Canon EF

The Canon EF is a manual focus 35 mm single-lens reflex (SLR) camera. An electronic version of Canon's F-1 camera, it shares many features in common to the F-1 including its rugged construction and tough metal body. The EF is equipped with a silicon photocell light meter that has a range between EV 18 to EV -2. It can be operated in shutter priority mode or full manual mode, whereby the photographer can control both shutter speed and the aperture.

Compatible with Canon's FD-mount lenses, the EF features a Copal Square, a vertical-travel, metal-curtain, focal-plane shutter that is unique among Canon's older 35 mm SLRs. Typically, long exposures between 1 second to 30 seconds are controlled electronically, while short exposures between 1/1000 second to 1/2 second have mechanical controls. This is intended to save battery power and allow the user to take short exposures even with dead batteries. The battery power can be further conserved by switching off the metering system while using flash. The camera has settings for film speeds in the range of 12 ASA to 3200 ASA. It even features a mirror-locking self-timer as well as a stop-down metering mode that can also be used for depth-of-field preview. Old models of the Canon EF are still available at several online camera stores. Other accessories and lenses like the Canon EF 28-135, Canon EF 55-200 and Canon EF 700-200 are also available in stores.