Tewksbury

	Several of the photographs on this site were taken using a Canon F1 35mm SLR purchased in 1974 (with the appearance of our first child). The Nikon F and Canon F1 SLRs were the premier 35mm SLRs at that time. This competition between Nikon and Canon existed from their starts, with Nikon originally producing a rangefinder camera modeled after (a close copy of) the Zeiss Contax camera and Canon producing a rangefinder modeled after (also a close copy of) the Leitz Leica rangefinder camera. These early rangefinder cameras advanced in sophistication under Nikon and Canon, along with the development of a strong reputation for high quality lenses.
The Canon F1 was a member of the family of Canon SLR's using the "FD" lens mount. Later Canon film SLRs used the "EOS" mount, which included electronic pins for autofocus and other emerging features. The EOS mount continued with the Canon digital cameras. Although the Canon F1 was the flagship camera in their FD mount line, there were also several other cameras introducing convenient features.
The Canon EF camera shown to the right was similar in appearance to the Canon F1, though generally considered less rugged. However, the Canon EF introduced an electronically controlled shutter, allowing slow shutter speeds up to several 10's of seconds. If the battery failed, the camera remained operational, using its manual shutter speeds of 1 sec or less. This slow speed shutter control proved convenient in low-light situtions.