Keith S in Arizona USA

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<p>Very nice job, Gordon, . . . . informative and easy to follow steps!</p> <p>The "circularly placed mechanics" surrounding the lens is very interesting.</p> <p>Do you have a pic of the camera fully assembled?</p>

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<p>The 503CW / 503CX are pretty much the "cream of the crop" as far as features. With the later models, Hasselblad began to delete some of the features. (The pre-503 series' model Hassies also have fewer features.) But -- the 501's are really good cameras too. It is all a matter of preference.</p> <p>Go to the Ken Rockwell site; he has some good information on Hassleblad models, Zeiss lenses, film magazines, and I believe something on the PME models of metered prism, etc.</p> <p>I really like the 503CX I have.</p> <p>By the way, if you want to get some nice Hassies for free, the Astronauts have left 12 of them on the Lunar surface. (But you will have to buy film magazines for them.) :D</p>

<p>Hi Rachel.</p> <p>I assume from your wording . . . "fall down(towards my hand)" . . . you mean that the lever is loose and "rotates freely" to do what you describe.</p> <p>Obviously something under the lever is loose or broken. I did take the top cover off an AE-1 that I eventually donated to my repair person as a parts camera, and removing the top plate is not a difficult task. However, anything could be bad in there. It could be as simple as a holding spring that broke.</p> <p>This is "not likely" something you would repair on your own unless you mechanically handy, are able to find the problem, and order a part from a repair depot. A big effort and probably not too feasible or cost-efficient.</p> <p><strong>If you really like the camera and wish to continue using it for long time,</strong> a repair, clean, lube and adjust is in order. Buying another one off CheapBay or such will only lead to another camera that needs clean, lube and adjust service. Some cameras at auction have been "sprayed" internally with WD-40 to delete the common "Canon Mirror Squeal" and this lube attempt can cause much damage later on. Hence a decent repair shop is desired so you get known quality service and not ripped off.</p> <p>Are you located in the U.S? Ken Oikawa of Sun City, California, has serviced about 9 Canon AE-1, AE-1PROGRAM, and EF series' cameras for me. His rates are VERY VERY reasonable, and his turnaround time has typically been about one week. He is a retired Canon factory man and really loves servicing the Canon 35 mm cameras. He does not do email, prefers the US Postal Service for shipping both ways, and prefers personal checks. He also does not do credit cards or PayPal.</p> <p>Ken's repairs and services have rarely exceeded $100 for me; some were only $70. Yours will likely be in the $100 range or so ( . . . my speculation only.) He does give a free estimates (actually more like an exact cost) once he receives and evaluates the camera. He can usually evaluate a camera the same day he receives it.</p> <p>Should you desire to go that route, over looking for another camera, here is his contact information:</p> <p>Ken Oikawa<br> 28288 West Worcester Road<br> Sun City, California<br> 92586<br> Phone: 951-246-9136</p>

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<p>You guys with the EF's that drain batteries . . . . . . .</p> <p>. . . . . . . send them to Ken Oikawa:</p> <p>Ken Oikawa <br /> 28288 West Worcester Rd. <br /> Sun City CA 92586 <br /> Ph: 951-246-9136</p> <p>He will fix the electrical issues that you have. It is <strong>NOT</strong> normal for an EF to drain batteries with the switch OFF.</p> <p>P.S. Once the 'air seal' is removed, Zinc-air's will deteriorate rather rapidly --- even when not in use --- that is just the way they are. As has been noted, there is NO reason to not use the 625-type 1.55 volt cells due to the voltage regulation circuit of the EF design. The 1.55 volts will be regulated down to 1.35 volts, so not to worry. It is unfortunate that not all EF owners will be advised of this.</p>

<p>Seems to me I have heard that focusing screens may be either ground glass or laser-etched in some manner to create the focus surface. I have always wondered if a contaminated mirror or focus screen could be removed and cleaned of sticky foam adhesive residue by shooting steam on it.</p> <p>Any camera techs out there tried this, or is it once a mirror / focus screen is badly contaminated, it is all over for that item?</p> <p>If I had any junkers with gooped up screens or mirrors I would certainly give it a try just as an experiment. But . . . I don't.</p> <p>Patrick, you and I are on the same page as per your second paragraph. :-)</p>

