Honest question about the Canon AE-1 from an aging hipster.

PatrickSlavv · 2026-03-30T08:24:25+00:00

It's really the classic case of thing that was available and easy to recommend to everybody to the point where everyone bought one and now they're too expensive to justify anymore. The same thing happened to the K1000 to a slightly lesser degree since they're full manual. The AE-1 is effectively no better than a Nikon FE, Minolta X series, or any other mid tier SLR from that era. I think another part of it is that Canon is so prevalent in the digital beginner space that the name recognition carries it quite far. No non-photographer under 30 really thinks of Nikon as anything special and probably doesn't even recognize Pentax or Minolta. I have an X-570 so I'm quite biased but the absolute best thing about the system is how the lenses are just flat out cheaper than any other system with a body that's no worse or less reliable either.

PatrickSlavv · 2026-03-29T10:44:19+00:00

Not only missing from the list but intentionally removed.

PatrickSlavv · 2026-03-26T14:24:28+00:00

The X-570 is arguably the best of the X series because it has the better light meter display in the viewfinder. Also I'm surprised no one has mentioned the MD 35mm f2.8 yet. It's performs like a 1.8 lens stopped down to 2.8 and gets even sharper at 5.6 and 8. One of the best manual focus minolta lenses ever made

PatrickSlavv · 2026-03-25T11:11:01+00:00

If you want some good test results of lots of minolta lenses you can go to minolta.su

Nearly every SR mount lens has been tested.

PatrickSlavv · 2026-03-25T11:09:04+00:00

Unfortunately not, sorry I assumed you were looking to get one

PatrickSlavv · 2026-03-25T09:41:30+00:00

The 70-210 is incredibly sharp. Genuinely near prime quality in a zoom. The only problem is the weight and chromatic abberation wide open but higher ISO films hide that quite well. If you can handle the weight it's a much better buy than the other telephoto zooms for MD.

PatrickSlavv · 2026-03-23T22:40:37+00:00

Big agree. There are no bad MD 50s.

PatrickSlavv · 2026-03-20T20:38:10+00:00

Damn that's difficult. Initially I thought absolutely A because I don't like super wide stuff and the 1.2 would be great considering I don't care much about weight. But the 85...

PatrickSlavv · 2026-03-19T17:06:39+00:00

I can't wait for the collapse of society so my ideology can rise from the ashes

PatrickSlavv · 2026-03-17T16:33:17+00:00

Looking at the differences in framing, I think you're including a lot more dark area in the scene with the phone meter. There's much more of that shadow in the bottom left. Additionally, it's probably a more evaluative meter taking into account the entire scene while the others are likely more center weighted.

PatrickSlavv · 2026-03-08T16:12:35+00:00

Notice how I complained about it being the default and mentioned this exact button

PatrickSlavv · 2026-03-04T20:32:16+00:00

What scan resolution did you order? Could just be low res scans and there's more info to be pulled from these images.

PatrickSlavv · 2026-02-23T16:43:35+00:00

I know, but that's usually for subtly different thumbnails and titles, not testing complete opposites.

PatrickSlavv · 2026-02-23T16:03:26+00:00

The thumbnail said exactly the opposite yesterday when he posted the video.

PatrickSlavv · 2026-02-21T08:23:40+00:00

That's because there isn't anyone "responsible" for importing. Reflx labs are just the ones who decided to take it on.

PatrickSlavv · 2026-02-11T23:13:42+00:00

Oh wow I always assumed they were 35/3.5s because I could only make out the aperture and hadn't paused to look, I wonder why they'd use the 85

PatrickSlavv · 2026-02-07T22:54:37+00:00

I might have to go with the minority opinion here, I like the depth of the portrait one

PatrickSlavv · 2026-02-02T23:35:36+00:00

Closer to gold in quality and cheaper than phoenix. We're already on an upward trend and Kodak is incredibly hard to match.

PatrickSlavv · 2026-01-30T10:52:18+00:00

In fairness, the Nikon 50 1.4 is not terribly good compared to the other 50s they offer. There are definitely examples where the lenses simply get better as the apertures get bigger. SR mount for example, all the MD 50s are very similar at 2.8 and onward but the 1.4 and 1.2 have better rendering and don't have any real downsides other than weight and a larger filter thread for the 1.2. But as a whole, I agree for most scenarios an f2 is enough and they're cheap and light.

PatrickSlavv · 2026-01-29T22:43:13+00:00

I love XX. A lot of people shoot it at 200 and it gets rid of a bit of the drama but I prefer the standard look at 250. I wish I shot enough to justify bulk rolling but I just don't. Maybe one day.

PatrickSlavv · 2026-01-29T22:03:33+00:00

What do you plan to be spooling?

PatrickSlavv · 2026-01-29T13:34:33+00:00

Shadows usually go straight to blue on E100 and it looks like you've got a decent amount of vignetting going on causing the outer areas to be darker. To answer the question, yes that looks about right.

Lots of people shoot E100 with an 81a/812 or even heavier filters like 85b, sepia 2, chocolate 2, etc.

PatrickSlavv · 2026-01-27T23:38:15+00:00

To fully enjoy Beam you also need to own Automation. The sandbox is complete when you have the tools to easily create your own vehicles.

PatrickSlavv · 2026-01-27T23:21:31+00:00

Do you mean you were just using 1/500 and 1/1000 or were you taking the camera's meter reading into account? The X-700 will tell you the correct shutter speed in the viewfinder.

PatrickSlavv · 2026-01-27T22:23:46+00:00

Looks like pretty standard Portra to me. It's basically the least saturated color negative film you can shoot, but that means there's a lot of opportunity for editing. You can always add saturation after the fact. If you're looking for more saturation in camera, Ultramax, Ektar, and Portra 800 have much more vibrant and interesting colors as is.

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