The canon AE-1 Program was unusual for a consumer camera as it had a range of interchangeable focus screens. Unfortunately, because the screen can come out people tend to remove them when perhaps they should not and there is some dubious advice online about “removing the screen to clean it”. In this video we look at how to change the screen type and what Canon actually recommended at the time of production.
Below is a list of screen types Canon originally offered.
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The eight focus screens for the AE-1 Program
Standard Split Image with microprism
Type A Microprism (no split screen)
Type B Split Image (No microprism)
Type C All Matte (My favourite!)
Type D Matte with grid lines
Type H Matte with scale on vertical and horizontal axis
Type I Double crosshair
Type L Cross hair with split Image