Canon A1 fungus

[hoolio]

I think I probably know the answer to this but here goes. I bought this back in 1980ish when I was 18 or so then one winter the pipes in the loft burst, it didn't get wet but obviously get damp and it now has an old fungus bloom on the shutter screen, is it worth getting looked at or do I just bite the bullet and bin a bit of my past?

 

[hoolio]

What an idiot, I wonder if this can be moved to film please.

 

[kendo1]

The cost of repair and cleaning is prohibitive, probably cheaper to buy another, dry, one
There's one on the bay going for about £15 just now. Normal price is about £50 boxed. There's another for £90 with 1.8 50 lens- a bit over priced.
A good clean and repair would cost about £150...

 

[freecom2]

Is the fungus actually on the focusing screen, or is it in the pentaprism/on the reflecting mirror? (you should be able to see by inspecting each part of the camera separately)

If it's just the focusing screen, and you want to hold on and use the camera for nostalgia value, then you could probably get a replacement focusing screen (you may have to contact a camera repairman or buy a spares/broken body to cannibalise). If you don't really have too much attachment to it, there are plenty of clean examples on the used market, and they are a very popular camera. Just be aware of the Canon "squeak"/"squeal", a condition that commonly affects the Canon SLRs of that generation.

 

[hoolio]

It does have sentimental value and it's more travelled than most people but I just had another good look and it's really not worth saving being on the shutter curtain, would also need all seals done so along with a Vivitar series 1 70-210 it's been consigned to the bin.

I did have a win though, a rather nice Canon FD 50 1.4 that I also thought was ruined just had some smudge marks that cleaned off with hot breath and micro fibre.

Just found the original receipt £170 in 1981, wonder what that would equate to today.

 

[freecom2]

It does have sentimental value and it's more travelled than most people but I just had another good look and it's really not worth saving being on the shutter curtain, would also need all seals done so along with a Vivitar series 1 70-210 it's been consigned to the bin.

If it's only on the shutter curtain, you may be able to clean it off if you are very delicate (although the preferred option would be to disassemble the camera so you can clean the blades individually). There is something great about keeping a sentimental camera going.

Some of those Series 1 lenses have very good reputations.