<p>There are several easy things you can do to evaluate the seals' conditions.</p> <p>First, upon opening the rear cover, examine the edges of the cover where the edges fit into the channels (where you see the foam strips residing.) If you find any loose, crumbly black debris, this is the foam deteriorating. This indicates replacement of the dust seals is needed right now. Some debris may be found stuck to the door edges if the deterioration has been ongoing.</p> <p>You do not want this evil garbage migrating into the shutter or other mechanics of the camera, so immediate attention is advised.</p> <p>In the front of the camera, also check at the top of the mirror box where the gray-looking glass focus screen resides. You are checking the foam strip at the front of the focusing screen for the same deterioration. If crumbly / sticky, do not operate the shutter until that mirror cushion foam strip is replaced. (Gooey material transferred from the foam and mirror edge can get "bounced" onto the focusing screen and it can sometimes be a nightmare for a tech to clean. In bad cases it cannot be totally removed. At least I have been told that by a Canon tech.)</p> <p>If the foam seals and the mirror cushion "seem" to be OK, the foam still needs MORE evaluation. Use a toothpick, edge of a thin plastic card, or other similar NON-DAMAGING device to carefully poke at the rear door dust seals and mirror cushion. Nice, non-deteriorated foam will NOT cause the toothpick or card to "stick." If you encounter "stickiness," the seals are in the process of deteriorating and need replacement.</p> <p>There are "two types" ("hee" I say) of foam seals in these cameras. One is foam seals that <strong>ARE</strong> failing due to age. The other is foam seals that <strong>WILL</strong> fail due to age, just not right now.</p> <p>'Someone' on occasion has replaced these seals with some sort of woven rope seals. I have no other knowledge of this type of seal.</p> <p>If you are even the slightest bit handy, Jon Goodman's seal kits are a breeze to install. His instructions are clear, concise, and extremely easy to follow. I used lighter fluid to clean the old material from the channels. It leaves NO residue, will not damage the paint, evaporates quickly, and is cheap and easy to find at the grocery or hardware store. His kits even supply a bamboo stick designed specifically to clean out the channels on the camera. USE GOOD VENTILATION when you use any solvents and wear Nitrile gloves. Follow his directions explicitly and all will be fine.</p> <p>!!! Be extremely careful to not touch or damage the shutter when you are working on the camera !!!</p> <p>If you choose to have a camera repair shop do this, it should not be costly at all (cost may vary by shop) because it is a very easy job for them. You may need to supply the seals for some shops, however, if they do not have any seal kits. Jon Goodman is reportedly a 'major' supplier for these kits.</p> <p>If you got lucky, your camera may have had this done in the not too distant past.</p>

<p>An update on Ken's services.<br> Over the past months, he has serviced the remaining 8 of my 13 Canon 1970's-1980's series 35mm cameras. All of my Canon film cameras are now serviced and ready for more decades of use, and to someday possibly be passed along through the family, too.<br> He recently serviced: 3 AE-1's, 3 1AE-1PROGRAMS, and 2 EF's.<br> Fortunately, all of my FD and newer FDn series lenses do not exhibit any-hazing issues, so they are fine for now. (They may eventually need some helical re-lube.)<br> Meters dead or off in the EF's, re-lube of squeaky mirror mechanisms ("The Infamous Canon Squeal") on several of the 'A' series, adjustments/checks of the shutter speeds and metering systems, replacement of mirror cushions and rear door dust seals, and thorough cleanings.<br> <strong>Very reasonable costs for service and return postage,</strong> and in most cases a turnaround time of 7 to 10 days.<br> His very heavy Japanese accent is quite difficult to understand, but he is a great guy, factory trained, and has an amazingly positive attitude. There is no one I would rather talk to than Ken. It is always a fun, enjoyable and productive experience.<br> You can easily tell when you get your items back from Ken that they have been properly serviced. Smooth, low-noise mechanical actions, no oil odors or over-lubrication issues, and photo's that expose tack-on.<br> Get your items serviced if they need it and help preserve Film Photography and the need for quality service personnel !!</p>

<p>Oh, yeh, one thing about attaching the motor drive that some folks are not aware of. On the bottom plate of the camera beneath where the film canister sits, is a cover that has to be removed to attach the motor drive. Don't remove that cover with any film in the camera or the film will be exposed. <strong>If you are already aware of this, I apologize in advance.</strong><br /> The three covers you remove to attach the motor drive can be nested together and retained by screwing them into a threaded 'socket' on the motor drive section of it. A very nifty storage idea the engineers created!<br /> Should you find you need service at some point on this very fine camera, three recommended personnel are: Kurt's Camera in San Diego, California, Ken Oikawa in Sun City, California, and Steve Sweringen in Sparks, Nevada. They are all experts on the F-1N. (Steve can probably service these in his sleep.)</p> <p>Rick -- thank you for correcting my misinformation !!! :-)</p>

