The Canon P – or “Populaire”, as the P stands for – is a Leica thread mount rangefinder camera released the late 1950’s. There were a lot of these cameras sold, something like 100,000 if the internet is to be believed. Though as popular as it was in it’s day, it seems to be a little bit of a sleeper today.
I am a fan of quirky old soviet cameras. I have had, loved, and broken a few Zorki 4 cameras over the years, and I love their lenses. I own Jupiter 8, 9 and 12 lenses (50mm f2, 85mm f2, and 35mm f2.8). I use the 35mm for more than 80% of what I shoot, but the Zorki viewfinder only really covers 50mm. I am not down with a separate rangefinder and viewfinder window, it kind of defeats the purpose for me. My friend (and former Soviet himself) Denis recommended a Canon P, which is infinitely more modern, and has 35mm frame lines and is still pretty cheap on ebay. I think I bought mine for only two or three times the price of my Zorki, something like $125 with shipping from Japan.
I’ve had my Canon P for a while now. I mostly bought it for the 50mm f/2.2 lens that was attached to the front of it. That being said, I’ve shot more with the camera than I have that lens, and even then, it’s only one roll so far.
