Canon Power Winder question

I'm thinking about putting a power winder on my AE-1. There are a ton of them on ebay going from $15-$100. I have seen them listed as the Canon A power winder and the Canon A-2 power winder. Does anyone know the difference? Is there any? The discriptions I have read on both of them say they will shoot at 2 fps. That seems pretty slow by today's standards, but then again, they are 20+ years old. I thought I had seen some at one time that were in the 5 fps range tho. Is there anything out there for an AE-1 that is that fast?

Well, this is digging thru ancient memories (I started with an AE-1, back in 1979).

I remember the Power Winder A as being the match for the AE-1 - and that 2fps speed was about the max at the time for a consumer-grade camera.

The pro model of the time, the A-1, had an available winder that would do 5fps (which was 'pretty hot' for a pro unit in those days, too). Whether that was the A2 winder or not, I simply can't recall.

I think the A-1 would use either the same 2fps unit made for the AE-1 - OR it's 5fps 'pro' winder. I do remember it was in the literature at the time, that the 5fps winder would NOT work on the AE-1. Probably the AE-1's internals (there were some 'plastic gears' involved) couldn't take the stresses of the faster winder.

Thanks for the info Clemmie!! I think I will stick with the powere winder A if I can get one cheap enuf. You're trip down memory lane has been very helpfull!

Thanks again.

I remember winder A as being a unit that fit on the bottom for the AT-1, the AE-1 or A-1. The A-2 winder is probably the one for the A-1 that has a hand grip and shutter release built in.