Finally found a stuck shutter after 3 hours of guessing

Had a Nikon FE that kept firing at random speeds no matter what I did. Turned out a tiny piece of foam from the mirror bumper had wedged itself into the gear train. Anyone else ever chase a ghost like that for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

jason114d ago

Had a Canon AE-1 Program that drove me insane for weeks. Every roll would come back with a few frames that looked like someone took a photo of a black hole. Finally noticed the foam light seals had turned into sticky goo and were shedding tiny chunks into the mirror box, blocking the meter cell. Replaced all the seals with some new foam from a craft store and never had the problem again. Foam rot is probably the single most annoying thing about these old cameras, but at least yours was a quick fix after you found it.

foster.oscar3d ago

Wait, isn't the AE-1 Program's meter cell behind the lens, not in the mirror box? I thought the foam chunks would've just blocked the mirror from flipping up cleanly or jammed the mechanism, not the meter directly. But yeah, dealing with rotted foam is a nightmare on those old Canons regardless, you got the right fix.