The Canon SureShot series was a very popular line of point-and-shoot film cameras. I recently acquired one from a friend that hasn’t used it since 2001. This is a nice p/s camera, this particular model is from 1991.
The SureShot is a very easy camera to use. It is a fully automatic camera, with no manual override settings. The black plastic body does not feel very sturdy in hand, but the camera is very easy to hold. Since there are no manual controls, there are only three switches and one button. The power switch is on the front of the lens which I do find a little awkward , the flash power switch is on the back of the camera and has three positions ON – OFF – ON/RED EYE REDUCTION, the zoom switch is on the front of the body and only has two positions 35mm – 70mm.
I enjoy carrying this around, and it’s fun to shoot. This is a very portable camera, no fancy bells and whistles to get in the way. The learning curve of this camera is very shallow. The lens is rather slow, so I suggest using medium to fast ISO film. Don’t expect this to be a great portrait camera, at 70mm the lens stops down to f6, but is a perfectly fine lo-fi party camera at 35mm is perfect for close quarters shooting and at f3.5 lack of depth-of-field is not a problem.
Who is this camera for? Anybody can use this camera, but this camera is for film junkies that love the challenge of shooting a camera with limited metering technology. I used this camera on several photo-walks and was relatively happy with it. While shooting film, taking my time and carefully choosing the images that I make is part of my standard operating procedure.
Who cares about this camera? I don’t think very many people do. This camera was made in time where family snap shots need to be made as easily as possible for consumers. Cameras in this era were so massed produced that there are many more in the landfills than in the possession of photographers.
Film photography is in its renaissance right now and this camera is wonderful for photowalks and casual shooting.
Don’t forget that the camera is just a tool and every tool has its place in your toolbox.
| Type | Fully automatic 35mm Lens-Shutter autofocus camera with two focal lengths |
| Picture Size | 24 x 36 mm |
| AF System | 3-point Smart Autofocus with near-infrared beam. Pre-focus enabled. Close-up warning provided. One focusing point (at center). Focusing range of 0.65 m to infinity. |
| Lens | 38mm f/3.5 (3 elements in 3 groups) and 70mm f/6 (6 elements in 6 groups). Focal length switchable with a switch. |
| Shutter | Electromagnetic programmed shutter and aperture. In auto mode and flash-on mode: EV 9.5 (f/3.5 at 1/60 sec.) – EV 17 (f/22 at 1/250 sec.) at 38mm, and EV 12 (f/6 at 1/100 sec.) – EV 17 (f/24 at 1/200 sec.) at 70mm. In flash-off mode: EV 7 (f/3.5 at 1/8 sec.) – EV 17 (f/22 at 1/250 sec.) at 38mm, and EV 8.5 (f/6 at 1/8 sec.) – EV 17 (f/24 at 1/200 sec.) at 70mm. Built-in electronic self-timer. |
| Viewfinder | Variable-magnification Albada reversed Galilean viewfinder. 0.37x – 0.64x magnification and 85% coverage. Within the image area are the AF frame, close-up warning lamp (green), parallax correction marks, red-eye reduction indicator, in-focus/OK-to-Shoot indicator, flash ready, and camera-shake warning lamp (red). |
| EE | a-Si cell for full-auto program EE. Metering range of EV 7 – 17. Film speed range: ISO 25 – 3200 (with DX code). |
| Built-in Flash | Fixed, built-in flash. Guide No. 10.7 (at ISO 100 in meters). Fires automatically in backlight and low-light conditions. Red-eye reduction lamp provided. |
| Auto-date Feature |
Year, month, day; day, hour, minute; and 5 captions displayable on 7-segment transparent LCD for imprinting. |
| Power Source | One 3 V CR123A lithium battery |
| Film Loading & Advance |
After opening camera back, align film leader at mark, then close the camera back for auto loading. Automatic film advance with built-in motor. Film advance speed: 1 fps. |
| Frame Counter | Counts up during film advance. Counts down during rewind. |
| Film Rewind | Automatic rewind with built-in motor. |
| Dimensions & Weight |
125 x 68 x 53 mm, 255 g (with battery) |
Specs from http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/camera/film/data/1991-1995/1991_ab-mini-t.html
