CanonPrima Super 115 (Sure Shot Z115)

The Canon Prima Super 115 (Sure Shot Z115) comes out of the moment 'titanium' started appearing on spec sheets and ad copy alike. Catalogued as a zoom compact, it pairs the Canon Zoom 38–115mm f/3.6–8.5 (10 elements in 9 groups, aspherical) with a 35mm film path. A bit of background: Canon's flagship zoom compact of 1993: Sure Shot Z115 in America, Prima Super 115 in Europe, Autoboy S ('Super') in Japan.

Format

35mm

Year

1993

Lens

Canon Zoom 38–115mm f/3.6–8.5 (10 elements in 9 groups, aspherical)

Shutter

1/1200 – 2 s (programmed)

Min. focus

0.6 m (0.4 m in close-up mode)

Flash

Built-in multi-mode with red-eye reduction and slow sync

Battery

2× CR123A

The Canon Zoom 38–115mm f/3.6–8.5 (10 elements in 9 groups, aspherical) covers wide-to-short-tele in one barrel — one lens, no decisions, point and shoot. On the film-availability spectrum, plain 35mm is as easy as it gets in 2026. A single CR123A lithium cell powers everything including the motor; still cheap and stocked at most camera shops. The built-in flash will fire whenever the meter decides it should, so learn the override before your first night out. Minimum focus is 0.6 m (0.4 m in close-up mode), close enough for a coffee cup or a face but stops short of true macro. One thing worth knowing before you load a roll: a 1/1200 s top shutter speed is unusually fast for a point-and-shoot — it happily shoots ISO 400 in full sun. Built for family events, holidays and anything where you'd rather reframe than walk.

Zoom compacts are still the bargain corner of the film market — pick up the Canon Prima Super 115 (Sure Shot Z115) cheap, run a roll through it and judge whether the convenience outweighs the slower aperture. Worth remembering: ten elements in nine groups is a serious optical formula for the class, with two moulded glass aspherics.

• §1Canon's flagship zoom compact of 1993: Sure Shot Z115 in America, Prima Super 115 in Europe, Autoboy S ('Super') in Japan.
• §2A 1/1200 s top shutter speed is unusually fast for a point-and-shoot — it happily shoots ISO 400 in full sun.
• §3Ten elements in nine groups is a serious optical formula for the class, with two moulded glass aspherics.
• §4The rear Best Shot Dial predates the scene-mode dials of early digital compacts by a decade.
• §5f/8.5 at 115mm is slow, so the long end really wants daylight or the flash.