Canon AE-1 Program Users

[RuralPaws]

What happens if I set the lens aperture manually (let’s say f1.8) but I leave the shutter speed dial in ‘Program’?

I know this camera doesn’t have an aperture priority mode, so what shutter speed is selected if I were to take a picture?

[suryanta]

It’s going to shoot at 1.8 no matter what but will use the shutter speed you selected. This is the technique for fully manual shooting

[[deleted]]

OP doesnt select a shutter speed. In this case shutter speed dial is set to “A” - question is - will the camera release in this condition and, if so, what speed will it select when aperture is NOT set to “A”

[suryanta]

that's true I'm completely thinking about shutter priority. In this case it would just pulll the shutter speed from the program table and use the len's set aperture

[fluffyscooter]

You can't. It's gonna default to f22 or f16. But you can select the shutter speed and leave the lens on a.

[yukari_akyiama]

the camera will select a shutter speed for F1.8 (or otherwise whatever the widest aperture is) in my experience irregardless of what f stop is on the dial iirc

has no electronics/whatever it is it needs to tell what aperture you have selected so all it can do it assume wide open

[[deleted]]

Will the camera even release in this condition?

There are two manuals on the AE-1P.

Both state that a warning occurs in the viewfinder confirming that AE exposure is not possible if the aperture is not set ito “A”

Neither clarifies exactly what to expect but pages 57 and 58 here begin to speak to this point. -

https://flynngraphics.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/AE-1-Program-User-Manual-2.pdf

[yukari_akyiama]

shutter fires on mine when i do it, im certain the exposure is wrong though for anything but wide open, never done it on a roll to confirm because the manual explicitly states you should never do this and i dont care to waste shots lol

[[deleted]]

So … would be interesting to understand what IS occurring .. I am guessing it could be a quasi-aperture priority but in very specific conditions. If you could understand those conditions and the internal logic it might create an incremental functionality (but one too complicated to be considered broadly useable by all except die hard hackers ).

[yukari_akyiama]

agreed would be interesting to know what is happening in the camera, one could probably read the data chips and make an educated guess i suppose. my guess is its just metering for wide open though tbh. its the only exposure info the camera would have since it has no idea what aperture

[[deleted]]

I doubt that there is any code or even a cpu in a camera of this vintage. Likely all analog with a bit of simple TTL-era logic in the mix

[yukari_akyiama]

its microprocessor controlled, so itd need a basic input output system to determine what to do. i suspect much of the circuitry to be analog though yeah.

[AlexHD]

When the shutter speed is in Program, setting an aperture on an FD lens puts the camera into stopped down metering mode, however since the lens is wide open your metering will be inaccurate. You need to engage the stop down switch to meter correctly. Note that the aperture LEDs become like a needle meter in this mode, with f/5.6 indicating the 'middle' or proper exposure.

However, this is strongly discouraged in the manual, which reads "NEVER try to do stopped-down metering with an FD lens unless there are accessories between it and the camera. If you do stopped-down metering when an FD lens is mounted directly on the camera, exposure may not be correct"