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Home / News / Retro chic – Canon Pellix (1965)

Retro chic – Canon Pellix (1965)

If you missed out on Friday's World Photography Day fest, take a trip down camera memory lane

What’s the story?

When Sony launched its Alpha 55 DSLR last year, a bit of fuss was made over its clever translucent mirror. Sony forgot to mention, however, that the tech was over 40 years old. Way back in 1965, Canon unveiled the Pellix – an SLR with a fixed, semi-transparent mirror that split the light coming through the lens, sending two thirds to the film and the rest to the viewfinder. The Alpha does similar, but sends that remaining third to an autofocus sensor for quick series photos and autofocussing in video mode.

Why should I want one?

Thanks to their analogue past life, cameras have a real sense of history you just don’t get with other gadgets, making it possible to trace their lineage. In this case, while other snappers used through-the-lens exposure metering (Topcon’s RE-Super did so in 1963, followed by the Pentax Spotmatic a year later), the Pellix was the first to do it with a two-way pellicle mirror.

What to look for

There are a few common problems you’re likely to encounter with a second-hand Pellix. Many have a knackered meter-circuit and the mercury battery it originally used is no longer available. Luckily, a 1.4V Zinc Air hearing aid battery should work just fine. Or you could get a Sony Alpha 55…

Also

World Photography Day

More Retro Chic gadgets

Profile image of Dan Grabham Dan Grabham Editor-in-Chief

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website.  Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.

Areas of expertise

Computing, mobile, audio, smart home