End of the 35mm Rangefinder Camera Era
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. 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 "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 "7" series, which had a built-in exposure meter and were impressive in appearance, were well liked by their users. At the time, the era of the 35mm rangefinder cameras was already giving way to that of the SLR. 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.
Development History of the 35mm Lens-Shutter Camera
The development of the high-grade 35mm camera had been the great milestone constituting Canon's mission. Yet during the same period, there was an effort to produce a simpler camera that could be used by anybody. That would be the development of the 35mm lens-shutter camera.
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. Gradually, the voices of young engineers expressing the opinion "we want to make cameras we can afford" gained strength. 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. With this background, the development of the 35mm lens-shutter camera started. 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."
Although the plan was to market the "Canonet" camera in August l960, its debut was delayed until January l961 because of strong criticism from the competitors complaining that the price of under 20,000 yen was too low to compete with. When the camera was introduced for the first time at the display and sales counter on the 7th floor of Mitsukoshi department store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, the number of people interested in seeing the camera was so great that they overflowed onto the staircases. The total inventory for one week was gone within 2 hours after the sales counter opened. Its sales were so astronomical and its customer acceptance so overwhelming that the February 6, 1961 issue of Shukan Bunshun (a popular weekly magazine) covered the sensation in the article entitled "Go To Hell!! Canonet."
While the boom sparked by the "Canonet" had not quite cooled off yet, the "Canon Demi" camera was introduced in February 1963. It was a compact and lightweight half-frame, or single-frame, camera that permitted twice as many pictures per film. This camera was also a hit with its catch phrase "let's draw our 'Demi' from our pocket." Also released in October of the same year was the "Color Demi," which was popular among users because it was available in three different colors: red, blue and white. With the debut of the "Demi" series, the variety of the lens-shutter cameras increased. The important thing was that the technologies acquired during the development of these 35mm lens-shutter cameras were fully fed back into the products that followed. Entering the 8mm Film Cinecamera Field
Canon's first 8mm film cinecamera the "Canon Cine 8T," was introduced in November l956. 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. During this tour, Mitarai discovered that the "Kodak Brownie," an 8mm film cinecamera of the Eastman Kodak was enjoying great popularity.
Canon 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. Special emphasis was placed on the viewfinder technology. 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.
On the other hand, concurrently with the development of the viewfinder, Canon's lens department was working on improving the zoom lens. The history of Canon's zoom lens goes back to 1954.
Canon succeeded in developing a high-performance 8mm film cinecamera zoom lens, the "10-40mm f/1.8" with the magnification factor of 4, but it was never marketed because of its large size. Yet, being accelerated by the successful development of the large aperture zoom lens, Canon marketed the "Canon Reflex Zoom 8" in October l954, in a short development period and at low cost. The quick and low cost development was achieved through enlarging the aperture of the "10-40mm f/1.8" to make the "10-40mm f/1.4" and fitting it to the "Canon Cine 8T." 8mm Film Cinecamera with Zoom Lens and New Film Standards
Canon continued to improve the 8mm film cinecamera, aiming to adopt the advanced specifications and functions available in the 16mm film cinecameras. 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. 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.Eastman Kodak introduced the "Super 8" system in April l964, while Fuji Photo Film concurrently introduced the "Single 8" system. In order to meet the users' needs, Canon developed two types of cinecameras compatible with each film standard. One, the "Auto Zoom 1218 Super 8," which was marketed in April 1968 for the "Super 8" system, was widely accepted and had a good reputation because of its high 12X zoom magnification.
The Next High-End 35mm Cameras are SLRs
The "Canonflex," the first 35mm SLR camera from Canon was introduced in May l959. In June of the same year, Nikon released the "Nikon F." Although the principle of the SLR camera had been known as long ago as the camera, technological problems had been left unsolved for many years in the area of making the camera as light and easy-to-use as the rangefinder camera. With several technical innovations including the pentaprism, the quick return mirror, and the automatic aperture control mechanism, the time had finally arrived for a practical 35mm SLR camera for all types of interchangeable lenses.Canon developed the R-series lens for the SLR cameras. The cameras using the R series lens were called the R-series cameras. Following the "Canonflex," the "R2000" with a top shutter speed of 1/2000 second, the fastest ever for any camera, was introduced in 1960. The "R2000" evolved into the "Canonflex RM," which was released in 1962. The "Canonflex RM" had a built-in exposure meter for the first time, and adopted the film advance system with a recessed lever instead of a trigger. The lever improved the operability.
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