New seals? Canon A1

[BigBadAl]

I have my late fathers Canon A1 sitting here on the desk, and I would love to have a go at some film photography (where I started in 1976!) but it needs a darn good clean out and the foam seals all need replacing.

I can get a kit of ebay for about £12 but I am not particularly dextrous with my arthritic thumb, so can anyone recommend any services out there who could do it for me please?

Many thanks

 

[maarten.dhaese]

Miles Whitehead serviced my Canon A1 a few years ago but he seems to have partially retired.

He has a few suggested alternatives on his website:

MWCameraRepairs

Repairs to professional and amateur camera equipment.

www.mwcamerarepairs.co.uk

https://1staidrepairs.co.uk/slr-35mm-camera-repair seem to be able to service old film SLR's as well.

 

[Mr Badger]

I have my late fathers Canon A1 sitting here on the desk, and I would love to have a go at some film photography (where I started in 1976!) but it needs a darn good clean out and the foam seals all need replacing.

I can get a kit of ebay for about £12 but I am not particularly dextrous with my arthritic thumb, so can anyone recommend any services out there who could do it for me please?

Many thanks

Try Miles Whitehead MWCameraRepairs he made a very nice job of replacing the seals on mine. To be honest though, if you are going to send it off to have the seals replaced, I'd suggest that you have him service the camera too (once again, he made a nice job of servicing my A1), as the lubrication on the mirror damper mechanism is prone to dry out after a decade or so, which results in a sort of 'cough come screech' type noise when the shutter is pressed (sometimes known as Canon cough). This eventually gets worse and can result in damage occurring. The winding mechanism usually benefits from relubrication too, as you can get overlapping frames if things aren't running smoothly.

If your Canon A1 is in nice condition and appears to be in good working order then a 'clean, lubricate and adjust' (CLA) type service and seal replacement is probably money well spent if you can afford it. I find Miles is reasonably priced and very honest, but, consequently, he does tend to be busy and is apparently taking on less work these days as he's planning towards semi/retirement. So perhaps send him an email for a quote and get in quick if the price seems right, even if it means waiting a few weeks. The A1 is a really lovely camera, and the first 35mm SLR to feature the P A S M (Programme, Av, Tv, & Manual) settings we've now become used to. So I think it's worth looking after, particularly given the connection to your dad. Hope this is useful.

Edit: In light of what it now says on his website, it might be worth chancing a polite email to see if he can fit your camera in (if you're not in a rush), and would love him to do the work if he can and can give you a quote? The answer might be no, but we'd have to respect that or the poor chap will never be able to retire!

 

[Asha]

The answer might be no, but we'd have to respect that or the poor chap will never be able to retire!

We can’t back down and maintain respect Mr B.
Quite the contrary, we need to fight against his retirement.
I for one won’t be able to console my Copal shutters if he’s no longer around to care for them

 

[excalibur2]

as the lubrication on the mirror damper mechanism is prone to dry out after a decade or so, which results in a sort of 'cough come screech' type noise when the shutter is pressed (sometimes known as Canon cough). This eventually gets worse and can result in damage occurring. The winding mechanism usually benefits from relubrication too, as you can get overlapping frames if things aren't running smoothly.

...and another problem is the mirror is slow to return (my extra problem with the A1 bought cheap at the bootie). It was a great camera in its time but don't use mine much as the T90 is far superior...anyway I oiled the mirror damping system myself rather than have a camera door stop and pay for it to be seviced, how to do it is on the net, also seals are easy to do yourself.
Anyway with money no problem and it was your dad's camera I can understand wanting it done by a Photographic engineeer...so just saying an alternative.