A Canon AE-1 Digital in Our Future?
Canon talks at CP+ About the possiblities of a Digital AE-1
During CP+, Phototrend France sat down with Canon and discussed what was happening in terms of Canon. There's a lot to talk about in this article as many different subjects were discussed, so this will end up being more than one article as we unpack everything.
But first, I want to talk about the digital AE or digital FD camera ie: the retro camera. Many of us have wanted a camera from our distant FD past, and it sounds like Canon is finally giving it some serious consideration. This was certainly the longest CEO answer we have seen on the subject.
Manabu Kato, who is the head of Canon IBO (Imaging Business Operations) responsible for products gave this answer when asked about the AE-1, and the fact that 2026 is the 50th anniversary of the camera;
Well, thank you. I’m really glad to hear you’re an enthusiast of the AE-1 because I love that camera too.
Thank you for the question about the vintage look, styling, and design. It’s not as simple as “okay, let’s design this camera to make it look vintage.” In a camera like this one [EOS R5 Mark II, Editor’s note], we have the camera part, the lens part, and the accessory part, and they all have to coordinate together to form a camera. That’s why we have to start designing from considering: “if we change the camera part, how will it affect the lens, how will it affect the accessories?” These are the things we consider first in making our designs.
And we are really focused on grip operability, the positioning of dials, buttons, and other things. So if we were to do this with the AE-1 design, would it truly achieve the kind of operability and usability we need in a Canon camera? That’s what it boils down to.
Without a doubt, this is actually a serious consideration—the ergonomics of Canon cameras from the AE-1 period diverged when it came to the T lineup, especially the T90, which formed the basis of the cameras we see today. While some features carried through, to make the AE-1 digital, would it lose some of that charm that made the AE-1 special?
Companies such as Fuji and Nikon spent considerable time and effort marrying the analog past to the new digital cameras of today, and Canon needs to go through the same process to ensure that we get a camera that still just gets out of the way of taking pictures.
A good example is the top plate of an AE-1 camera. There's no ISO control (because the film sets the ISO), and the aperture control is on the lens itself. The top controls were limited to a rudimentary shutter speed control, the shutter button, and the film advance lever.
Life was much simpler back in those days.
Today's mirrorless cameras allow tactile and haptic control over many different functions, and it would seem strange not to have that on a camera that focuses on manual operation. Would Canon have to make an entirely different set of "classical" lenses that have the aperture dial?
I think the Fujifilm X-M5 is a good example of what an AE-1 digital camera could look like, as Fuji has spent the most time working on the ergonomics of the marriage between film and digital.
The controls are obviously different from the AE-1, but the classical feel remains. This is no EOS ergonomics, but entirely different for Canon, which hasn't had the best track record in terms of ergonomics experimentation in modern times. The EOS R will be remembered as having a swipe bar that no one wanted.
That said, there have been rumours about it coming out this year, but PhotoTrend mentioned an interesting fact: 2026 is the 50th anniversary, so it would seem strange for Canon to miss that date by launching it this year. The camera came out in April 1976, and if I had to bet a donut on it, I'd suggest that April 2026 sounds like the perfect release date.
Only time will tell, but I certainly want my Digital AE-1.
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