Canon AE1 no exposing all the film.

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erictearle

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Eric Tearle
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I have a weird issue currently with my AE-1, or maybe the AGFA Vista film I've been using from Poundland!

The last 2 rolls I've shot, have all not exposed correctly. The first roll was fine on the 1st 12 to 13 images, then the rest of the negative was completely blank. The 2nd roll I shot again the same thing happened, except the 1st 3/4 shots on the film were exposed and then the last 2 were, but every shot in between wasn't.

The negative has exposed but there is nothing there, just a transparent blank frame?

I've used this camera and loaded film hundreds of times and I considered it being a film loading issue, but then I thought if the film didn't load properly or wind-on then why are some shots exposed and others not?

I currently can't take any photos as I am at work but I will once I'm home. If any could shed some light on a similar experience I'm all ears.

E.
 
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Do the blank frames have the frame numbers etc? Could it be a range of shutter speeds that are knackered?
 
Hmm not that I remember but I'll look when I'm home tonight. If I remember rightly I didn't see any frame numbers so maybe my camera has finally decided to give up.

If it helps it's a AE-1 program. I usually leave it in 'Program' mode and manually control the Aperture, so maybe certain shutter speeds are broke.
 
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Well I doubt if it's the film causing a problem and would seem the camera is faulty.....were the shots on auto or manual ? Also you could open the back and point the camera to the sky and see the amount of light coming through at different shutter speeds.
 
Shots where auto shutter and manual aperture. I'll try that tip later when I'm home with the shutter speeds.

it's not a huge issue as AE-1's are very cheap but this was my first and I don't want it to go!

Edit; I just realised I have the negatives with me and the frame numbers are there, so it's probably a shutter issue!
 
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erictearle said:
Shots where auto shutter and manual aperture. I'll try that tip later when I'm home with the shutter speeds.

it's not a huge issue as AE-1's are very cheap but this was my first and I don't want it to go!

Edit; I just realised I have the negatives with me and the frame numbers are there, so it's probably a shutter issue!
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...also see if the mirror is flipping up properly as my A1 was very slow and would assume eventually, without oiling, I could have had the same problem.
 
Dry firing the camera with a lens off will give some clues.
 
did you dev yourself? i had that issue with a film deved at asda, but i dont know if its the camera or what :/
when i tried the camera it was fine (with the back off), so i dunno
 
pingu666 said:
did you dev yourself? i had that issue with a film deved at asda, but i dont know if its the camera or what :/
when i tried the camera it was fine (with the back off), so i dunno
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Intermittent faults are a nightmare, I had a camera that had a light leak on some frames and others not...after 3 rolls of film I gave up in the end trying to solve it and dismantled the camera for spare screws.
 
im gonna try another film, as its my grandads camera, so its a emotional choice, plus it has a lovely feel to it (pentax spotmatic)
 
pingu666 said:
im gonna try another film, as its my grandads camera, so its a emotional choice, plus it has a lovely feel to it (pentax spotmatic)
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In cameras like the Spotmatic, it's often using the top shutter speed or slow shutter speeds that cause problems with individual frames - these speeds go out of acceptable tolerances faster than the intermediate speeds.
 
freecom2 said:
In cameras like the Spotmatic, it's often using the top shutter speed or slow shutter speeds that cause problems with individual frames - these speeds go out of acceptable tolerances faster than the intermediate speeds.
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Many moons ago I seem to remember advice about setting the camera at top speed for the film leader...maybe the reason was to give the top speed a work out. :shrug:
 
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