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My first SLR camera was a Canon AE-1 Program from my parents, purchased in 1981.
Over the years, my passion for photography grew and declined, as with any other pasttime.
There were times when I would not use the camera for many months, and then I would start
taking photographs again.
When I finally re-discovered photography in the 90s, I figured my camera was hopelessly
out-of-date. I considered buying a new camera, but I kept asking myself: Why?
Why should I buy a new camera when my old, proven AE-1 Program would still do fantastic
images? Sure, the new cameras had all this fancy autofocus stuff, but that was not a
valid reason for me. I started to look around the used equipment market and found that
used lenses for the Canon manual focus system where (a) cheaper and (b) of high quality.
My decision was easy: Forget the new stuff, and gradually extend the existing system
with used lenses.
In case you are wondering where to get bodies, lenses and manuals, here are some pointers:
You will get fantastic lenses and bodies in your local "used photo equipment store". If
they are overly expensive or do not have the stuff you want, I suggest to go to eBay.
I was hesitant at first, thinking "um, used photo equipment from an auction from a complete
stranger?". I was surprised to discover that the stuff I acquired through eBay is
usually very good, especially if the seller has some positive recommendations.
At eBay, you will also find used manuals for your AE-1 Program. But these are usually
not cheap! So if you want to save some money, please visit Christian Rollinger's
excellent Canon PhotoPage, to see his
Canon AE-1 Program manual which conveniently comes both in HTML and PDF.
Anyway, today I am the (proud) owner of two bodies and eight lenses:
35-105 mm, 70-210 mm, 300 mm, 500 mm, 17 mm, 28 mm, 50 mm, 135 mm, 20 mm, 24 mm
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