<p>Sounds like your mirror is properly doing its thing; your scene "blacks out" just like it is supposed to. Here is how this works for a SLR camera for those out there who are Rangefinder (or other types) camera operators and may not know:<br> At one second, for example, the mirror has to flip up for slightly more than that to expose the film.<br> You press the shutter, the mirror flips up, the shutter opens and the film is exposed (for 'X' amount of time, say 1 second or 2 seconds or whatever), and then the shutter closes and the mirror flips back down again.<br> The mirror is in the camera at an angle and it used to view the scene you are looking at by reflecting the scene up into the prism where the viewfinder window is. The mirror needs to "flip up"out of the path of the lens-to-flim path for the film to be exposed. After the exposure is made, the mirror flip back down again for viewing the next shot.<br> The faster the shutter operates, the less time the mirror is "up." In the "bulb" or "time" position, the mirror will stay "up"as long as the shutter remains open.</p>

<p>Too bad about the mis-described cameras. I had one really bad deal like that over twenty years of ebay purchases.<br /> Many sellers do not know about cameras at all, or about shutters and meters, whether they are close to spec or not. This is not really them trying to take advantage (usually); they just are not literate in the world of cameras.<br /> Due to old dried out lube, many cameras will NOT function in the Self-Timer mode, causing the shutter to hang up, or fire too slowly. These obviously will need a CLA (Clean, Lube, Adjust.) Often worth it for a camera you desire to keep long term and use a lot, or even pass along someday to someone else.<br /> I had a good experience buying a New F-1 off ebay some time back at auction. <strong>Keep looking.</strong> Also, ask a few questions up front of the seller before you commit. If you get vague, unsatisfactory or NO answers, . . . <strong>PASS. </strong>"Most" of the sellers I have sent inquiries to have been more than happy to answer.<br /> There are a lot of old 35mm film cameras out there and you need to weed out the potential good ones from the potential bad ones. You may not always come out a winner, but you can greatly reduce your chances of a bad deal.<br /> Many of us have had poor auction transactions; such is life.<br /> REMINDER: Take the "shutter operates properly at all speeds" and "meter works / is accurate" statements with a bit of suspicion as no one can really tell you this unless they are the original owner/user, are qualified service personnel or have the equipment for test.<br /> "Tested at all speeds" is really a vague (and unfortunate) description from an uninformed seller. Yes, it may <strong>"function,"</strong> as a seller may have noted, but <strong>not</strong> necessarily correctly, and he may not know that.<br /> The main guidance I am offering here is to get all the <strong>detailed</strong> information you can up front. For example, ask "You said in your ad that ______, and how did you verify that this is correct?" (A simple, polite and un-accusatory form of questioning is best to prevent a seller from being put off to answering.)<br /> Hope this helps in your finding a good camera !!!</p>

<p>Hi Christian.<br /> Here is more information for you.<br /> In addition, the "NEW" or FDn lenses, have their aperture rings slightly more 'rearward' of their breech-lock counterparts.<br /> This was mainly for use with the NEW Canon F-1N of the 1980s. That camera has a window on the lower front projection of the prism. This window looks down on the aperture scale of an attached FDn lens, for viewing in the viewfinder the aperture that has been manually set on the lens.<br /> Although you cannot view the lens aperture scale of an attached older breech-lock lens on the F-1N, the lenses still work 100%.<br /> Other than the aperture-viewing issue, Breech-lock (older) and FDn (newer) lenses are physically and operationally interchangeable among the 1970's-80's Canon F series, A series , AE series, and EF cameras.</p>

<p>Seems to me with the lack of a decent description and close-up photo's from ADORAMA, Bill C's responses make a lot of sense. Especially where your convenience or possible inconvenience is concerned for a return. ADORAMA may not even want to carefully examine it just to answer your questions. In actuality, their 'V' rating is not that great and sounds just too close to problematic for me.<br> I have purchased 'quite a few' FD lenses off fleecebay, and have yet to be burned (due to 95% satisfied with the info I could obtain PLUS a dab of 5% additional luck.)<br> If a seller does not post enough info and does NOT answer your questions, . . . PASS, PASS, PASS.<br> There is a glut of old FD lenses available.<br> The sellers I dealt with <strong>and purchased from</strong> answered my questions when I had any, and that is an "assist" in avoiding the unexpected.</p>

