CanonPrima 5

The Canon Prima 5 comes out of a period when Contax, Nikon and Minolta were trading punches over who could put the best fixed lens in the smallest body. Catalogued as a autofocus compact, it pairs the Canon 35mm f/4.5 with a 35mm film path. A bit of background: sold as the Sure Shot Ace in North America and the Autoboy Prisma in Japan.

Format

35mm

Year

1992

Lens

Canon 35mm f/4.5

Min. focus

1.0 m

Flash

Built-in auto

Battery

2× AA

The Canon 35mm f/4.5 is on the slow side, so it rewards good light or a roll of ISO 400 — but the body shrinks accordingly into something you'll actually carry every day. 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. One thing worth knowing before you load a roll: an entry-level Sure Shot aimed at first-time AF compact buyers in the early '90s. The 35mm field of view sits halfway between observer and participant; it suits anything where you want the viewer to feel in the scene.

Quietly underrated, the Canon Prima 5 is the kind of camera people brag about owning five years from now and ten times the price.

• §1Sold as the Sure Shot Ace in North America and the Autoboy Prisma in Japan.
• §2An entry-level Sure Shot aimed at first-time AF compact buyers in the early '90s.