Sudden light leaks in Canon AE-1: what's going on?

Hi, I've owned an AE-1 for some time now, and it's suddenly developed a rather alarming light leak problem. There is one on almost every photo, to varying degrees, in various places, but the common theme seems to be an orange stripe across the middle, blue stripe to the side. Here are examples from a roll taken recently: [click here]. Any thoughts on what this could be? Could this be a sudden fault in the mechanism?

 

Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated :)

How was the film developed? Did you process it yourself or send it to a lab? Just curious. It seems like a shutter problem. Try googling AE-1 shutter problem, and you will find references to cleaning magnets. This could be a source of information for you.

It seems like a shutter problem.

 

For sure. light seals or such could not easily yield such extensive results

I'd also consider a shutter issue more likely than a light leak. The shutter curtains run horizontally and uneven curtain movement could possibly explain the pattern you see. Remove film, remove the lens, open the back and look through the shutter from behind while firing. Does a curtain seem to move uneven? Do you have access to a shutter speed tester?

Can you rule out that the roll of film was bad or that anyone (not even you) has openend the back before the film was wound back?

It may well be shutter, but several of the last frames have a pattern not unheard of when light is striking the film outside of the film gate area; e.g., not while the film is being intentionally exposed, but before or after the frame actually in use. A check/question would be do these patterns extend out onto the film rebate (sprocket) area? If they do, I'd vote for a light seal problem at the hinge or door opening.

 

(But I have occasionally been wrong!)