Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Canon P (Populaire)

Canon · LTM mount · 24×36mm on 35mm film · 1959

Also known as: Canon P · Canon Populaire · Canon P Populaire · Canon Model P · Canon P rangefinder · Canon P black

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
P, chrome LTM 1959–1961 — 87,875 (Dechert, via Mike Eckman); 'almost 100,000' (museum)
P, black LTM 1959–1961 — A small part of the run; no separate figure
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Life-size finder with all three frames visible at once and no finder wheel; 'Canon P' on the top plate
  • Metal curtains, often wrinkled — they still work

P, chrome:

  • Marketed March 1959, 52,700 yen (w/50mm f/1.4) 37,700 yen (w/50mm f/2.8) · 790 g · 144 × 76 × 71 mm
  • Fixed life-size finder with 35mm field and projected 50 and 100 frames; metal shutter; lever wind; crank rewind; no parallax pin

P, black:

  • Marketed March 1959, 52,700 yen (w/50mm f/1.4) 37,700 yen (w/50mm f/2.8) · 790 g · 144 × 76 × 71 mm
  • Black-enamel top and base; introduced alongside the chrome (Wikipedia)

Specifications

Format
24×36mm on 35mm film
Finder
Combined coincidence rangefinder and life-size viewfinder: full field for a 35mm lens, projected frames for 50 and 100mm, automatic parallax correction · 1× magnification · automatic parallax correction
Shutter
Horizontal metal-curtain focal-plane, single non-rotating dial · X, B, 1–1/1000 on one dial · flash sync FP and X at 1/55; bayonet terminal · self-timer
Film advance
Single-stroke lever on top
Back
Hinged, swings open
Meter
None
Weight
790 g
Dimensions
144 × 76 × 71 mm
Country
Japan
Original price
52,700 yen (w/50mm f/1.4) 37,700 yen (w/50mm f/2.8) (March 1959, Canon Camera Museum) (today ¥328,000)

What reviewers say

History

The Populaire — “may have been an ironic name for this exclusive-looking camera,” the museum says. March 1959, ¥37,700 with the 50mm f/2.8 against ¥79,800 for a VI-L: the VI’s metal shutter, single dial, lever and swing back, with the rotating three-position finder replaced by a fixed life-size window that shows the 35mm field with frames for 50 and 100 inside it. It aimed at people who used 35 to 100mm lenses, and it sold — 87,875 by Dechert’s count, “almost 100,000” by Canon’s. A black version was offered from the start.

Mike Eckman: “this camera does everything so well, it’s almost boring to use” — a large bright finder, a quiet metal shutter with its “shick,” build equal to the dearer models, and wrinkled curtains that are common and harmless. The life-size finder is the one thing to know: all three frames show at once, which is cluttered for a 35mm lens and ideal for a 50.

Expand Collapse

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Photographs

Canon P (Populaire)
Canon P — Leonard Bentley, via Openverse (flickr) (BY-SA 2.0)

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $350 across 36 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $280–$430). Tracked since 2026-09-09, 2 days: unchanged from $350.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$350$280–$43036
2026-09-09$350$280–$43036

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Show 52 more listings

Listings updated 2026-09-11. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Canon 7 · Canon VI-T and VI-L

Lenses for this body: Canon 19mm f/3.5 · Canon 25mm f/3.5 · Canon 28mm f/2.8 · Canon 28mm f/3.5 · Canon 35mm f/1.5 · Canon 35mm f/1.8 · Canon 35mm f/2 · Canon 35mm f/2.8 · Serenar 35mm f/3.2 · Serenar 35mm f/3.5 · Canon 50mm f/1.2 · Canon 50mm f/1.4 · Canon 50mm f/1.5 · Canon 50mm f/1.8 · Serenar 50mm f/1.9 · Serenar 50mm f/2 · Canon 50mm f/2.2 · Canon 50mm f/2.8 · Serenar 50mm f/3.5 · Canon 85mm f/1.5 · Canon 85mm f/1.8 · Canon 85mm f/1.9 · Serenar 85mm f/2 · Canon 100mm f/2 · Canon 100mm f/3.5 · Serenar 100mm f/4 · Canon 135mm f/3.5 · Serenar 135mm f/4 · Canon 200mm f/3.5 · Canon 300mm f/4 · Canon 400mm f/4.5 · Canon 600mm f/5.6 · Canon 800mm f/8 · Canon 1000mm f/11

Sources (5)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this camera, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.