Canon Canonet Junior

[timethief]

I have finally decided to clean her up and try to shoot some pictures with her
(Canon Canonet Junior)
Its my fathers old camera. And he is in love with her. I would like to fix it so he can shoot with it.
It seems pretty beat up.
I have never opened up a camera to try to fix it or clean it up from the inside.
do you think it is a good idea to attempt it myself or should i take to a shop to get a fixed.
and if you think i can do it myself how do i go about doing it? what do i need to watch for ?

I would really appreciate your views and experiences.

Thanks Ahead.

 

[Torus34]

Gentle cleaning, such as blowing dust from the inside with a gentle stream of air and dusting the lens with a clean soft-bristled brush, is easily done. But you mention repair ["... fix it ..."]. That's a different matter entirely, and one not usually recommended for absolute amateurs.

 

[Mitica100]

First of all, what's wrong with it, outside of a need for cleaning? Does it run on a battery? Is it a fresh battery?

Cleaning it is the easy part, as described above, but fixing it is another matter. First we'd have to have a diagnostic of sorts from you.

 

[timethief]

First of all, what's wrong with it, outside of a need for cleaning? Does it run on a battery? Is it a fresh battery?

Cleaning it is the easy part, as described above, but fixing it is another matter. First we'd have to have a diagnostic of sorts from you.

Ok first of all sorry this took a while but i couldn't get my head rapped around it.
Here are some pictures of it.

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5)

The shutter button seems to be stuck. It doesnt click. It goes down but doesnt click(it used to even if there was no film)

As you can see some of the glass is broken . Its very gloomy and dirty when you look through the view finder.
I think thats about all i can say. am i missing anything ?

Thanks

 

[Mitica100]

First impression:

The film wind lever is stuck half way, it should return by itself (spring) after winding the film. It's possible that the spring is broken or that one of the levers inside the camera is bent and is not allowing the shutter mechanism to be fully engaged. That's why the shutter doesn't work. The viewfinder glass is hard to replace. Best bet would be looking for another Canonet Junior on eBay and salvage parts from it.

You could open the top and/or the bottom of it but you must have the right tools and have lots of patience. You'll need a set of jewelers' screwdrivers, some magnifying glass, a white towel to work on and good lighting.

With the back, take the two screws out and place them in a little container so they don't get lost. Look at the gears, levers inside after you remove the cover. Anything gunked out? If so, a little Naphta or Ronsonol might help. Don't oil anything.

With the top, you will need a spanner wrench to remove the windup retaining disc (with two small opposite holes). You can also do that with a piece of soft rubber, just press it down and twist clockwise, although it could be counter clockwise. Take the windup lever out and place aside. Now take the rewind button out. Usually that's done by placing a piece of wood or plastic in between the two protrusions inside the camera, where the 35mm film cartridge would go and then twisting counter clockwise the rewind button. It should come off easily.

The next part is delicate... Take the screws out of the top plate, put in a separate container. Take top of carefully so springs don't go flying in the air. Look at the inside parts. Any levers bent? Springs broken? It is quite possible there are none o these and the camera is just gunked up from lack of use. Add a few drops of Naphta on all the moving parts and levers and see if that helps.

Put back everything in reverse order. BTW, I found that taking digital pics of every disassembly step helps putting the camera back and also helps with what piece goes where and in what position.

I know it's a lot of work and patience is the key word here but one can do it.

Good luck and let me know if you have more questions.

 

[type0]

Hello. This is my first post

timethief:

I have an old Canon Canonet camera.

I found it 16 years ago in the house I moved into. I took about 10 pictures with it at that time and it worked. It's been lying inside a shelf for all those years in its leather case.

If you're still interested you can have it.

But just out of curiosity: What can you guys tell me about this camera? What time period were they from? Are they regarded as vintage cameras?

 

[Mitica100]

The 35mm Canonet series ran from 1960 to 1972. So it is regarded as a vintage camera. Again, their values are not based on their age in years but rather on their rarity. The Canonet is fairly common and produces good results. You should keep it, run some film through it and enjoy the experience. If then, you want to get rid of it, let me know.