Canon P

Rangefinder camera made in Japan in 1960.

There is no doubt about the heritage of Canon's camera design, but a superior production quality parts Canon from all the other Leica copies flooding the marked during the 50's and 60's.

My Canon P was made as number 61 928 out of the 90 500 P-models produced between December 1958 and May 1961. The original 50mm lens (screw mount) is a lightning fast 1.4. But still nothing compared to the famous 0.95, 50mm lens for the succeeding Canon 7. The pictures show the camera with a excellent 1.8 / 35mm. This wide angle is some times mentioned in comparison with the Leica Summicron 35mm (of the same era). Both the 35mm and the 50mm produces razor sharp and high contrasted images. The camera it self is also very compact and easy to use.

The metal shutter is a notch louder than the cloth shutter of the Leica M3, but I really can't make up my mind in a general comparison between the two. They are different, indeed. The Leica is tighter and has a more accurate feel to it maybe, but it's not as "fast" and operable as this one.

The Canon P has a detachable light meter coupled with the shutter dial on top of the camera. I have to admit that I never use the meter because I think the bulky plastic thing ruins the looks of the sleekest rangefinder ever produced:)

Canon 1.4 / 50mm lens.

Canon 1.8 / 35mm lens.

Shutter: Metal horizontal shutter (B-1000)

Viewfinder: 35mm, 50mm, 100mm framelines. Parallax correction.