Grandfather's Collection - Miranda/Canon AE-1

[bworthey42]

I "inherited" two cameras from my wife's grandfather - a Miranda Sensorex and a Canon AE-1. Both are in excellent condition and seem to be in working order - even have original paperwork with both of them. I haven't messed around with them in a couple of years actually and have decided to get them out again and start taking pictures again. How can I ensure that they are truly in good working order? I don't want these to be my "guinea pigs" when it comes to restoration and start taking them apart, etc. to clean and such. There is a flash with the Canon that had batteries left in it that has corroded - suggestions on cleaning that? Thanks for suggestions!

Here's what all I have:

Miranda Sensorex
35mm lens
50 mm lens
And a Vivitar flash that I think may go with it - not sure - it has a cord that looks like it can plug into the side of the camera

Canon AE-1
50mm lens
Canon Speedlite 188A flash

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[snowbear0924]

I would get a couple rolls of B&W film and see what they do. Just be aware if the meters require the old mercury batteries, you may have a hard time finding replacements. ot be able to get mercury batteries for the meters. I have an old Minolta rangefinder (c. 1974 or 1975) that I had not used since about 1978. I pulled it out of a drawer and shot a roll of Kodak Tri-X with it to see if it still works (it does). I couldn't get a battery so I took the dSLR along for metering.

For the corrosion, try a paste made with baking soda and an old toothbrush.

[ADavis85]

Another decent way to remove corrosion from easily accessible surfaces is a regular pencil eraser. Works wonders.

Good luck, hope everything works!

[compur]

There is a flash with the Canon that had batteries left in it that has corroded - suggestions on cleaning that?

Vinegar will remove most or all of the corrosion caused by battery leakage. If necessary the contacts should also be scrubbed clean -- a soft wire brush will work. The flash may still not work however due to internal damage caused by the corrosion or just due to age-deterioration of the internal electronic components.

[bworthey42]

I would get a couple rolls of B&W film and see what they do.

Is there any particular reason you would use B&W instead of color film? There was actually a roll in there that I'm guessing I started a while back. I snapped a few more pictures on it and am hoping to get it developed today - we'll see how it turns out. I had purchased batteries for both of the cameras previously as well - don't remember now what I replaced them with, but did go to a reputable camera shop where I was living at the time to get the batteries.

Thanks for the tips on cleaning. I was thinking that would be the way to go about it, but wasn't sure on a flash, etc. - didn't want to do more damage.

[orlovphoto]

black and white is just cooler than color