The Canon Canonet 28 of 1971 is the second Canon camera called a “Canonet 28”. The first Canonet was introduced in 1968 without a rangefinder (it had zone focus) or plastic tip to the advance lever. It also had a PC flash fitting and a plain accessory shoe.
The ’71 version has a programmed shutter with speeds from 25 sec to 620 sec. There is a view of the shutter speeds (30, 60, 125, 250 and 600 sec) along the right side of the viewfinder. There are red areas at the top and bottom of the scale, both indicate the camera will not shoot.
All this assumes you have the aperture dial at “A”. You are free to turn the dial—located close to the body on the lens—to a range of apertures. As soon as you turn the aperture dial to one of these f/stops the shutter always fires at 25 sec. This is a shutter speed that “M” class flashbulbs will work well with. On the other hand it isn’t a shutter speed you can capture much action with.
Focus requires rotating the lens about 30º from infinity to 0.8 m. There isn’t a focus lever, just knurling on both sides of the lens.
Clever aspects of this very popular camera—
the camera has a dedicated flash (Canonlite D) well worth finding*
there is a film movement indicator on the back (just below the tip of the film wind lever)
there is a cable release socket in the middle of the shutter release
there is no self-timer (one was sold as an accessory—SelfTimer 8)
there is a tripod screw attachment socket on the bottom
This camera came with a very chipped and crinkled leather case and a neckstrap. I paid $5 for it.
*Set on “A” If there is enough light the camera will expose fine, showing a shutter speed in the viewfinder. But the display isn’t just the shutter speed.
The Canonet has a “Programed Shutter” that combines the shutter blades and the aperture blades in a pair of notched blades that open and close a diamond shaped opening (shaped like a square standing on one corner). Every setting of the Programmed Shutter combines the blade opening aperture size and how fast the opening opens and closes.
To use a normal flash that flashes at full output each flash, with the Canonet you would have to switch off the “A” setting to the proper aperture for the distance you are from the subject (using the guide number divided by distance equals aperture formula).
When the Canonlite D is mounted the Canonet can be left on the “A” setting. If there isn’t enough light you just had to turn on the flash. As soon as it was charged the needle in the viewfinder—as long as it is between the two red areas—indicates the camera is set for the distance you have focused the rangefinder to.
Obviously the Canonlite D flash is telling the camera (through the extra contact on the hot shoe foot) the exposure is now based on the flash. The camera is setting the correct aperture for the distance you have focused to. Think of the viewfinder display as showing
30 sec is indicating f/2.8
60 sec is indicating f/4
125 sec is indicating f/5.6
250 sec is indicating f/8
and 600 sec is indicating f/11
Of course the camera’s flash can’t expose to infinity, but if you try to focus to infinity the needle in the viewfinder will slip into the red area and the camera won’t fire. It might be possible to slip into the red area at the other end of the display if you are using a high speed film and tying to shoot really close. Again the camera won’t fire and you would have to move back.
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