CanonPrima BF-7

Released into a period when Contax, Nikon and Minolta were trading punches over who could put the best fixed lens in the smallest body, the Canon Prima BF-7 is a compact built around a Canon 32mm f/4.5. For context, sold as the Sure Shot BF-7 in North America — 'BF' stands for 'Big Finder'.

Format

35mm

Year

1991

Lens

Canon 32mm f/4.5

Min. focus

1.5 m

Flash

Built-in auto

Battery

2× AA

Don't expect heroics in low light from the Canon 32mm f/4.5; expect a tiny camera that drops into a coat pocket and never argues about it. 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 1.5 m, close enough for a coffee cup or a face but stops short of true macro. A quirk worth flagging up front: an entry-level focus-free point-and-shoot from Canon's early-'90s Prima line. 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 BF-7 is the kind of camera people brag about owning five years from now and ten times the price.

• §1Sold as the Sure Shot BF-7 in North America — 'BF' stands for 'Big Finder'.
• §2An entry-level focus-free point-and-shoot from Canon's early-'90s Prima line.