<p>. . . roughly $350-400 ish . . . . ??<br /> WAAAAAY too much $ being asked for it.<br /> I have seen quite a few of these lenses with "cleaning marks" -- and under proper lighting they are almost always much worse than described or suspected. Mostly they appear under decent lighting and careful inspection to appear badly "sandpapered."<br /> If you watch the auction sites you can get a really decent lens for not a whole lot more than a beat-to-death $400 problem lens that will never be made right -- especially if the glass is badly compromised.<br> The SUMMICRONS are the best of the best . . .</p>

<p>Good Tech you chose. Steve has done very difficult work for me in the past and he can practically rebuild Canon FD items in his sleep.</p>

<p>Please keep us updated.</p>

<p>Sounds like you have the all-black FD "NEW" style lens, aka FDn.</p> <p>For those who want to be in the know and possibly don't: These lenses were introduced for the F-1N (F-1 "NEW") camera.</p> <p>These lenses have the aperture rings slightly rearward of the silver breech lock ring lenses. The re-positioning of the aperture scales was for viewing the lens aperture set on the lens, via a viewing window in the bottom front side of the F-1N camera's prism.</p> <p>The newer FDn lenses are interchangeable with the older style breech lock ring type lenses, and can be used on the A-1, AE, EF and F series bodies of that period.</p> <p>The mounting method you describe is used with this newer FDn lens type where you rotate the lens body to lock, as you have noted the specific mounting method.<br /> <br />Can anyone help Gary with an FDn lens plate replacement?</p>

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<p>Mark, thanks for the great information of your test results. Your close-up lens results track with what Kodak has stated is the usable (designed) range for it.</p> <p>I purchased from auction not too long ago a Brownie Hawkeye Flash boxed set made in 1955. After cleaning the viewfinder pieces and taking lens, I was quite pleased with the results on Kodak T-MAX 100. The resolution is really good from the mass-produced molded glass lens.</p> <p>Some close up shots with flash were taken of one of our cats, who is dark gray. I used two layers of a white knit shirt over the reflector for the 4-5 foot shots and that turned out to be just the right amount of light reduction. Perfect exposure; gray was gray, the white wall was white without washout or loss of texturing detail, and a black area in the background was black.</p> <p>Other outdoor shots of our house on a sunny day came out great. For those I used the #13 yellow filter attachment. The sky came out nicely darkened, which was just a bit. We had some puffy white clouds that day and they stood out quite well against the slightly darkened sky. I would recommend all Brownie users buy both the Close up and yellow attachments. They are commonly available from time to time at Pacific Rim Camera and other sellers off eBay. These two items will greatly enhance this camera's photo's.</p> <p>The Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Flash camera is really a nice little camera, and although not a professional device is, IMHO, more than a 'toy.'</p> <p> </p>

<p>Stephen, Rodeo Joe, Ilkka, all terrific inputs.</p> <p>Many lenses will focus beyond infinity. One older Canon zoom I have does this, they claim, to compensate for focus changes (lens length expansion / contraction) when used in very cold to very hot temperatures.</p> <p>As stated, MANUAL focus is the only way to go.</p> <p>My eyes are not what they used to be. To that end, here is what I have done to solve my own nighttime astro-photography focus issues:</p> <p>I apply two pieces of masking tape on the focus ring and the un-moving barrel. Then, with my camera in a MANUAL focus mode, I focus in daylight on an object at infinity and mark across the two tape pieces to set the infinity focus.</p> <p>At night, I use a penlight to re-align the marks if necessary and I am good to go. Any slight focus error has never shown up in my photos, so I would not worry at all about focus error unless you are in EXTREME hot or cold with a susceptible lens. Unless you are using a very long lens to photo moon craters or such, there should be no focus error issues.</p>

<p>I totally agree with Bill's response. Your issue definitely appears to be light-fogging.</p> <p>BTW, how old is your changing bag, and what type? There are posts (reviews, actually) at Adorama and B&H concerning various models of changing bags that, over time, have developed pinhole leaks. The reviewers have returned to buy new/ replace their bags, and have mentioned the problem occurring.</p> <p> </p>