Featured Camera: The Canon Sure Shot Supreme

Using point and shoot cameras is a lot of fun, but there are many to choose from. The Canon Sure Shot Supreme is a high quality, compact point and shoot camera that was popular when introduced and is still popular today. We took this camera for a spin, and here are our thoughts and results from using the camera.

Person using the Canon Sure Shot Supreme

What is the Canon Sure Shot Supreme?

The Canon Sure Shot Supreme is a 35mm point and shoot camera. There are many cameras in the Canon Sure Shot range. The Supreme was introduced in 1986 and was a popular camera for people looking for a compact camera to take on their travels and use for everyday. In other countries, the camera was also called the Canon Top Shot, and Canon Autoboy 3. 

What features does the Canon Sure Shot Supreme have?

It was voted Camera of the Year in Europe as it had very advanced features for a camera at this time, and was ergonomically designed, making it easy to use. There is a hand grip that means your fingers are out of the way of the lens when taking a photograph, something that a lot of cameras did not have at the time. 


It has a 38mm lens with an aperture of f/2.8 which is fast for a point and shoot camera. This means you can get great bokeh in your photographs, and take sharp images. 


It also has a tilt-feature on the bottom of the camera, something that only a few of the Canon point and shoot cameras have. This means you can position the camera to shoot slightly upwards when positioned on a surface. This makes taking self-portraits or images on the self-timer easy, and your shots more versatile, so you are not cutting off anyone's head in your group photos!


Here are some of the other features this camera has:


  • Self-timer for taking photos of yourself in front of the camera
  • Auto-focus that is quick and always produces sharp images
  • Automatic settings that expose your photograph correctly
  • Easy to use viewfinder with framelines and warning lights 
  • Automatic advance and automatic film loading

Using the Canon Sure Shot Supreme

We loaded a roll of expired Kodak Gold into the Canon Sure Shot Supreme and took it for a spin in Cornwall and on our everyday commute. Dotted throughout this article are some of the results from this roll of film.

"Using this camera was super easy and the results were sharp and well exposed."


The focus on the Canon Sure Shot Supreme is located in the middle of the frame, which means when focusing the camera, part of your subject has to be overlapping the square in the middle of your viewfinder. It also shows you where the edge of your frame will be so that you can line up your shots accurately.


You can see in the image of the flag how the camera selects a subject in the middle of the frame. This image was taken in bright sunlight, so the aperture was quite small, making most of the photograph appear in focus.

Flag pole showing the UK flag taken on the Canon Sure Shot Supreme using Kodak Colorplus

Which roll of film did I use?

I often use Kodak Colorplus when testing cameras and taking them out for a review, as the results are always consistent and the film manages the colours well. However, for this roll of film, I used an expired roll of Kodak Gold 200. The roll was around 10 years expired, and I have no idea how it was stored. Normally you should store expired film in a cool environment, i.e. in the fridge, so that the chemicals do not degrade with temperature changes throughout the year.


Our film was developed by Gulabi. All of our cameras come with a 30% discount on developing and scanning with Gulabi.

Row of beach houses in Cornwall, taken on the Canon Sure Shot Supreme 35mm point and shoot camera
Person sat on a rock overlooking the ocean, taken on the Canon Sure Shot Supreme 35mm point and shoot camera using Kodak Gold

Did the camera perform well?

I was impressed with how the camera performed in bright daylight and with landscape images. The camera did not miss focus on any of these images, and all the images were well-exposed despite the fact that the roll of film I used was expired.


I think the Canon Sure Shot Supreme is a great camera to take on trips and travelling as it is quite compact and the results are reliable.

Landscape view of the ocean taken on the Canon Sure Shot Supreme using Kodak Gold expired film

Does the camera focus up close?


Yes, it does! The Canon Sure Shot Supreme has a minimum focus distance of 0.8 metres, so it is not the closest focus distance, but performs well. In comparison, the Yashica T5 has a focus distance of 0.35 metres. 


The camera has half a dozen focus steps between the closest and infinity. To focus the camera, you have to press the shutter halfway and the camera makes a small clicking noise when you do this. The shutter button is silicon, so it does not click when you half-click the shutter like some autofocus point and shoot cameras do.


There were a couple of occasions when the camera missed the focus on close subjects as the subject was too close, but I also ignored the warning lights in the viewfinder that told me the subject was too close and not in focus.


Here are a couple of photos where the Canon Sure Shot Supreme did focus correctly, and as you can see the camera is very sharp.

Vintage car taken on the Canon Sure Shot Supreme 35mm point and shoot camera
Vintage car taken on the Canon Sure Shot Supreme 35mm point and shoot camera

My final thoughts on the Canon Sure Shot Supreme

I enjoyed using this camera a lot. It is not my favourite point and shoot camera, but for a camera under £150, it performs really well, is easy to use, and ergonomic. For quick photos, travelling, and everyday use, the camera is a great option for someone looking for a point and shoot camera.


You can shop for this camera on our website. If you are not sure what you are looking for, take our camera quiz. And if you are not sure which kind of point and shoot camera you should be looking for, read our article here.

If this article helped you, please consider buying me a coffee, so that I can keep creating content for photographers like yourself.

Max, owner of Cameras By Max

Article written by: Max

Max is the owner of Cameras By Max. They work full-time repairing and refurbishing all the 35mm film cameras you see on the website. Their favourite camera (at the moment) is the Olympus XA, and their favourite city in the world is Edinburgh.

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