I wrote a post a couple of months ago about how I’d dusted off the old 35mm Canon I’d found in a charity shop a few years back. The more I used it, the more it started to fail, making me realise I was beginning to waste money on a pointless venture. It costs about £20 to buy some film and get it developed and scanned, and my last attempt gave me about 6 usable pictures out of a roll of 36. The shutter was sticking and it was because the vintage (90’s) camera had a light seal that was turning to mush – causing the shutter blades to stick together when taking a picture – and the problem was getting progressively worse. A quick Google showed me that this was a common problem with this range of Canons, and also pointed me in the direction of an ultra-cheap fix, but only if you were feeling brave enough to risk breaking it completely.

Seeing as the old camera only cost me a tenner, I thought I’d give it a punt. The fix involved cutting out loads of little strips of thick paper and scraping them along the little recess where the shutter disappears into when you take a photo to fish out all the black goo that used to be a seal. It took me hours and literally hundreds of strips of paper before the goo had disappeared completely. I then had to turn my attention to the delicate shutter curtains with a some alcoholic cleaning fluid and a pile of cotton buds. Finally the old canon was clear of goo and I was ready to risk another roll of expensive Ilford Black and White Film (ISO 125).

It seems that my ghetto-maintenance was a success, the roll of 35mm film returned 36 exposures, of which 31 were usable; the other 5 had failed due to the dodgy photographer!

Cheers for looking,

Stu