Canon A1-can't find the proper forum

Hi everyone

I can't find the proper forum for this topic so I just put it in here. My question is does anyone know the shutter life of the canon A1? i just bought one with serial number starting with #115XXXX, does anyone know what year it was made in?

thanks!

More the likely, early 80's.

As for shutter life, I don't think they had a rating on them, they just worked until it stopped working.

Nick

My old A1 had well over half a million operations and its current owner tells me it shows no signs of giving up any time yet. Probably made the same sort of time mine was (bought new) 1978 to 1982(ish).

the seller says " foam seal near mirror might need replacing" what foam seal is he talking about, i dont have the camera yet so i can't take a look, and i cant see it in the pictures of the camera.

There is a date code in the back under where the film canister goes. Ask for that and you'll know the year. Likely early '80s.

The foam that slows the mirror down always goes on those cameras. Most of mine have no foam, the foam on my AE-1 is a mess. A camera repair shop can easily replace it or you can just take it off if its a mess so it doesn't fly around and gunk things up.

Unless the A-1 was used by a pro the shutter count will be fairly low as people didn't shoot much with film though a pro could easily shoot 50 rolls a week (1500 shots/week, 6000 shots/month).

See here:
http://www.flickr.com/​photos/hpulley/4084579​038/

telephoto500 wrote in post #10288116
the seller says " foam seal near mirror might need replacing" what foam seal is he talking about, i dont have the camera yet so i can't take a look, and i cant see it in the pictures of the camera.

The foam turns gooey with age. Sometimes you can't tell it's turned to goo unless you touch it. A-1 cameras also sometimes had LEDs that burned out--those can't be replaced.

You could try the forums at apug.org...that's a film-specific forum.

There's a yahoo group too for Canon FD. It is still a little bit active.

http://tech.groups.yah​oo.com/group/CanonFD/

I bought my A-1 in 1980, or early 81. Like people have said shutter wear was less of a problem when people shot film. If you search online you can find instructions on how to lubricate the shutter mechanism which it will probably need if you hear a pingkkk sound instead of just the mirror click.

I'm expecting a recently purchased AE-1 to arrive in the mail any day now. I've been on the hunt for a forum or thread on this specific model. These types of Q&A are helpful....thanks for the post!

I still have and use an AE-1 if you want to PM me about questions. yahoo groups has the CanonFD group and at least one AE-1 group too.

You can also find a very active FD group on PHOTO.NET, I visit there a couple of times a week.

John

since this thread has just become active again, ill update my status with my "new" A-1, ive shot a few rolls of film so far and no problem yet thankfully, i also got a broken A-1 from the seller of my lenses and fixed it...so now i got 2 working A-1s! lube was all thats needed.

I bought my A-1 in 1980 (I believe they had been out for about a year or so). I used it until 2006 when I went digital with my current 30D.

It was a great camera - I gave it to a photography student 3 1/2 years ago, and AFIK, it's still working.

As for the shutter, mine made the classical A-1 shutter noise - sort of a "zziiiiiik" noise - which is apparently what they do but keep on working. Sounded bad, but never ever malfunctioned.

As the OP knows by now, they are an excellent camera - probably one of the best Canon ever made. Very rugged - mine was used where winter temps went way below freezing with never a problem.

G

I just purchased a AE-1 a few days ago on Craigslist. Got a great deal for the body, two set of lenses, cleaning kit, and four rolls of film for $40. Can't beat that at all. I already shot a roll that I will be developing soon. I'm excited to really put it to use this fall while taking a 35mm/darkroom class. More photographs to come...

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