Brownie,” an 8mm film cinecamera of the Eastman Kodak was enjoying great popularity.Ĭanon obtained some used cinecameras left behind by the Allied Occupation Forces as well as the products of leading cinecamera manufacturers abroad and studied the film drive and exposure mechanisms through repeated disassembly and testing. The development of the cinecamera began in 1955 based on the knowledge acquired during the 1953 observation tour by President Mitarai to the United States and Europe to survey the camera markets in these countries. “Cine 8T,” Canon’s first 8mm film cinecameraĬanon’s first 8mm film cinecamera the “Canon Cine 8T,” was introduced in November l956. This camera was the “Canonet,” which swept the entire camera market with the slogan “anyone can buy it and anyone can take pictures with it.” With this background, the development of the 35mm lens-shutter camera started. This resulted in a tentative decision to produce a prototype of an intermediate-class camera before the company’s overall policy guidelines could be developed. Gradually, the voices of young engineers expressing the opinion “we want to make cameras we can afford” gained strength. It all begun in 1958 when there were heated discussions within Canon as to whether the company should take the route confined to the manufacturing of high-end cameras or whether it should also enter the market for the intermediate-class cameras. That would be the development of the 35mm lens-shutter camera. Yet during the same period, there was an effort to produce a simpler camera that could be used by anybody. The development of the high-grade 35mm camera had been the great milestone constituting Canon’s mission. With the interruption of the production of the “7S” in September l968, the tradition of the Canon 35mm rangefinder camera, which started with the introduction of the “Kwanon,” came to an end.ĭevelopment History of the 35mm Lens-Shutter Camera At the time, the era of the 35mm rangefinder cameras was already giving way to that of the SLR. The “7” series, which had a built-in exposure meter and were impressive in appearance, were well liked by their users. The “P (Populaire)” model was released in l959, which was followed by the introduction of the “7” model in March l961 and the “7S” model in April 1965. The “T” in the “VT” refers to the “trigger” because the camera incorporated the film advance mechanism with a fast-winding trigger on the camera bottom to improve the shooting speed. The “VT” camera, introduced in August 1956, discarded the conventional film loading method, in which the film cassette was dropped into the bottom after removing the baseplate (Barnack type), and instead adopted the simpler method using a hinged back cover and threading the film onto the take-up spool. Please enable JavaScript to watch this content.

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