Elan II sometimes loads film...help!

[crajos]

The film door latch on my Elan II broke a while back. I ordered a new one and

successfully replaced it (very easy to do). However, the camera is now being

stubborn when film is loaded into it. Here's how I get it to load...

 

1.Open film door

2.Insert canister

3.Pull film leader to film leader mark

4.Close door

5.Turn camera on (nothing happens)

6.Open door

7.Slightly move film leader

8.Close door (nothing happens)

9.Repeat steps 6-8 until film finally loads.

 

Last time it took me almost ten minutes to get this thing to load the film. My

guess is that whatever sensor is responsible for recognizing that there is film

in the camera is dying. Otherwise it operates as it should. I've gotten some

film back since this has been happening and all is as it should be.

 

Has anyone experienced this before, and is it repairable? If not...I'm buying

an older all-mechanical camera. Electronics spoil all my fun!

[crajos]

Sorry about the spacing in that second paragraph...thought I had HTML turned on in my post.

[asher]

Might I gently suggest that this consumer camera (which is now over 10-12 years old) is

trying to give up the ghost? There are lots of other older EOS 35mm bodies at very good

prices for sale...

[sdsalyer]

If it's like the Elan 7, I think you need to have the camera turned on while you load the film. It might only detect the film being put in while it's on, and if you turn it off, load the film, then turn it on, it could think you'd already had film loaded and wound ready to go.

[crajos]

I've been thinking about this issue for a while now, and I think my Elan II has finally had it.

 

By the way, I don't think it's like the Elan 7 where the power must be on prior to loading the film. There was never an issue like this before replacing the door latch. I think it is just a coincidence though. Thanks for the replies.

[bill_akstens]

Is your camera battery known to be good and making good contact inside the body?

[HenryUK]

There's a switch in the camera body that is operated by the closing of the door.

 

Carefully remove the two screws above and below the door opening slider. Be careful to avoid the spring escaping and note the position of the parts. Remove the cover and look for the phosphor bronze contact spring that is actuated by the latch mechanism. It may have been bent out of contact when the old door tang broke.

 

Henry

[hjoseph7]

"I've been thinking about this issue for a while now, and I think my Elan II has finally had it"

 

That's a shame. That camera use to be my work-horse before I got into digital. I still take it out on rainy days. The only problem is the pop-up flash. It makes a tick, tick, tick sound like a time-bomb before it opens up. I spent $175 trying to fix it, but 3 months later the tick tick tick came back.

[crajos]

Henry, thanks for enlightening me to the little prongs on the door latch mechanism. I had forgotten about those since I had installed the part. I tried the best I could to ensure they contacted the circuit board just inside the camera, but with no success.

 

I took the strap of it after that...it's kind of like taking the collar off a dog you're not going to have anymore!

 

But that's ok, I'm going to the pound (eBay) to rescue an old Minolta XG-M for a good price. I still love Canon EOS cameras, I just want something mechanical...and it will help me get back to the roots of photography (where I want to be).

[fmueller]

The XG-M is a nice camera, but if you never want to be bothered with electronics again, may I suggest an SRT instead ;-)

[crajos]

It works! I spent a little extra time fiddling with the contacts on the door latch and I got it to load film on the first try. Let's hope that's a trend that continues.

 

While I still want a nice Minolta manual camera...I'm going to stick with my, now working, Elan II.