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Can we talk about the Canon AE-1 self timer that ate a customer's shutter and cost me $85
I had a Canon AE-1 on the bench last month where the self timer lever was stuck halfway, so I gave it a nudge and the whole mirror box locked up on me. Pulled the bottom plate off and one of the little gears inside the timing mechanism had lost three teeth, which I learned from an old service manual scan on a forum is a way more common failure than people think. Spent $85 on a donor body from a guy in Sacramento just to steal that one gear, and the customer never even used the timer. Now I test every timer twice before I quote anything. Any of you keep a stash of busted AE-1s just for these stupid little parts?
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jessica9215d ago
Those timing gears in the AE-1 are nylon and they get brittle with age, so it's less about the teeth wearing down and more about them just cracking off after 40 years. Seen it happen on bodies where the timer was never touched too, sitting on a shelf is enough. I keep a coffee can of dead AE-1s for exactly this stuff, way cheaper than hunting donors one at a time.
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