Posted by Justin Ball on September 20, 2003 at 02:30:37:
In Reply to: CANON AE-1 HELP posted by Kari Kelley on September 19, 2003 at 20:42:23:
: I found a canon ae-1 from a friend who was going to give it the ol' toss. She gave me everything she had for it and told me she hadnt the slightest clue what worked and what didnt. She said it hadnt been used in over 15 years!! So I try turning it on (no turn on and off switch, quite confusing) I put in a brand new battery and it seemed fine. I took some film, loaded it, and all was well. I went to advance the film and got about 5 pictures in before the shutter locked up (i think) and refused to take another. This happens every now and then and Im pretty sure its just from age. All of a sudden it will just not do a darn thing when I press the shutter button! It's extremely annoying. Also, I added on a flash attachment (hence the fact it lacks automatic flash) and I turned the flash attachment on once it was on the camera and about 5 seconds later a huge pop exlodes from the flash attachment and BOOM, its out. And so is my camera. Or I think? but I cant tell. The meter thing inside the view finder says the batter is dead, but the battery is brand new. Can someone please help me! This camera confuses me to a very large extent but it is so beautiful and feels so good in my hands I want it to work so badly. Thank you,
: Kari
Ummm...how do I start? You seemed surprised that it did not have an on/off switch, and no built in flash. This is because it is not a modern compact for taking snapshots. It is more like an older American sports car- lots of power and ability, but no power steering, power brakes or other modern driver friendly bits (except an auto transmission- apeture control that chooses the wrong gear/ f stop). It is possible to bolt a lot of "performance" bits on- power winder, various flash units, a host of lenses and filters to name just a few. However, this means one has to come to grips with the basic model before trying the other bits. To do this I would suggest getting the manual for this model and doing some reading.
I have had my AE-1 for a year and I am amazed at what can really and theoretically be done with it-I still haven't touched the flash. It can be a confusing and contradictory machine- get used to it slowly and surely.
Hope Rick posts some ideas to go along with these.
Regards,
Justin
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