Canon T801985

History

Canon unveiled the T80 in 1985 as part of the T-series lineup that had begun with the T50 in 1983 and included the T70. Unlike those cameras, the T80 introduced autofocus, a feature Canon engineers were racing to deploy as Minolta's Maxxum 7000 had demonstrated AF's commercial viability in the same year. The AC mount lenses available at launch were few — reportedly three AC lenses were ever produced. By 1987 Canon abandoned the AC system entirely and released the EOS 650 with the new EF mount, which placed the AF motor fully inside the lens using a different architecture.

Why It Matters

The T80 marks the dividing line between Canon's FD era and the EOS era. It shows that Canon understood by 1985 that autofocus would dominate, but had not yet solved the system design problem cleanly. The EOS EF mount — with its ultrasonic motor integration — was the correct answer; the T80 was the expensive draft. For historians of camera technology, the T80 illustrates that the Minolta Maxxum's 1985 launch jolted every major manufacturer into rapid, sometimes premature, AF development.

Lenses & Accessories

The Canon AC mount is incompatible with FD lenses and with EOS/EF lenses. AC lenses carry their own focus motor. The system is a dead end: no adapters exist to use AC glass on other bodies, and FD glass cannot be used on the T80. Collectors seeking the complete kit need an AC-mount lens to use the camera at all; a body alone is unusable for photography.

References

• Camera-Wiki: Canon T80