Canon Pellix
The Canon Pellix was a 35mm SLR camera with a fixed mirror, which also led to the name Pellix . It had a Canon FL bayonet and was one of the Canon F-series cameras. It was the first Canon camera with TTL exposure metering .
Pellix
Period
The Canon Pellix appeared in April 1965 and was replaced the following year by the slightly modified Pellix QL. The Pellix with the normal lens 50 mm, f / 1.8 cost approx. 1200 DM.
casing
The Pellix was based on the aluminum housing of the Canon FX . The base plate and caps were available in silver or black, although the black version was rarely bought.
Viewfinder
The special feature of the Pellix was a partially transparent mirror. A vapor-coated plastic film made of Mylar, which is very thin at 0.02 mm, was used for this. It was very sensitive and could not be touched, but this kept happening so that Canon Customer Service was often busy changing it. The film also gave the camera its name, Pellice , closely. for pellicle she designated.
The advantage of the fixed mirror was the low-vibration triggering of the camera. You could also see an image in the viewfinder while recording. This was less irritating and helped keep the camera steady. In addition, you could see whether a lightning bolt actually triggered. The film acted like a neutral density filter and swallowed 1 ⁄ 2 f-stop light. Canon considered these properties to be so special that the model name was large above the viewfinder and Canon small to the side, while otherwise it was the other way around.
The viewfinder had a focusing screen with a microprism ring . Since only part of the light got into the viewfinder, the viewfinder was darker than that of the FX.
Exposure metering
After the Topcon RE super and the Penatax Spotmatic, the Canon Pellix was the third 35mm SLR camera with internal measurement. The exposure determined a CdS cell. It was not on the prism as usual, but directly behind the mirror and folded down when the shutter was released. Its size was 8 mm × 12 mm, which means that it covered approx. 12% of the image area and the diagonal measurement angle in the case of a normal lens attached was approx. 15 °.
The film speed could be set on the shutter speed dial between ISO 10/11 ° and ISO 800/30 °. The measuring range at ISO100 / 21 ° was from 1 s at f / 1.2 to 1/1000 s at f / 16.
Clasp
In contrast to the FX, the Pellix had a metal focal plane shutter , since with a cloth shutter through the partially permeable mirror there would have been the risk that sun rays would burn holes in the shutter. You could see its slats if you looked at the mirror at right angles to the plane of the film. Shutter speeds could be set from 1 s up to 1 ⁄ 1000 s, there was a separate setting "X" for the flash sync time.
Power supply
The Pellix needed a PX 625 for the light meter. It was dependent on the exact 1.35 V voltage of this battery type.
Special lenses
Together with the Pellix, Canon brought out the particularly flat lens FLP 38 mm, f / 2.8, which could only be connected to the Pellix because the rear lens protruded particularly far into the mirror box and left no space for the movement of a normal mirror . The P in the FLP denoted this. Shortly afterwards Canon presented the FL 19 mm, f / 3.5 R for the Pellix, a retrofocus construction that left enough space for the mirror. The usual FL 19 mm, f / 3.5 protruded so far into the mirror box that you could only use it when the mirror was folded up, which of course was not possible with the Pellix.
Pellix QL
Period and classification
The Canon Pellix QL replaced the Pellix in March 1966. It stayed in the range until the Canon FD bayonet was released and then did not have a successor. Canon later took up the idea of the partially transparent mirror several times in order to obtain a particularly fast motor drive, but only for special models that were produced in small numbers.
With the appearance of the Canon FT QL , the Pellix lacked some properties, which led to the Pellix QL.
QL system
The Quick Load System simplifies film loading. Only the film tongue had to be pulled out to a certain position, then the film automatically threaded in after closing the rear wall.
Light meter
The exposure meter could now be set from ISO 25/15 ° to ISO 2000/34 °, the measuring range remained unchanged.
Canon Booster
The Pellix QL also received a connection for the Canon Booster , which extended the measuring range of the built-in CdS cell with a transistor amplifier for night shots. It was possible to set a film speed of ISO 25/15 ° to ISO 12800/42 °. At ISO 100/21 ° and f / 1.2 the measuring range was between 1 ⁄ 2 s and 30 s. The booster had an illuminated instrument, the pointer of which was to be set exactly to the center. He also owned a bike with the times 60 - 30 - 15 - 8 - 4 - 2 - 1 - 1 ⁄ 2 - 1 ⁄ 4 - 1 ⁄ 8 - 1 ⁄ 15 - 1 ⁄ 30 - 1 ⁄ 60 . Since CDS cells react sluggishly in low light, it could take a minute more before the pointer came to rest.
The booster had two battery compartments. The lower one took two batteries of the same type as in the camera to carry out the measurement, the one above the camera battery to illuminate the instrument. This had to be removed from the Pellix QL because the booster connection was in the battery compartment.
Web links
swell
- Günter Richter: The Canon Reflex System . Laterna magica 1980. ISBN 3-87467-118-6
- Alexander Decker: Unorthodox Canon SLR cameras , in PhotoDeal I / 2000
Individual evidence
- ↑ Market overview single-lens reflex cameras with internal measurement , photo magazine April 1969