Seeking AE-1 parts source...

[SquirrelNuts]

I own a Canon AE-1 and an AE-1 Program. Neither of them have the viewfinder cover with them. I have searched eBay for a while and Adorama for a cover. Anyone have a source for them?

-SquirrelNuts

 

[Bob_McBob]

I see them come up on eBay every now and then. They usually go for around $10 (it's a part that's missing on a LOT of second hand cameras). As far as I'm concerned, they're not worth the money. They have two purposes: sit on the hotshoe, or cover the viewfinder for long exposures. You might as well just get a piece of cardboard to cover the viewfinder on the rare occasions that you might need one, and covering the hotshoe just isn't all that useful.

 

[SquirrelNuts]

I do have an eyecup over the viewfinder and I considered rigging something out of posterboard to slide over it, as I am interested in using the BULB shutter setting for cars on the interstate and star motion in the sky.

-SquirrelNuts

 

[Bob_McBob]

Luckily my A-1 has a built-in viewfinder shutter

 

[SquirrelNuts]

I read in the Canon manual to use the viewfinder cover for long exposures when you will not be looking through the viewfinder. Not covering the viewfinder is supposed to let in excess light and may overexpose the film. I wondered how it could do this because the viewfinder goes black during a shutter release because of the mirror. I was a little skeptical of this, but I see it written elsewhere. I thought the mirror would take care of this problem, but I guess not.

-SquirrelNuts

 

[Bob_McBob]

The reason for covering the viewfinder is because stray light entering it can affect the camera's light meter, and throw the exposure off if you're using autoexposure. If you're manually setting the shutter speed and aperture (I do for long exposures), then it shouldn't make any difference.