Canon VT

Infobox camera
camera_name = Canon VT

---

caption =
type = 35mm rangefinder camera
lens_mount = M39 Leica screw mount
focus = manual
exposure = manual
flash =
frame-rate =
dimensions =

The Canon VT is a rangefinder camera released by Canon in 1956. Until then, Canon had a history of making slightly modified Leica copies. The release of the VT showed for the first time that Canon could be a leader in 35mm rangefinder design.

Canon kept the Leica screw mount on the VT, and little else. They changed the film advance from a top-mounted knob to a bottom-mounted trigger. The tripod socket was moved to mount a trigger wind grip. They added a swing-open back making the camera easier to load than previous bottom loading Canons.

The VT used a cloth shutter curtain, and shutter speeds were from 1s to 1/1000th, plus T and B. Available Canon lenses ranged from 25mm to 800mm, and offered lenses as fast as f/1.2. Flash sync is available for FP, M, and X.

One of its best features was a 3-position viewfinder with rotating prisms, which could be set to 35mm, 50mm and RF. In the RF setting, accessory shoe-mounted viewfinders with automatic parallax correction would be used.

ee also

*Canon 39mm screw lenses

Links

* Cameraquest's [http://www.cameraquest.com/crfvt.htm Canon VT page]
* A [http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/iannorris/leica_copies/leica_copies_c/canonvt.htm Canon VT page] in a Leica-history site
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20041010200312/www.davidde.com/articles/canon5012.html Canon 50/1.2 lens] with discussion of the VT, by Davidde Stella. (Via Wayback, therefore slow. Choice of this particular Wayback image is arbitrary. The original URL is http://www.davidde.com/articles/canon5012.html .)
* [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/canon/html/canon_VT.php Canon VT] at [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/general/html/francais.php Sylvain Halgand's www.collection-appareils.fr]