In 1983 I bought a Canon AF35m auto camera and a SLR flagship next to F1, that was the A1. The AF35M was the leading snapshot camera with latest technology. The lens was sharp and colour rendition was excellent.

Canon AF35ML

The A1 was an high end product with 4 exposure modes - programme, shutter priority, aperture priority and manual. It was considered the second best in Canon in the 80's. In the same time there were also AE-1, AL-1 and AT-1 available in the market.

Canon A1

Canon AE-1

Canon AL-1

Canon AT-1

Like Olympus, I had similar outfit with the Canon line. A 28mm f2.8 wide angle, another standard lens of 50mm f1.8 and a medium telephoto lens - 135mm f3.5. The Canon lens were traditionally rich in colour with a slightly soft tone. It always comes with stunning picture and is particularly suitable for portraits. Nikon and Olympus lenses are at the sharp side while Minolta and Canon are in the other way round.

 Canon 28mm f2.8

Canon 50mm f1.8

Canon 135mm f3.5

On the OM side, I traded the OM2 with a newer model, the OM2SP. It was the first manufacturer introducing the spot metering. The function had first incorporated in the OM3 and OM4 models. But I could not afford these flagships. They were made for professionals. The advantage of OM2SP is that it has both the spot metering and programme exposure mode. The price was reasonably low. I also got two other quality zooms, the 35-70mm f3.6 and 35-105mm f3.5-4.5. The quality of these lenses were comparable with other prime lens. I have not developed my lens group in Nikon till the end of the millenium.

OLYMPUS OM2SP

OLYMPUS OM4

OLYMPUS 35-70mm F3.6

OLYMPUS 35-105mm F3.5-4.5

In the late 80's, I seldom used the SLR for snapshots locally. I like the Olympus mini cameras very much. Especially the mil Zoom. It was a great convenient camera. It is also a good travel companion when you are on a leisure trip.

My model was a mju Zoom 80 instead of this 140