Found an old Canon AE-1 with a seized shutter mechanism last week

Picked it up at a thrift store for $15. The mirror was stuck up and the curtains looked frozen solid. I figured it was a parts camera at best. But after a few days of gentle work with lighter fluid on the cloth and some careful actuations, the shutter came back to life. The speeds are all within a stop of where they should be now. Does anyone else mess with these old cloth shutter cameras or is it just not worth the hassle compared to the metal ones?

2 comments

2 Comments

betty12612d ago

Did you have to take the bottom plate off to get at the curtain rollers or were you able to work on it from the lens mount side? In my experience those AE-1 shutters are actually pretty forgiving if you catch them early, but once the lubricant has turned to glue it can be a real nightmare getting everything moving smoothly without pulling the whole mechanism apart. I've resurrected a couple Minolta SRTs with the same issue and it always feels like a miracle when that first curtain opens cleanly. Just a heads up, make sure you check the foam light seals too, the old ones tend to turn to sticky goo and that can mess with the film pressure plate.

max8087d ago

Getting the bottom plate off is actually the EASIEST part, the REAL fun starts when you find 40 year old grease that's basically turned into plastic cement. Took me three tries and a LOT of bad words to get my AE-1 curtains moving again without feeling like I was about to snap something. That moment when the shutter finally fires cleanly though? PURE magic, like resurrecting a zombie camera from the dead. And yeah, those light seals are a NIGHTMARE, I've had more than one roll of film come back looking like someone sneezed sticky tar all over the pressure plate.