Question for Canon AE-1 Users

[drlynn]

I found an AE-1 in a local Pawn shop today, and everything looked really nice on it EXCEPT :

I opened the back and fired a frame on bulb, and the shutter curtain didn't appear to open. When I advanced the film winder lever, the curtain reset, but I tried again on different shutterspeeds, including holding the button down for several seconds on bulb, and I never saw the shutter open. It freaked me out so bad I didn't even ask the price, just said thanks and left. I'm sure the :shock: showed on my face. It was just wierd. It sounded normal, just couldn't see the curtain moving.

Is this normal for the AE-1? Does the camera "know there isn't any film and the back is open, so don't fire the shutter normally? Or, should I stay away?

 

[photogoddess]

No, the shutter will still open with no film and the back door open. Glad you walked away from that one.

 

[drlynn]

Thanks for the reassurance.

I have an AV-1 and a Rebel Ti, and both of those will open the shutter with the back open, but the thing SOUNDED like it was firing, so I thought maybe I was wrong.

 

[photogoddess]

I have 4 AE-1s (to teach my kids about photography). When I bought them, I checked a couple of things. The first is the condition of the seals. They tend to gum up with age and need to be resealed. The second is does the shutter work. So, I set the camera to bulb and trip the shutter several times to make sure that it opens and closes and that it doesn't catch while doing so. If the seals are bad, it costs about $100 to have it cleaned, serviced and resealed. I can only imagine :cry: what it would cost to repair a broken shutter. The only thing that I can think of about it sounding like the shutter was working was that perhaps the mechanism was working but that the actual shutter had gotten disconnected from it some how and therefore couldn't open.

 

[Jeff Canes]

I had/have an AE-1Ps one had a sticking mirror got fixed about 6yrs+ back for $100, the orther had a hole in the shutter, I replaced them with A-1s that I got on Ebay for around $300 each

 

[drlynn]

Thanks to both of you for the info. I'm gonna pass on that camera. I wasn't really in the market for one anyway, just had some time to kill before work this afternoon.

 

[Mitica100]

Thanks to both of you for the info. I'm gonna pass on that camera. I wasn't really in the market for one anyway, just had some time to kill before work this afternoon.

Yes, definitely walk away from it. I used an AE1 for a long time and not once did what you described. Definitely a defective shutter!