Once you have your film on the spool and have closed the back, an auto-advance feature will wind it straight to exposure number one. Fixed length, prime lenses (oldest models), dual-lenses with two focal lengths (middle models), and zoom lenses (later models).

I shot a test roll on each, trying to shoot the same scene at wide, normal and telephoto focal lengths. The Canon Sure Shot has a built-in light metre that measures the amount of light in the scene and sets the exposure accordingly.This is partly because I find talking about minutiae like sharpness in the corners or whatever really boring and also beside the point when you’ve bought something like this. The default flash setting is automatic with red-eye reduction but it can be forced to fire or forced not to with the two buttons on the front of the camera.

It seems to be a classic example of 80s industrial design and, although I had never seen one before, it made me nostalgic for the rugged, masculine good looks I associate with that era. I have to say that I was very much surprised at its size and weight, even though you did a comparison with the XA. The impressively titled Canon Sureshot Zoom XL / Prima Zoom F / Autoboy Zoom Super was first marketed in September 1989, according to Canon’s camera museum listing. The optics are probably more upper-midrange, but I’ve been quite pleased with mine’s reasonable sharpness and pleasing contrast. And speaking of bags, you might need one if it’s warm outside as the Zoom XL is not going to fit in a jeans pocket, although a coat pocket is fine.Such as a date stamp that lasts up to 2049, various captions that you can imprint on your photos (only on caption model). The location of this, inside the filter ring of the lens, meant that the meter would function accurately even with filters fitted to the lens. It’s a big camera: the same page gives its size as 161 x 150 x78mm and its weight (with batteries) as 1510g.