The time I fixed a jammed shutter with a guitar pick...

Had a customer bring in a beat up Canon AE-1 last month where the shutter was completely stuck. I spent about 2 hours taking the bottom plate off, checking the magnet, testing the battery, even swapped the foam bumper. Nothing worked. I was about to tell the guy it needed a full CLA which would cost more than the camera. Then I remembered a trick I saw on a forum back in 2018. I grabbed a medium gauge guitar pick from my car, slipped it under the mirror bumper to nudge it back into place, and the shutter fired perfectly on the next advance. Felt like magic but also kinda dumb I didn't try it sooner. Has anyone else found a random object that saved a repair?

3 comments

3 Comments

cole99426d ago

Haha yeah that "felt like magic but also kinda dumb" part hit home. I had a similar thing with a Minolta X-700 where the film advance was locked up. I was about to give up and then remembered an old trick using a paperclip. Bent one end into a tiny hook, poked it through the rewind knob hole, and gently wiggled a stuck gear. Fired right up. Felt like a genius for 5 minutes then annoyed I wasted an hour on it.

drew_bennett2426d ago

Hard disagree though. That hour wasn't wasted - it taught you exactly what to look for next time without having to touch a single tool.

taraanderson26d ago

I read somewhere once that a lot of these old cameras were fixed by techs who just used whatever they had on hand - it makes you wonder how many parts were really broken vs just out of place.