Autoboy Tele 6

[Claude]

ViewfinderThe viewfinder is reasonable for a camera of this type, and it has a single parallax line and square bracket reticles. It masks down automatically in 72-frame (X2) mode. The finder snaps from one focal length to the other. Little or no distortion is visible, which is nice. There is just a green light that comes on when focus is locked. It also comes on when the focus is not locked. Or when there is imminent underexposure. There is no orange or red light for failure modes, which puts the internal computer at a notch below the usual 4-bit processor in the Stylus Epic/mju-ii, Yashica T4, etc.

Shutter impulse. This camera has something of a lag because the act of shooting it retracts the lens cover, extends the lens, shoots, retracts the lens, and closes the door. This makes it almost impossible to throw a camera with an un-capped lens into your bag. All of this happens inside the teleconverter tube when the teleconverter is on.

The date back. The unicorn-like Multi Tele Date, instead of just having a frame counter on the back, has a multifunction back that is not unlike what you would have gotten on a pro SLR (not DSLR) back in the day.

Canon AF Teleconverter. The AF Teleconverter automatically turns this into a(n even more) weird and wonderful camera. It screws into the tripod socket, flaps over the front, and snaps over the back. It activates a small rubberized switch that tells the camera to adjust focus. It can flip off almost immediately like an everready case. The 40.5mm filter thread opens things up to a lot of mischief, including special effects and contrast filters.

Quite good. Here is a sampling taken with the teleconverter (which makes this a fantastic portrait machine), shot on TMY with an orange filter (hint: tape over the DX code on the film cartridge), and scanned on a Pakon F135 plus:

This is an oft-overlooked gem in the half-frame world. It is low-maintenance, easy to use, and has a very broad ASA range to work with. It also has unique portrait capabilities in the half-frame space. But wow, 72 frames take a long, long time to shoot.

The Canon Top Twin, known as Sure Shot Tele in America and Autoboy Tele in Japan, is an enthusiast's autofocus compact camera from 1986.A switch on the back selects between the two focal lengths: a 40 mm moderate wide angle and a 70 mm telephoto lens, upon which the lens extends a fair bit outward. The lens has a 40.5 mm thread. A switch on the side of the lens barrel opens the lens barrier and also serves to turn on a soft filter for portraits. Furthermore, it has a backlight compensation mode and a button for multiple exposures. The multiple exposure mode can be used with an additional trick filter to make composite exposures.

The Canon Prima Tele, known as Sure Shot Multi Tele in America and Autoboy Tele 6 in Japan, is a twin-focal length autofocus compact camera from 1988.A switch on the back turns the camera on and off as well as selecting between the wide angle and telephoto lens configurations. A matched tele converter was also available, extending the tele length to 75 mm.Another stand-out feature is the support for half frame format, activated by a switch inside the film chamber (it is therefore impossible to switch between formats mid-roll).

One of the more interesting and rather quirky autofocus 35mm film cameras that I have had the pleasure of using is the Canon Autoboy Tele 6 (Canon Prima Tele, or Sure Shot Multi Tele in the US), a fully automatic autofocus camera offering full-frame (24x36mm) and half-frame (17x24mm) formats as well as a set of two focal length lens.

The model was part of the very successful Sure Shot / AF35M / Autoboy series which Canon first introduced in 1979. The Autoboy Tele 6 was launched in 1988. The camera comes with a built-in self-retracting electric changeover dual focal lens, a spectra-coated 3-elements in 3-groups wide-angle 35mm F3.5 lens, and a similarly coated 6-elements in 6-groups short telephoto 60mm F5.6 lens.

Operationally, the Canon Autoboy Tele 6 is a fully automatic autofocus 35mm film camera with automatic film loading, film advance, and rewinding. The camera has an exposure range from 1/60sec at F3.5 to 1/350sec at F11 with the wide lens option, and from 1/60sec at F5.6 to 1/350sec at F19 with the telephoto lens option. A DX-coded sensor will set film speed automatically from ISO 50 to 3200 in one-step increments.

The option for the selection of wide-angle or short-telephoto shooting modes and power is a combination 3-position thumb control slider switch just the back of the top panel on the shutter release side of the camera. The positions are, from right to left, Power OFF, Wide Mode, and Tele Mode.

The full or half-frame format is a static option that can only be done per roll of film and is a static option that cannot be changed mid-roll, as the switch is located within the film box. The switch is not accessible once the film back is closed.

Given the setup, with effectively 4 focal lengths lenses, the Tele 6 also comes with auto flash, automatic fill-in mode function, and flash-on capability, and as mentioned, a viewfinder that displays the image magnified to any of the four lens configurations, and (the quirky part) a retractable lens system that automatically pops out and back into the camera body only when a shot is taken.

Aside from the rather plain lower front of the camera, with only the bulge of the lens housing and the finger grip, the upper portion is a bevy of functional items that get the camera going. First on the right is the flash head, followed by the first of the pair of autofocus triangulation windows, a very small ('tiny' might be a better word here) viewfinder opening, the exposure measuring window, the second autofocus triangulation window, and self-timer indicator LED.

On the top panel, on the left (with the camera facing forward) are the flash-on and bulb buttons, while the film rewind, converter coupling, and 10-second self-timer buttons are grouped to the right of the top plate, just aside from the shutter release button.

The film load check window and frame counter LCD are located on the film back itself, which is locked by a rather flimsy latch-type lock located on the left edge of the camera back. A Quartz Date version of the Autoboy Tele 6 will have an integrated frame counter and the Day/Date/Time display and the setting buttons are lined across the back.

The viewfinder, though diminutive, is a direct-image type with variable magnification which is coupled to the film frame selection, meaning that image framing is changed or magnified according to the lens selection and film frame choice. Image coverage is 85% both horizontally and vertically.

The Autoboy Tele 6 requires a 2CR5 battery to operate. The Lithium battery has an estimated usage of up to 40 rolls of 24-exposure film with flash exposure used 30% of the time. The battery is located in a screwed-down compartment with the chamber cover located on the bottom plate of the camera.

The camera does not come with a battery life indicator. Checking the battery strength means letting off a full flash shot, and while retaining your finger on the flash-on button, wait for a 4-second delay before half-pressing the shutter button. A green-ready light means that you still have a battery with enough juice to power the camera on.

The auto flash feature of the camera will be automatic when the ambient lighting is insufficient for proper exposure, and the flash setting will go into fill-in mode when backlighting is detected. This feature can be disabled by pressing the small orange-colored flash-off button on the leftmost side of the camera's top plate.

In macro mode, the closest subject distance for the Autoboy Tele 6 is 63cm (2.1 feet). Make sure that the subjects are lined up within the parallax correction frame and are completely covered by the autofocus spot, and the green ready lamp is in steady mode.

In half-frame mode, which is set via a switch located within the film box, you will get twice the number of frames per roll of film and open yourself up to the creative, for example, with normal and close-up diptychs, triptychs, or even half-frame panoramas.

All the images displayed are in half-frame as that was the setting I set the camera for this roll of film. The scan was post-processed on Olympus Viewer 3 (OV3) and print sharpened on Google NIK Sharpener Pro 3.

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