Canon AF35M (Autoboy / Sure Shot) Buyer's Guide: AF35M vs AF35ML vs AF35M II
There is a particular kind of camera that collectors argue about and shooters keep coming back to. The Canon Autoboy is one of them. It is not a precision instrument, it is not quiet, and it will not fit in a jeans pocket. What it is, is the camera that invented the genre — and, four decades later, one of the last great film compacts you can still buy for a sensible price.
Sold as the Autoboy in Japan and the Sure Shot in North America, the AF35M arrived in November 1979 as Canon's first autofocus compact and the world's first 35mm lens-shutter camera with autofocus. Canon spent fourteen years developing the focusing system inside it. Within two years they were building 110,000 a month, and every point-and-shoot that followed — including the ones now selling for ten times the price — is a descendant of this design.
This guide covers the three cameras people mean when they say "Autoboy": the AF35M, the fast-lens AF35ML, and the lighter AF35M II. It includes what enthusiasts actually praise and complain about, how to shoot one well, and what to check before you buy.
Why shoot an Autoboy today
It runs on AA batteries. This matters more than it sounds. A great many cameras of this era need mercury cells that no longer exist, or lithium cells that cost more than the film. The Autoboy takes two AAs from any shop in any country, which means you can put one in a bag and know it will work in five years' time.
The look is the snapshot look. The 38mm f/2.8 is well regarded for centre sharpness — one reviewer calls it razor sharp with excellent colour — while others point out that the corners stay noticeably soft even stopped down. Both are true, and together they describe exactly what these pictures look like: a solid, contrasty centre with the edges falling away. It is the visual signature of a 1980s family photograph, and it is not something a modern lens will give you.
The metering is genuinely good. The part of this camera that impresses experienced shooters most is not the autofocus, it is the exposure system and the fill flash. Shoot outdoors in hard sunlight with the flash on and the results come back balanced, without blown highlights or black shadows. The flash is also implemented sensibly: the viewfinder tells you it wants to fire, but it does not force you.
It is not a collector-priced camera. The Olympus mju II and the Contax T series have been pushed into another bracket by hype. The Autoboy does a similar job and was built in enormous numbers, so it has stayed in reach. If you want a film compact to use rather than to display, this is one of the sensible places left to look.
You stop managing the camera. There is no aperture, no shutter speed, no focus ring. Some photographers find that infuriating; others find it is the whole point. When the only decisions left are where to stand and when to press, you pay attention to different things.
The family at a glance
| AF35M Autoboy / Sure Shot |
AF35ML Autoboy Super / Super Sure Shot |
AF35M II Autoboy 2 / New Sure Shot |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Released | November 1979 | July 1981 | 1983 |
| Lens | 38mm f/2.8 (4 elements, 3 groups) | 40mm f/1.9 (5 elements, 5 groups) | 38mm f/2.8 (4 elements, 4 groups) |
| Autofocus | Active infrared triangulation (CAFS) | Passive CCD triangulation, focus lock | Active infrared triangulation |
| Exposure range | EV 6–17 (1/8 s f/2.8 to 1/500 s f/16) | EV 4–17 (1/4 s f/1.9 to 1/400 s f/18) | EV 6–17 (1/8 s f/2.8 to 1/500 s f/16) |
| Film speed | ISO 25–400 | ISO 25–400 | ISO 25–400 |
| Batteries | 2 × AA | 2 × AA | 2 × AA |
| Weight | 405 g | 440 g (with batteries) | 300 g |
| Date version | — | AF35ML Quartz Date (Sept 1983) | Autoboy 2 QD / Sure Shot QD |
Canon AF35M (1979): the original, and still the most interesting
This is the one with the history, and the one whose character is strongest. It is a solid plastic brick of a camera at 405 g, and it is loud — reviewers regularly point out that everyone within twenty feet knows you took a photograph. The flash takes around eight seconds to recycle, long enough that first-time owners often think it is broken.
None of that is a defect. It is a 1979 camera doing something in 1979 that nothing else could do, and it makes no attempt to hide the mechanism. If what draws you to classic cameras is the feeling of a machine working in your hands, this is the Autoboy to own. It also has a 48mm filter thread, and the meter reads through the filter, so you can put a yellow filter on black-and-white film and it simply works.
Know before you shoot: the infrared autofocus only measures the centre of the frame, and the viewfinder shows you the distance it chose only after the exposure. For an off-centre subject you use the pre-focus lever (see below). And because the system works by bouncing infrared light, it is fooled by glass — do not shoot through a window.
Canon AF35ML (1981): the fast lens, and its trade-offs
The Super Sure Shot has the 40mm f/1.9 — the fastest lens Canon ever put on an Autoboy, and the reason this model has a following of its own. A stop and a half over the others is the difference between needing the flash and not needing it, and reviewers consistently praise how it performs in low light and how sharp it is at normal distances. It is a black-bodied camera, 440 g with batteries, and it feels denser and more serious than its size suggests.
