What is wrong with my camera?

Brian

Hey all.

I recently got two rolls of film developed, and put on CD, for the princely sum of €19. To my consternation, upon receipt of the CD, there only seemed to be 25 photos. 36 exposures * 2 rolls of film = 72 exposures ; something is wrong here, surely? So I looked at the negatives:



Most of them are entirely blank! I don't know if this is caused by the shutter not opening, or by the shutter being jammed open.

Not only are the majority blank, at least 50% of the other photos didn't come out properly as well. Here is a selection of them:








Despite this, some of the photos came out fine:






There doesn't seem to be a precise beginning and end point, looking at the negatives. In the first roll (on the right) it starts off OK (at the bottom), then there's a few missed, then back to OK, then bad.. and for the whole second roll there is basically nothing, save for the inexplicably perfectly-exposed photo of the laptop top-left.

Could anyone provide some insight as to what might be wrong?
The camera is a Canon EOS 1000. My father did warn me not to touch any of the matt black surfaces on the inside of the camera, and I don't think I have, but it's a possibility. According to him, fingerprints can cause the shutter to stick.

A couple more examples can be seen here - http://pix.ie/bcpk/album/341289

Thanks in advance \o/

melekalikimaka

odd, seems like they arent even exposed... so doesnt seem like its jamming, almost the opposite...

Brian

I'm not certain, but I think I would probably have noticed if the camera wasn't making its characteristic shutter sound... then again, I might be listening for the sound of the film motor and the reflecting plane moving.

njburke

Looks like you have an intermittent problem with the shutter and or mirror.

In the shot of the kids on the grass, looks like occlusion at the top of the frame, perhaps the mirror hadn't cleared the optical path when the shutter opened.
Another option is that one of the shutter curtains is stalling/sticking. This might also explain the under exposures.

Brian

Would this be a difficult/costly issue to fix? Also, could I verify this somehow? I have a roll in the camera right now, but afterwards...

njburke

I assume the film is out of it now.

Firstly, have a good look inside the mount,back, put the mirror up with bulb or 30' exposure. Look for hair, dirt, insect (theres a mosquitio on my F70 focussing screen ), loose piece of light seal (the black felt stuff) where it should not be.

Some cameras will allow you to open camera back and still operate the shutter at a particular shutter speed (1/250 for a nikon F100 BTW), try whatever the flash sync speed is for your camera.
Fire of a few shots and make sure the curtain returns each time, and that the mirror travels all the way up.

Theres a bit of a test you can do if you have a flash but for now look for a foreign body in there.

Brian

As far as I can tell, it all looks OK inside. One thing I am unsure about is the liquid/residue on the shutters, is that oil or something that's meant to be there? I'm wary of touching anything inside the camera at this stage.






Video coming.

njburke

no need for video, problem is evident in the third frame.
That liquid will cause shutter leaves to drag , is it on both shutter curtains?
Was it raining when you changed film, did you sneeze ?

Brian

Uh, no, neither. That liquid has always been there since I found the camera in my dad's cupboard. I suppose I shall clean it off, carefully.

DaireQuinlan

Baza210 wrote: »

Uh, no, neither. That liquid has always been there since I found the camera in my dad's cupboard. I suppose I shall clean it off, carefully.

Chances are you'll just make the problem worse, those shutter blades are normally quite delicate, and if you start trying to clean stuff off them you'll probably damage them. Plus some of the liquid is probably in between the blades. If you're interested in shooting with the camera again I'd get it professionally cleaned. If you're willing to accept the possibility of junking the camera completely then I suppose its worth the risk. Dunno what I'd use though. Pure alcohol perhaps, and Q-Tips ...

Brian

Ok, I'll bring it in to a photo shop, thanks for the help guys.

njburke

Mmmh, it shouldn't be there, as the curtain folds on itself that liquid will just slow it down.

The good shots you've had were they all at low shutter speeds or with flash fired ?

I don't think you'll be able to clean it, there are two curtains in the shutter, you may be able to clean the back of the rear curtain or the front of the front curtain but if theres oil between the two curtains you can't get at it.

heres a good video of how the mechanism works.

http://regex.info/blog/2008-09-04/925

move the cursor across the video to index through the sequence of frames.

Brian

Would an expert photography shop be able to? I don't think this camera is worth a whole lot any more, since it's 35mm, so if it's an expensive job I may as well buy another one off eBay.

gorilla_image

It definately looks like your your shutter is sticking intermittantly. I had the same problem with different camera. the sound you hear is probably the mirror mechanism. There's a place in town called Camera Repair Center (used be in Portobello, but have moved) in town, you can google them. they normally charge a deposit of around €50 for a quote (which they deduct from the final bill). If I remember correctly the total cost to me was about €80.

njburke

Apart from the shutter, the bigger issue is where did the oil come from?
Its possible that another component like the mirror mechanism uses an oil filled damper that has burst it seal.
No harm to try the Camera repair centre or fixationuk.com with phonecall/email, you have the images of the contaminated shutter.

Brian

€80
I can get this camera for about a tenner on eBay..

Edit: I just tried to remove the liquid by brushing it gently with a bit of blutak. It's very sticky and black.

njburke

Crude Oil then, there isn't a small diesel engine in there as a film winder:)
You won't get it serviced for a tenner, you should be able to pick up another SLR on ebay, the world is littered with them. Just won one myself in the past few minutes.

Niall

Morrisseeee

Just won one myself in the past few minutes

.........fesker, that was MINE !!!! only kiddin, I'm tracking 2 * 50mm F1.4's on the bay !!

Brian

Heh, guess I'll go looking. My dad'll kill me though, he said that I'm always breaking things of his.

njburke

Baza, put the canon back in the wardrobe for your son and that way its still an heirloom of sorts.

Morisseeee, betcha I know which one, seller has a tidy 28/2.8 and the rubber hoods for both of them. Nice to meet a fellow watcher. I'm cleaned out for the month, so I'll not be bidding.