PSA: My Canon AE-1 shutter finally locked up at a wedding shoot

I was shooting a friend's wedding last Saturday as a favor, and right in the middle of the ceremony my Canon AE-1 just stopped. The mirror locked up halfway and the shutter wouldn't fire at all. I had a backup body luckily, but it got me thinking about how these old cameras just give out at the worst times. When I got home I took the bottom plate off and found the magnet release had a bunch of old sticky grease on it. A tiny drop of lighter fluid and some careful cleaning got it working again, but it took me about an hour. Has anyone else had a similar failure with the AE-1 at a bad moment?

2 comments

2 Comments

emma_ramirez2d ago

Used to think those old film cameras were built like tanks and would never fail me. Had a beat-up AE-1 Program that I carried everywhere for years without a single issue. Then last summer I was shooting a friend's backyard wedding, nothing fancy, and BAM the shutter just died mid-ceremony. Mirror locked up, dead silence, everyone staring. I felt so stupid because I only had that one body with me. Had to borrow a friend's digital point and shoot to finish the day. When I got home I found the same thing you did, sticky old grease on the magnet. Cleaned it up and it's been fine since, but now I always bring a backup. You totally changed my mind about how reliable these cameras are. They're great but they got weak points for sure.

gavin9281d ago

Totally agree with you on bringing a backup now. Same thing happened to me with a Pentax K1000 a few years back, that sticky grease got the mirror stuck halfway up at a really bad time. I feel like people treat these old mechanical cameras like they're indestructible but honestly any camera with decades old lubricant is a ticking time bomb. The AE-1 Program is a great camera but that electromagnet design is definitely one of its weak points when the grease gets hard. Once you clean it up they're solid again though, just gotta stay on top of it.