Format: 8mm Transport: Spring-wind
Exposure: Automatic (CdS)
Approx. date of manufacture: 1959
Approx. original price: $unknown
I'm fortunate that Canon maintains a website with useful descriptions of most of their cameras. This shows up at the Canon Camera Museum (link below).
Canon's first camera was the model 8-T (1956), though it just says Canon Eight on the body. It was the base camera, with a three-lens turret and no exposure meter.
Their next camera was this, the Canon Reflex Zoom 8 (thought it only says Canon Zoom 8 on the body).replaced the old viewfinder with a single-lens-reflex (SLR) finder and a single zoom lens. They added a selenium cell meter on it, but it's not connected to the diaphram so there's no auto-exposure capability.
Nice lens. It's an ƒ/1.4, which is very fast for any camera, still or cine. Also according to the museum, this zoom lens was designed by Dr. Keizo Yamaji, would would later become the president of Canon.
This camera comes with a detachable hand grip, which I don't have. I could get one but every one I've seen has a camera attached to it. A shame, too; mine came with a case with a hole fashioned in the top for the grip to protrude.
External link: Canon Camera Museum