Would you buy a retro-styled Canon?

[Uneternal]

Ever since the Nikon Zf and Zfc came out, I'm a little jealous that Canon doesn't offer an alternative (yet). We've seen some attempts like the EOS M6 Mark II with silver housing or the RP Gold Edition, but all of them still looked very modern compared to what Nikon or Fuji offers.

Would you be looking forward to a retro-styled Canon camera, like say an AE-1 styled camera with upgraded EOS R10 or EOS R6II specs? Or do you not care for vintage at all and you're like "f that s, I want my rounded edges"? 😄

Here's my A.I. assisted mockup design:

[shadowsports]

Welcome back Uneternal.

I had an AE-1 from '77-'86.  Great Camera.

If they do make a retro model, it will likely sell, but I'm sticking with ergo lines. I like my round edges now.   

[Tronhard]

I seem to recall some discussion on this before and absolutely, I would be interested in a camera with modern innards (like the R6II) and retro controls - i.e. like the Df, the digital controls are there too, if subtly.  Absolutely - and to me it is more about the controls than just style...

When I started  about 43 years ago, and at that time I was shooting with a combination of Nikon and Canon SLRs - the Nikon FM, Nikon F3 and Canon A-1: all brilliant cameras. I switched to digital around the turn of the turn of the century, but I still retain one of each body for old time's sake..  When the Nikon Df came out, it was about the time I retired, and the attraction was immediate and profound.

This camera took me back to the interface I had used when I started, yet offered many of the benefits of a top-end DSLR   I love the brilliant low-light performance of the FF sensor from the D4, tweaked for further sensitivity.

When Tetsuro Goto created the Df, he was at the end of a stellar career with Nikon as the head and design leader of their excellent camera division. That Goto-san was also a highly-respected, award-winning photographer, who loved dedicated, manual focus, simple cameras speaks volumes about his work and design philosophy.

The creation of the Df was his swansong: harkening back to his earliest creations over 40 years before. It represented his chance to make a statement about his ethic, not only as a designer of an artistic tool, but as a member of Japanese culture.

Its design philosophy is one of measured and considered movement of tactile controls that offer up the chance to linger: where the process itself becomes an inherent part of the occasion: intrinsic to the art form we are engaged with, to be valued and cherished and certainly not bypassed. Like many things in Japanese culture, it encourages us to slow down, be in the moment, and take time to enjoy the act of creation.

I have three: one in silver, one in black with silver, and a rare, limited edition (Japan release only) black and gold unit as well.  I shall never sell my Df cameras.

Given the realities of marketing cameras, just as Nikon latterly did with Zfc and Zf , I expect Canon will need to include the full functionality of controls one would expect in a contemporary camera, so I would be very happy to see something that looked like the A-1, which was itself a major ground-breaking camera. 

[Princejvstin]

I do find the retro movement interesting (there is also a "crappy camera challenge" on a couple of social media sites where people take pictures with old equipment. 

Is this retro-nostalgia at work? I don't know...maybe.  As Tronhard suggested, a camera that had the modern conveniences but looked like a A-1 would certainly draw my eye.  Camera itself as object d'art.  But the point for me is something to use and enjoy using. 

[zakslm]

I've thought about this before when Nikon introduced the Zf.

I loved my original AE-1, T70 and 10s but like others have stated, I love the ergonomics, technology and results I get from my DSLR.

Creating something that "looks like something else" would not necessarily entice me to buy it.  But I might buy something that happened to look like something else if there are benefits and I felt those benefits would increase my enjoyment of my hobby and/or do things that my current camera cannot do. 

As far as nostalgia is concerned, I'd love to see Canon put the "old" Canon logo on the prism/EVF a modern new camera as a subtle nod to the past.  I think that would be cool.

[sceneit]

I got some great pictures with the Canon T-80 and the only FD mount 50mm AF lens. I shot B&W and developed it in my bathroom. Piece of cake. I even took a bunch of stupid pictures no one will ever want to look at... now that's retro. 😃 I have also run film through a bunch of old Canon's as well as an EOS 1N. My favorite to use is the EOS ELAN with eye detect AF. It's lightweight and almost never misses focus. Works great with the EF 16-35mm f/2.8 mk III. Point is, if you want to shoot a retro camera you can do it with EF mount right now. LOL. 

[kriscowling]

I’m a nostalgia buff and would be intrigued by the retro look but probably wouldn’t be enticed to buy, as I still have my AE-1 and my A-1.  My sales receipt from November 8, 1977, shows that I paid $318.23 for my AE-1 with 50mm FD f/1.8 lens and a case.  It seemed like a fortune at the time!  The photo shop “threw in” a 20-exposure roll of unspecified film. 😉