Lens Mount: Special to this model
Approx. dates of manufacture: 1969 to 1973
Approx. original price: 164.50
Approx. street value: $50
Every so often Canon brings out something that's just plain weird (e.g. the Photura); something that doesn't fit with anything else they are doing at the time, and the EXEE is a perfect example. In the late 60s Canon was building up its F-series cameras with a run up to its top-of-the-line professional F-1. Meanwhile it had the serious-amateur market with the FTb and its less expensive little brother, the TL. They took standard FL lenses. It was the way things were going.
But Canon brought out the EXEE, which was a throwback to an earlier time. It was a solid body that looked like all the other Canon F bodies, but it had a half-lens permanently mounted onto it. The idea was that user would have three interchangable halfs that could be attached, offering a standard 50mm lens, a 95mm lens, or a 125mm lens.
It was a ridiculous idea since a buyer could pick up a comparable TLb and mount any FD lens in Canon's arsenal, including longer teles and wide angles (something the EXEE didn't offer at all). A popular combo for amateurs ended up being the three lens 28mm, 50mm, and 135mm set— the trio for this camera doesn't even come close.
This camera was also sold as the Bell + Howell Auto 35 Reflex. B+H had imported Canon cameras for most of the 1960s, but when they parted company, B+H got a couple of Canon cameras branded solely under the B+H name. The lenses, however, retained the Canon name and fit either camera.
Another swap-meet find, and I got the lenses to go with it (though at the moment they're separated and I don't know where one of them is. What a pain), something you don't always get when you see these for sale at the thrift shops.