My love for taking pictures started when I was a little girl, but I didn’t buy my own camera until I was 12 years old. My father had just passed away suddenly, and he always loved taking pictures with his Canon. I wish he hadn’t sold his camera because I would have loved to have it today and I can not remember what model it was. I only remember it was a chrome and black Canon and he had it since we moved to Florida in 1989.
He was constantly taking pictures and I inherited that same love for taking photos. So when I was 12 years old my first camera of course had to be a Canon. It helped me to feel closer to my dad and still does. I am always wondering to myself what kinds of shots he would be taking and what film stocks would he be buying now.
That was right before digital came out so I bought a new Canon EOS Rebel 35mm camera which I thought would be the closest thing to his camera that I could get. I didn’t use it much for lack of guidance and no computer to look anything up at the time, therefore my results were not what I wanted. So once digital cameras came out I sold the film camera and continued through the years with the digital format. I went to college and graduated, becoming a graphic artist. Everything was digital. Fast forward 20 years from the time I bought that first 35mm camera, I now have many film cameras in my collection and just one digital.
The second film camera I bought for shooting (I started out only collecting vintage cameras for display) was the Canon TX because it looked like my dad’s camera. I still didn’t know much about film or film cameras at the time so this camera was a cheap buy on eBay that came with cheap lenses I knew nothing about. Although these lenses are off brands that I’ve never heard of, they have blown me away. They are the Access macro lens 70mm f3.5 and Seikanon 75-200mm f4.5. I’m very proud of the trees I grew from avocado and mango pits, so I often take pictures of them as well as the oak trees. I love how the Access lens fits the trees in my yard in the entire picture.
Later, I purchased a Canon 50mm f1.8 lens and my Uncle sent me a Soligor 75-210mm f2.8 that I will be testing over the next week.
The camera has a built in center weight averaging light meter with a needle that represents the shutter speed, and another needle with a circle on top that represents the f-stop. You want the needle and the circle to line up for the perfect exposure. The needle will move according to the lighting in the image and you turn the aperature ring on your lens to align the circle to it. You can also change them both manually to get the type of expsure you wish to have for the particular type of picture you may be shooting for.
For the light meter to work, you need a 1.35v Mercury battery, which is no longer legal due to its toxic material. When I first purchased the camera, as I mentioned above, I didn’t know much about it. It wasn’t until recently, when I really started getting back into film photography, that I finally found out I can purchase an equivalent battery online. I bought the Wein Cell zinc MRB625 battery and the meter has worked perfectly since.
With the zoom lens, the camera is a little bit heavier than I like and makes the camera a little bit harder to grip. Although, when I compare this to my Nikon F setup with an equivalant zoom lens it is signifigantly lighter. With the 50mm lens, I use it as my carry along camera when I am going to doctors appointments, due to it being light weight and pretty discreet. The mirror slap is noticeable, but not as loud as the Nikon F or the Pentax 67.
The camera does not have a self timer, but does have a stop down lever in the front which can easily be mistaken for the self timer. I have not used the stop down lever myself because admittedly I don’t know how.
The shutter speeds go from Bulb, then 1 second up to 1/500th of a second with a flash sync at 1/60th. My only complaint that I have had so far while using this camera is sometimes the ISO setting, which is built into the shutter speed dial, gets accidentally changed while I am shooting and I dont notice until I am done. This can be a big problem when shooting say ISO 400 only to find out you were shooting the whole time set at 50. The good thing is, that the built in meter will compensate for it, but when you send it off to your lab, to be developed those pics may be over exposed compared to the rest.
So far this camera is the favorite of my SLR’s.(Then again I have only shot with this camera and my Nikon F’s so far) I’ve gotten better results with it than my Nikon F’s (which I will be reviewing in the future). All in all this camera, I feel, is a great work horse that is overlooked and underappreciated because it’s stripped down compared to other models. For me, I like that it’s minimal because I don’t use alot of those other features.
So if you’re looking for a simple camera for uncomplicated shooting, or if you’re a beginner to film photography, I highly recommend the Canon TX.
To see more pictures that I’ve taken with the Canon TX please visit my Instagram or my online portfolio. I also have a video review with this camera on my YouTube Channel. So please head over and subscribe to be notified for upcoming reviews.
Canon SLRs of this era are super solid, built like tanks. I had a TLb for a while and it was great.
That stop down lever? If you have FD lenses attached, you never need to use it. If you have older FL lenses, you have to. Here’s an online manual for this camera that tells all:
https://www.cameramanuals.org/canon_pdf/canon_tx.pdf
Thank you.
Enjoyed your article. My first film single lens reflex camera was a Canon FTb. Used it for about three years. It developed shutter bounce. Had it repaired by Canon and then sold it along with several lenses. Still regret selling it. Replaced it with a Nikkormat FTn. Also, now long gone. Have relatively recently acquired quite a few film cameras and have used most of them at least once, but have come to favor the immediacy of digital photography.
I’m glad you enjoyed the article. I would like to try a nikkormat in the future. I have a couple Nikon F I’m trying out.
You will like both of them, I predict.