Lomopedia: Canon 7s

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Camera giant Canon has brought us a lot of remarkable photo gear and this is one of them albeit its niche following. We’re taking a look at the Canon 7s 35 mm rangefinder camera. It’s the upgrade to the Canon 7 rangefinder and was released in the market from 1965 until 1967. It was then replaced with the Canon 7sz (or Canon 7 Type 2) with a few aesthetic and feature upgrades.

Canon 7s © Elliot via Flickr, Image used under Creative Commons license

The Canon 7s features a 39 mm screw or bayonet mount that accepts a variety of lenses from different brands. One of the most noteworthy lenses that can be paired with the Canon 7 is the fast Canon 50 mm f0.95 lens. One look at the camera and lens combination and you’d quickly think that it can be used to take some serious images.

This rangefinder shoots at a quick 1/1000 top shutter speed although it only allows up to ASA 400 film speed. It has a built-in coupled light meter and is apparently multiple exposures capable with a little bit of fidgeting with the film rewind collar. The Canon 7 is also a bit bigger than its other rangefinder counterparts – length, height, and width wise. This size advantage made it a bit more ergonomic especially with the beefed-up levers, switches, and dials.

Canon 7s © Elliot via Flickr, Image used under Creative Commons license

Looks-wise, the Canon 7s is no slouch. It’s one of those cameras that will quickly turn heads anytime, anyplace. It has that distinctive rangefinder charm to it that will easily be a conversation starter among photography enthusiasts and casual users alike. It’s just one of those cameras that are built to perform well and look undeniable handsome at the same time.

The Canon 7s can still fetch quite a high price in today’s market since it’s on the rare side of rangefinder cameras. A Canon 7s in good working condition may go from $400 to $600 depending on the lens that’s attached to it. Serious rangefinder users or collectors may easily be tempted by this camera, so long as they can find one that’s up for grabs. We would, too, in all honesty.

Photos Taken by Our Community

Credits: morsini

Technical Specifications

Lens: Canon 50 mm f0.95 bayonet-mount
ISO: ASA 400
Focus: rangefinder with a bright viewfinder
Shutter: stainless steel shutter chain, B, T, 1s to 1/1000s
Size: 140 mm × 31 mm × 81 mm
Weight: 630 grams
Material: metal
Flash: sync at 1/60
Film: 35 mm

All information used in this article was sourced from Camera Quest, Camera Wiki, Shutterbug, and Camerapedia.

written by cheeo on 2019-04-30 #gear #rangefinder #canon-7s #lomopedia-35-mm

6 Comments

  1. flamingoid
    flamingoid ·

    "[The Canon 7s] only allows up to ASA 400 film speed." Fortunately, this isn't exactly true. The light meter on the Canon 7 or 7s only gives a proper exposure for film up to ASA 400 speed but the limited ASA range of the light meter is not a real issue here as there's no auto exposure mode coupled to it. It's easy to manually compensate by stopping down, i.e. choosing a higher f-stop (closing down the diaphragm) or selecting a faster shutter speed.

  2. stouf
    stouf ·

    If you find one with the f0.95 lens for 600 bucks, let me know!😊

  3. cheeo
    cheeo ·

    @flamingoid thanks for that useful bit of info! Now, if only we can find a good-condition Canon 7s. :)

  4. cheeo
    cheeo ·

    @stouf We'll keep an eye out! :)

  5. flamingoid
    flamingoid ·

    @cheeo Good luck, they're expensive cameras these days.

  6. dcc
    dcc ·

    The 7s is certainly a nice camera. I have the 7 and a 7sz. The biggest problem is finding one with a working meter. Recommend you use an external meter given that camera is over 50 years old. Also Canon was never able to fix the annoying "halo" around rangefinder patch. Perhaps they needed to install a condenser. Otherwise these cameras will probably outlast you mechanically.

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