The Canon P
Described by Rewind Crank ‘Form follows function’ said the American architect Louis Sullivan, meaning that objects should be designed to reflect their purpose The uncluttered lines of the Canon P show the truth of Sullivan’s dictum. ‘P’ is said to stand for ‘Populaire’, though I wonder why it was not just called by that name. Anyway, it followed the V and preceded the 7 so that makes it VI, according to my arithmetic. Having perused the selection available on eBay, I chose one from a Japanese vendor which seemed to be in good condition and was reasonably priced at £109, body only, plus postage and import tax. At that price I knew I wasn’t taking a great risk but when I unpacked it I was surprised to find it almost completely unmarked, which I think is pretty good for a camera at least fifty-six years old. The stainless steel shutter curtain was slightly creased but this is very common and has no effect on the accuracy of the mechanism.
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Next, I bought two L39 threaded lenses, again from Japanese sellers, a Voigtlander Color Skopar 35mm f1.8 and a Canon 50mm f1.8 as shown in the illustration. The camera would have originally had a black barrelled version but
