Canon Ae-1

[Pedro_lopez]

My buddy had this camera lying around. He said he has taken it to get fixed since the film loader or reloader is jammed. I don't know anything about film cameras but is that something that can be fixed? They have all told him it's unfixable but I would really love to see if it works and use it.


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[Pedro_lopez]

Basically he said this lever is supposed to come all the way out but it's stuck.


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[dxqcanada]

If he did take it to a camera repair shop ... it is possible that a part needs to be replaced, and that it is no longer available ... or they do not know how to fix this type of camera.

Unless you are going to try fixing it yourself, I do not think it is worth the price that a repair shop will charge you.

 

[compur]

Of course it can be fixed but it may require parts replacement which would have to come from another camera because parts are no longer available from Canon. There is an electromagnet that releases the shutter and that part often fails on these cameras requiring replacement with a good one.

But, first I would try a fresh battery (PX28) because these cameras will behave as you describe if the battery is dead or missing. If, after installing a fresh battery, it is still locked up then it's repair time (or find-another-camera time).

 

[Light Guru]

Basically he said this lever is supposed to come all the way out but it's stuck.

That will happen when you come to the end of a roll of film. Its possible that the film just needs to be wound up and unloaded.

 

[sniper x]

To be honest, I would look one on your local Craigslist and find one that works as if new. I see them on our local CL all the time for 100 dollars at first, then after a month of NO ONE buying them, they end up selling with a nice 50mm 1.4, or 50mm 1.8 for about $50.00. I think there are three or four on our local CL now and I'll bet I could talk everyone of them down to 50 dollars. I loved mine. I went from it to a A1, then the F1HP. I still have the A1 which is still like new, and regrettably sold the F1 and all my pro FD primes many years ago. I am now trying to re-buy them all due to getting back into 35mm film and medium format film shooting.

 

[sniper x]

Light Guru may be right as well. The owner might have gotten to the end of a roll of film and locked the winding lever. If you turn the camera over, and press in the little round button on the base it may release and allow you to re-wind the film thereby freeing the winding lever.