C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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slr-35mm
The AE-1 was Canon's 1976 push to bring SLR ownership to the family-photographer market. It introduced shutter-priority autoexposure, a CPU-controlled shutter, and an injection-moulded copper–aluminum body that cut manufacturing cost without feeling cheap. The famous "tennis match" TV ad campaign — "so advanced, it's simple" — pushed sales past five million units, the first SLR to clear that bar.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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Labs in our directory that process 35mm film.
Before you buy used
About this camera
The camera that made the SLR a mass-market product. Five million sold, a generation taught.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Mount | Canon FD (FL backwards-compatible without metering) |
| Years | 1976–1984 |
| Shutter | 2s – 1/1000s, electronic horizontal cloth |
| Flash sync | 1/60s |
| Meter | Center-weighted, silicon |
| Weight | 590 g |
| Battery | 1× 4LR44 / PX28 (required) |
Released April 1976 in Japan, October 1976 in the US. Canon's gamble was fitting six ICs on a single board to control exposure — radical at the time and the foundation of every electronic SLR that followed. The AE-1 Program (1981) added programmed autoexposure and was sold alongside.
The AE-1 is the camera most people mean when they say "my dad's 35mm." It defined the 1970s amateur SLR aesthetic — black plastic top plate, chrome accents, big rounded buttons. The "Canon shutter squeak" (a degraded mirror-damper bushing) is now so universal it has its own YouTube genre. As film photography returned in the 2010s, the AE-1 became the entry-level recommendation by sheer abundance — they're everywhere, parts are everywhere, and a CLA fixes most problems.
Canon FD mount. The kit lens was a 50/1.8 SC or 50/1.4 SSC — both excellent and cheap today. Other pairings: 28/2.8, 35-70/3.5-4.5 zoom, 135/3.5. Power Winder A or A2 for 2 fps. Speedlite 155A flash. Note: FD lenses do not adapt cleanly to digital due to short flange distance and breech-lock mechanism.
BW
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
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