Canon: Pellix QL

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bill339
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Canon: Pellix QL

Postby bill339 » Tue Feb 02, 2021 1:16 pm

The Canon Pellix is an unusual 35 mm SLR camera. Introduced in 1965, it was Canon's first 35 mm focal-plane shutter SLR camera with through-the-lens metering. The moving mirror normally used in an SLR camera is replaced with a fixed, semitransparent pellicle mirror. This divides the light from the lens, about two-thirds passing through the pellicle to reach the film, and the rest being reflected to the viewfinder. This arrangement has several advantages in comparison to a conventional SLR camera: A simpler mechanism, quieter operation (without the sound of the mirror mechanism), less inertial motion of the camera when the shutter is released, the viewfinder does not black out during exposure and the stationary mirror allows the use of a lens whose rear elements protrude further into the camera body. Canon made the compact Tessar-type FLP 38 mm f/2.8 lens exclusively for use on the Pellix camera. The mirror in the Pellix, being permanently in place, reduces the amount of light available to make the image on the film. To compensate for this, another standard lens for the Pellix is the fast Canon FL 58 mm f/1.2 with automatic aperture diaphragm operation; the camera was also available with the 50 mm f/1.4 (again, an FL lens, not the FD lens). The shutter gives a normal range of speeds from 1 second to 1/1000 of a second, plus 'B'. A year after its introduction, the camera was equipped with the QL (Quick Load) feature, making film loading much easier, announced by a small QL badge on the front of the body (The Canon Camera Museum and Collectibled lists this as a separate model, the Pellix QL released in 1966); in addition to the QL feature, the updated model also has a lock on the stop-down lever, and could accept a meter booster device for use in low light. Other features are a flash port, utility mounting point, timer, side opening battery compartment, ASA from 25 to 1600, and a ¼ inch 20 thread tripod mount. In 1966 the Pellix QL camera body with the FL 50mm f/1.2 cost 72,800 yen or about $690.00 and with the FL 50mm f/1.4 II cost 60,800 yen or about $575.00. The all black camera body cost 1000 Yen or about $10.00 more for the Pellix and Pellix QL. The Pellix type camera is considered collectible because of its unusual features, and examples are sold even when unusable. Most of this information was gleaned from Camera-wiki.org, Collectiblend, and the Canon Camera Museum on line.

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