CanonSure Shot Tele (Autoboy Tele)

The Canon Sure Shot Tele (Autoboy Tele) comes out of the late 1980s, the golden age of the autofocus point-and-shoot. Catalogued as a dual-lens autofocus compact, it pairs the Canon 40mm f/2.8 & 70mm f/4.9 with a 35mm film path. A bit of background: one of the first dual-focal-length compacts on the market — Canon beat the Nikon TW and Olympus AF-Tele to shelves by nearly a year.

Format

35mm

Year

1986

Lens

Canon 40mm f/2.8 & 70mm f/4.9

Min. focus

0.7 m

Flash

Built-in auto with fill mode

Battery

2× AA

The Canon 40mm f/2.8 & 70mm f/4.9 sits in the daylight sweet spot: sharp wide open, well-corrected against flare, and small enough to disappear in a jacket pocket. Standard 35mm keeps it compatible with whatever Kodak, Ilford, Fuji or CineStill stock you find on the shelf today. 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 0.7 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: the built-in SOFT FILTER is a genuinely rare feature: flip the switch and a diffusion element slides in front of the lens for hazy portraits without carrying accessories. Best for everyday life and half-length portraits — a 40-ish lens stays out of the way and renders people without distortion.

The Canon Sure Shot Tele (Autoboy Tele) hasn't been swept up by the algorithm yet, which is the entire window — get one before the rest of the internet catches up. Worth remembering: The ME button lets you fire the shutter without advancing the film — proper multiple exposures on a plastic point-and-shoot from '86.

• §1One of the first dual-focal-length compacts on the market — Canon beat the Nikon TW and Olympus AF-Tele to shelves by nearly a year.
• §2The built-in SOFT FILTER is a genuinely rare feature: flip the switch and a diffusion element slides in front of the lens for hazy portraits without carrying accessories.
• §3The ME button lets you fire the shutter without advancing the film — proper multiple exposures on a plastic point-and-shoot from '86.