These are the five most insane film cameras of the 1980s, the decade when microchips, motors and autofocus turned camera design upside down. From a half-frame SLR shaped like a camcorder to a 14 frames-per-second Olympic monster that could empty a roll of film in 2.57 seconds, every camera on this list pushed film photography to its limits.

We count down the Kyocera Samurai, the Canon T90 "Tank" designed with Luigi Colani, the Nikon F4 built from 1,850 parts and four processors, the Fuji GX680 — often called the largest SLR ever made — and the ultra-rare Canon New F-1 High Speed Motor Drive built for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

You'll learn how pellicle mirrors let cameras shoot faster than any moving mirror could, why the T90's layout still shows up on modern cameras, and how Fuji squeezed view-camera movements into a medium format SLR.

If you enjoyed this, watch our countdown of the most insane film cameras of the 1970s next, and tell us in the comments which of these monsters you've actually held.


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