Used Canon AL-1 + Canon FD 50mm f/1.8 for Sale — From £41

£40.82 Low price

£199.95 High price

11 Listings

1 Retailers

2 New this week

2 Reduced

Great for: general street portrait

Historic Canon SLR from 1982 with the world's first electronic focus aid, paired with the excellent FD 50mm f/1.8.

The Canon AL-1 paired with the FD 50mm f/1.8 is a unique 35mm SLR kit from 1982, notable for being the world's first SLR with an electronic focus confirmation system. The AL-1's Quick Focus system uses LEDs visible through the viewfinder to indicate when the subject is in sharp focus, simplifying manual focusing significantly.

The camera operates in shutter-priority automatic exposure mode alongside full manual, an unusual combination that complemented the focus confirmation system for quick, intuitive shooting. The included Canon FD 50mm f/1.8 is one of the finest standard lenses of the FD era, delivering sharp images with Canon's characteristic clean rendering.

Build quality is typical Canon consumer SLR of the early 1980s with a mix of metal and plastic construction. The Quick Focus system, while primitive by modern autofocus standards, was revolutionary in 1982 and represented Canon's first step toward the autofocus technology that would define the EOS system five years later.

The Canon AL-1 holds historical interest as a technological stepping stone toward autofocus SLR cameras, and the included FD 50mm f/1.8 is an excellent lens by any standard. On the used market the kit offers affordable Canon FD film shooting with the curiosity of the first-ever electronic focus aid system.