I inserted a battery (not included) and the light in the camera back lit when the switch was moved to the on position. I did not test it with film to determine whether it functioned as designed but the unit seems to be in excellent condition. I have included some background material below which gives more info on the unit. Thanks for your interest

Important note: Most of the cameras and lenses I sell are used and are obtained from second hand sources and as such may show signs of age or wear as does this lens (See pictures for a better idea of condition) . I do my very best to represent all items to the best of my knowledge, but may sometimes overlook or leave out potentially important information. If you have any questions about an item's condition or specifications, PLEASE ASK before purchasing and I will happily answer your questions as quickly as possible. As stated below, I do offer refunds on returns but do not refund the buyer's return shipping costs.


Note: I am not an expert on cameras or lenses, and don’t know very much technical info but if you have a question I will try to answer it to the best of my knowledge.

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Data Back A

Another accessory developed especially for Canon's A series cameras is the Data Back A. Great for amateur and professional alike, but it is different from other LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) used by competition like the Nikon MF-12. Instead, it has dials for letters, Roman numerals and dates. Advantage of the dial system is being, it can be used either for dating, or classifying photographs. Attachable right onto the back of the camera, it uses the camera's electronic circuitry to imprint this information on the film in perfect synchronization with exposure.

The Databack A requires a cable to plug into the PC terminal on the camera body to function. Well, it is standard for the camera back on virtually all A-series cameras (except AL-1) (and T-70, T-80 and T-90 cameras but not the T-50 and T-60) to be removable so that accessory backs can be added. On the AE-1, AT-1, AE-1 Program and A-1, fitting an accessory back is a simple matter by sliding the hinge pin downward. The data backs for these cameras can be used to record the data directly onto the film at the time of exposure at the bottom right hand corner, of cause it can be turned off should you think it is not required to imprint any data onto film frames.

Exposure is made by a battery powered lamp in the data back, it is triggered by a cord connection to the flash socket on the camera. This exposes each frame as the camera is operated - either manually or with a power winder at 2 frames per second. A red lamp on the Data Back flashes each time data settings are exposed onto film. The Canon's Data Back A's main function is to imprint data which can be selected by rotating three dials marked YEAR, MONTH and DAY. They can be used for dating the frame, but the dials also have letters and other symbols. print dates or number sequences (depends on model and manufacturer) onto the film during exposure. The Data Back A featured here, is designed to use exclusively with A-series cameras (see above), it imprints information directly onto the film by using a switch on the lower right, the brightness of the internal light can be adjusted according to the film speed of the film type in use (refer to the specification section below for more info), so as to maintain an optimum contrast of the imprinted data on each exposure.

However, as commented earlier, although the Databack A was designed with more flexible application in mind than Databacks of other makes, unfortunately, it has its drawback with the dial system used - the reliability of the A-series models was really under-estimated by Canon engineers and designers, when the databack was introduced no one would expect we would still be using the A-series cameras some 25 years later today, so the range of years on the first control wheel only goes up to 1987 !Since there are Roman numerals which started from I to X, to solve the problem, you can use the Roman numeral for the second digit for current year. The second wheel can be used for months, but also has numbers from 1 up to 31 as well as letters from A to G. The last wheel on the right has numbers from 0 to 31. You can use the three wheels to encode other data as long as it fits and relates.


I take great care in packaging to insure that your purchase reaches you safe and sound! Please be aware: In an effort to be environmentally conscious and responsible, I occasionally use clean, recycled materials for shipping, such as boxes, foam peanuts or plain packing paper. I do not use newspaper or any other sort of packaging material that may damage or mark your purchase.