What a gorgeous little chunky boy this is! The AF35ML was introduced in 1981 and famed for it’s 40mm f1.9 lens which trumped the competition for low light photography. It is a solid feeling, surprisingly small compact point & shoot that fits well in the hand thanks to the good sized grip. With automatic exposure range of 1/4s f1.9 to 1/400th f18 it should be good for most situations, and ISO settings of 25-1000 makes it very versatile.

This very nice condition example was bought at a camera fair, and unlike most of my purchases, a good chunk of cash was paid! Having 35 year old electronics inside, it was essential to fully test before buying, rather than taking a punt on an “untested” one on eBay.

The first thing you notice when shooting is the very unsubtle shutter sound, it is like a sledge hammer dropped on a tiled floor! You certainly know when you have taken the shot, this is quickly followed by the 100db winding motor advancing to the next frame! For this reason I didn’t feel particularly comfortable shooting on the streets, unless there was a bus driving past!

Loaded with Kodak Gold I spent a very hot day wandering the streets looking for compositions - there were a few I simply couldn’t take due to the volume of the camera. One advantage of the 40mm lens is you look as though you are taking a shot up the street, but you can included elements like these two scooters. I do feel like the scooters should have been sharper though as I would expect the auto exposure to be around the top end of speed and a smaller aperture for the 200 speed film. I guess there is a downside to autofocus as well, choosing somewhere in the centre rather than where you would have done it!

Another example of the autofocus disagreeing with me, and choosing the spot in the distance rather than the subject. The field of view on point & shoots takes a bit of getting used to when you generally use an SLR with a 50mm lens, and although the AF35ML has a 40mm lens, it does still seem quite wide at times. I wonder if there are any fixed lens compacts with a slightly longer lens?

I have to say the images at wider apertures are not that sharp when compared to results from other similar cameras, one example was a shot taken under an arch of trees that is not even usable. I guess you learn the characteristics of a camera the more you use it.

Looking through the scans, there are quite a few I can see where I lacked the confidence to take the shot and opted to wait for the subjects to walk past for fear of being scowled at! This is one such scene - there was an old couple walking past, but I knew the Canon would be loud in this quiet side street, so didn’t shoot. If I had the Olympus XA2, I would defiantly have got the shot, and the one with the woman dressed in full pink passing a beam of light cast on the pavement, but I did not get that one either.

Maybe if I was in a busier noisier city rather than a quiet town centre things would be different.

This shot symbolises the cities around where I live - Bristol in particular has a large amount of people living in vans like this as they simply cannot afford to buy a house. There could well have been someone living in this one.

If you are wondering whether I shot the colourful houses in the background - the answer is yes, but with the Rolleiflex SL26 and expired colour film.

I have to say, I really enjoyed this Canon AF35ML, it’s not all about image quality (which is fine for Kodak Gold), but more about how the camera feels. I wasn’t sure whether to keep it, but now I’ve used it - it is staying with me, not as a daily carry, but for special occasions. For street photography I will still use the Olmypus XA2 and mju II as they are awesome, but for slower pace quieter places the Canon can shine.

Pure 80’s goodness - The Canon AF35ML…

Where to get bargain cameras…