CanonAF35M (Sure Shot / Autoboy)

Place the Canon AF35M (Sure Shot / Autoboy) in context and you land in a brief window where miniaturisation outpaced automation and engineers were still proud of dials. Catalogued as a autofocus compact, it pairs the Canon 38mm f/2.8 with a 35mm film path. Worth knowing up front: the world's first successful autofocus 35mm compact from a major brand.

Format

35mm

Year

1979

Lens

Canon 38mm f/2.8

Min. focus

1.0 m

Flash

Built-in

Battery

2× AA

The Canon 38mm f/2.8 is the everyday-light specialist — not a low-light hero, but contrasty, sharp and honest at every aperture. Film supply is a non-issue: any 35mm cassette from any lab works. It runs on common AA batteries — you can resurrect one on a Sunday afternoon with whatever the corner shop has in stock. The built-in flash will fire whenever the meter decides it should, so learn the override before your first night out. Minimum focus is 1.0 m, close enough for a coffee cup or a face but stops short of true macro. Worth knowing in the field: marketed as the 'Sure Shot' in the US and 'Autoboy' in Japan. The mild-normal focal length flatters faces and street scenes alike without either looking forced.

Quietly underrated, the Canon AF35M (Sure Shot / Autoboy) is the kind of camera people brag about owning five years from now and ten times the price. A footnote that often comes up: sold by the millions and basically invented the family vacation camera.

• §1The world's first successful autofocus 35mm compact from a major brand.
• §2Marketed as the 'Sure Shot' in the US and 'Autoboy' in Japan.
• §3Sold by the millions and basically invented the family vacation camera.