It also focuses differently: a passive CCD system with a proper focus lock, so you can hold focus and recompose the way you would on a rangefinder. Metering starts at EV 4, two stops lower than the AF35M, which is what keeps it working after sunset.
Know before you shoot: the honest criticism of this camera is close range. Reviewers report parallax error and focus landing behind the subject when you work closer than about two to three metres, so it rewards a little distance. The winder is even louder than the AF35M's — one writer compares it to a violin shriek — and the on/off control is fiddly enough to trigger the battery-check beep by accident. Treat it as a fast-lens camera for streets, interiors and travel rather than for close portraits or discreet work, and it is very good at that job.
Canon AF35M II / Autoboy 2 (1983): the one you will actually carry
Four years of refinement went into shrinking the Autoboy. The AF35M II keeps the 38mm f/2.8 and the infrared autofocus but drops a quarter of the weight, to 300 g, in a slimmer body. It is the easiest of the three to have with you, and it is the model we sell most often. The QD version stamps the date in the corner of the frame.
Know before you shoot: the trade-off for the lighter body is a lighter build. Owners report wobbly viewfinder sections and battery doors that lose contact, and some find the rendering a little flatter than the original. A good example is a very pleasant everyday camera; a tired one is frustrating. This is the model where condition matters most, and where buying a tested one is worth the difference in price.
How to shoot an Autoboy well
- Learn the pre-focus lever. On the AF35M, turn the self-timer/pre-focus lever in the direction of the arrow until it stops, aim the centre of the frame at your subject, press the shutter fully, recompose, then press again to take the picture. It resets every frame, so it is a deliberate technique rather than a mode you leave on. Once it is in your hands, the centre-only autofocus stops being a limitation.
- Use the fill flash in daylight. This is where these cameras are better than their reputation. Backlit portraits and harsh midday sun are exactly what the system was tuned for.
- Give the flash time. Around eight seconds on the AF35M. Wait for the lamp rather than assuming it has failed.
- Keep your distance. All three are happier beyond two or three metres, the AF35ML especially.
- Set the film speed by hand. There is no DX coding on the AF35M — the ISO ring is around the lens, and it is the single most common reason for a badly exposed roll.
- Accept the noise. These are not street cameras for the discreet. If you want silence, you want an Olympus XA.
Where the Autoboy sits among its rivals
The Nikon L35AF is the direct competitor from the same moment, and enthusiasts generally give it the sharper lens, particularly in the corners; it is also bulkier and, lately, more expensive. The Olympus XA is a different proposition entirely — a genuinely pocketable rangefinder that you focus yourself, quiet where the Autoboy is loud. The Olympus mju II is smaller and sharper and costs several times as much. The Autoboy's argument against all of them is the combination: a good lens, an excellent flash and meter, AA batteries, and a price that still makes sense.
What to check before you buy
Most of these cameras have spent a decade in a cupboard. Here is what we check on every one that comes into our workshop, and what you should ask any seller:
- Power. Old AA cells left inside are what kill these cameras: they leak, and the contacts corrode. The symptom is simple — the camera will not switch on, or it loses power when you press the shutter. Ask whether the camera powers up reliably with fresh batteries. The AF35M's battery door latch and the AF35M II's door are both known weak points.
- Autofocus. The lens should move audibly between a near and a far subject. The small AF windows on the front must be clean — they are how the camera sees.
- Flash. With fresh batteries the ready lamp should light within about eight seconds. A flash that never charges means a failed capacitor, which is a repair rather than a clean.
- Shutter and film transport. Ask whether the seller has run an actual test roll. Winding and rewinding are the functions most often skipped, because checking them properly costs a roll of film and an hour.
- The lens. Ask for dust, fungus, haze and cleaning marks to be reported separately, not as "clean" or "good condition". A seller who cannot answer that has not examined the camera. In our experience light dust and slight fungus almost never appear in photographs, and slight haze usually shows only when shooting into the light. Heavy haze or fungus is a different matter, and we grade it as such.
- Light seals. The foam around the back door turns sticky with age and leaks light onto the edge of your frames. We replace deteriorated seals before a camera is listed.
- Viewfinder and body. On the AF35M II in particular, check that the viewfinder housing is solid rather than loose.
- What is included. Caps, straps and cases are usually long gone. Assume you receive only what is in the photographs.
How we grade and test
Every Autoboy we list has been through the checks above. We run a test roll to confirm winding and rewinding, replace light seals that have deteriorated, and report each function on the product page as Works properly or Not working, with a separate report on dust, fungus, haze and cleaning marks. The cosmetic grade follows our six-step scale from TOP MINT to As Is, and anything we find goes in the remarks. The full explanation is on our Grading & Inspection page.
Tested or "as is"?
Untested "as is" cameras are always cheaper, and for a competent repairer they can be a good buy. For everyone else the arithmetic rarely works: a failed flash capacitor or a corroded battery compartment usually costs more to put right than the difference in price, and on a camera this age you cannot tell which one you have until the batteries go in. If you are buying one to use rather than to fix, buy one that has had a roll of film through it.
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