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Canon T70: manual and user guide

The Canon SLR with a built-in motor, in FD mount. Its original manual, then the essentials for using it.

View the manual on butkus.orgOriginal scanned manual · 74 pages · in English

Manual scanned and put online free of charge by Mike Butkus, whose library runs on donations. The link opens his model page, where you can download the PDF.

Getting started

Batteries Push the latch on the cover, in the grip, in the direction of the arrow: it opens. Insert two new 1.5 V AA alkaline batteries of the same brand, the way shown under the cover: the wrong way round, it won’t work. Zinc-carbon or Ni-Cd batteries are also suitable.
Sensitivity Hold down the release button and push the main switch from LOCK to AVERAGE: the display lights up. With the ISO button held down, press UP or DOWN until your film’s speed is displayed, from ISO 12 to 1600 (ASA) in third stops.
Loading Hold down the small safety button and slide the back latch down to open it, without touching the shutter curtain. Insert the cartridge and pull the film leader to the orange mark, film lying flat, perforations on the sprocket teeth. Close the back: the film advances to “1” by itself, and three bars scroll across the display if all is well.
Your first photo Leave the aperture ring on “A”. Otherwise, turn it while pressing the AE lock pin until it clicks into place. With the MODE button held down, press UP or DOWN until PROGRAM is displayed. Press halfway: a steady green “P” and red number in the viewfinder mean the exposure is right. Press all the way, the film advances by itself.
Rewinding At the end of the roll, the advance stops, a beep sounds for about 4 s and the counter blinks. Push the rewind button lock in the direction of the arrow and press the button in until it stays locked: the motor rewinds and the counter counts down. Only open the back when the cartridge symbol blinks.

What it can do

Three programs: Standard for everyday use, Tele, which picks fast shutter speeds, and Wide, which picks small apertures. It also has shutter priority and a manual mode.
In manual, twelve shutter speeds from 2 s to 1/1000 s, plus Bulb. In automatic, it chooses between 2 s and 1/1000 s.
Two metering modes on the main switch: AVERAGE, centre-weighted average, for evenly lit subjects. PARTIAL (AE L), partial metering at the centre, for backlit subjects. Partial metering only works with exposure lock.
A built-in motor: keep your finger on the shutter button and it shoots frame after frame. Let go as soon as you hear the click for a single frame.
An electronic self-timer of about 10 s, on the SELF-TIMER position of the main switch.

Good to know

The BC button shows the battery level on a scale of three bars. Remove the batteries if you’re not using it for three weeks or more.
If the transport bars don’t appear after you close the back, the film hasn’t loaded: load it again.
If the leader goes past the orange mark, take the cartridge out and push the excess back in by hand.
In program mode, the “P” in the viewfinder blinks to warn you of camera shake: at 1/60 s or slower in Standard, 1/125 s in Tele, 1/30 s in Wide.
Rarely, the mirror stays up when the advance stops at the end of the roll: press the rewind button while pushing its lock, and it comes back down.

Which lenses?

The mount is the Canon FD bayonet. To mount the lens, line up its positioning mark with the red dot on the body.
With an FD lens, ring on “A”, metering is done at full aperture and all the automatic modes work.
A non-FD lens, or an accessory without AE signal pins, only allows stop-down metering.

The flash

The dedicated flash is the Speedlite 277T. In program mode, it sends an infrared pre-flash to judge the distance, then sets the aperture and 1/90 s.
If the subject is too far away, the aperture blinks in the viewfinder.
With the 277T on F.NO. SET or another Canon Speedlite, the shutter speed switches to 1/90 s by itself and the aperture follows the one set on the flash.
Contact is made through the hot shoe. A lightning bolt lights up in the viewfinder when the flash is charged.

T70 specifications

Format: 135 film, 24 × 36 mm frames
Mount: Canon FD, full-aperture metering, other lenses with stop-down metering
Modes: three programs (Standard, Tele, Wide), shutter priority, manual, programmed flash with the Speedlite 277T
Shutter: focal-plane, electromagnetically controlled, from 2 s to 1/1000 s and bulb, flash sync at 1/90 s
Viewfinder: fixed pentaprism, 92% coverage, 0.85× magnification with a 50 mm lens, information to the right of the image
Metering: through the lens, silicon cell, centre-weighted average or centre partial, from EV 1 to EV 19 (ISO 100, f/1.4)
Sensitivity: ISO 12 to 1600 (ASA), in third stops
Film advance and rewinding: built-in motor, single frame or continuous, counter from 1 to 39
Power: two AA batteries (3 V), BR-1225 or CR-1220 lithium battery for the memory, about 5 years
Dimensions and weight: 151 × 89.2 × 48.4 mm, 530 g body only