EDIT: Don't do this. I had a serious problem later (see later posts).
Alcohol - the cure and source of all problems!
I have two Canon New F-1 cameras. One is the coveted 1984 edition, which works just fine, the other is a very battered camera, with a very dented AE prism. The camera looks like it fell down more than once, there is strong brassing around the sides and on the base, the AE viewfinder's light port (white opal plastic) is gone, the lens element at the ocular has deep scratches, probably from falling down. This camera belonged to a camera collector friend of mine and I overlooked it for years thinking it didn't work.
Until i found out that it worked fine, save for a meter needle that needed a "bump" to come alive. Thus I bought it.
Mechanically the shutter was fine, all speeds seemed to work fine including the 1/2000 speed, and the sound was Ok.
This camera i didn't use often. It sat on a shelf mostly. A few years passed and when I picked it up again, the shutter sound had changed and now it included a squeal. Not like the Canon A-series squeal, which is caused by a mirror governor, but a more brief and high pitched squeal.
Now, sometimes, say, 1 out of 10 trigger attempts, the sound was fine, without the squeal.
So long story short, I also found out that now the 1/2000 speed had uneven exposure at the left-hand side (looking from the film side), what looked like shutter bounce, capping or a malfunction of the curtain brakes. It's important to mention that the New F-1 has a very peculiar shutter brake (see pic).
More interestingly, sometimes the 1/2000 exposure was fine and this was coincident with those odd times the shutter didn't malke a squeal. Hmmm...
I exercised the shutter every day, through more than 7 days straight, yet no improvement at all.
I gave a thorough reading to the New F-1 service manual and, the amount of precision adjustments required to take apart and reassemble the camera is so high, I bet servicing a space shuttle is easier. Far more complex service than your regular run of the mill camera. FAR more complex than the original F-1 service manual! Taking out the mirror box and then re-syncing it again requires the removal of some levers and a set of precise steps to be able to re-attach it, for example. I think the good repairmen have all the right to charge good money on servicing these F-1N cameras.
Now,back to the story -- the "Lab Report" and "Strip Down Report" of Popular Photography, 1982, of the Canon F-1, mentions the extensive weather sealing EXCEPT for the meter -- they mention that dirt can get into the galvanometer.
Interestingly, this camera has a galvanometer problem -- it gets stuck until I bump it, then the meter needle jumps and shows the proper reading. Yes, the "strip down report" was right.
Now, where can outside dirt get into? Here was the "eureka" moment: The viewfinder positioning rails!!
They have two small (ca. 3mm) holes that, yes, aren't sealed at all. What's below the left-side hole? The galvanometer mechanism, which I already know is malfunctioning... What's below the right-side hole? The shutter curtain gears and the shutter brakes!! (see attached pic).
Eureka moment!!
So, if some times the shutter worked just fine at 1/2000 (no capping) and this was coincident with getting a normal shutter sound, maybe some debris had gotten inside the brake mechanism or something near it.
Since this was a machine i was about to relegate to the parts bin, I was ready to do experimentation.
So this is what I did. I used a medical syringe filled with "pure" (96°) medical grade alcohol, and inserted it through the aforementioned right-hand HOLE, positioning the camera sideways so I knew the liquid was going to fall to the shutter brakes. Of course i removed the batteries. But here are little electronics there, only the shutter dial switch (the camera CPU is located on the rewind-side of the body, behind the front standard)
I poured about 1mL of alcohol, and exercised the shutter. Another 1mL again, more exercise. Soon, the problem was gone! Shutter sound got back to normal. And the 1/2000 speed now doesn't show capping!! Now i'll have to check after some days if the problem is still there.
Before my fellow canonistas want to crucify me, I must stress that i was already going to relegate this camera to the parts bin, and that i would NEVER attempt to do these kind of "repairs" on my sacred 1984 edition F-1N, a camera which is only slightly less important that my daughter. And I know what you're going to say: Why not taking out the top wind-side camera plate? Yes, that's what I should have done, and that's what i'll do if the problem gets back. This involves removing the black cap at the center of the shutter dial without scratching it, and removing the shutter button without losing the small bearing ball that positions the shutter lock, so not as easy as it seems.
But it was a nice "cheap and dirty" pseudo-repair... The kind of thing one could use in the field as an emergency measure!
I'll report how the camera behaves in the next days.
Alcohol - the cure and source of all problems!
I have two Canon New F-1 cameras. One is the coveted 1984 edition, which works just fine, the other is a very battered camera, with a very dented AE prism. The camera looks like it fell down more than once, there is strong brassing around the sides and on the base, the AE viewfinder's light port (white opal plastic) is gone, the lens element at the ocular has deep scratches, probably from falling down. This camera belonged to a camera collector friend of mine and I overlooked it for years thinking it didn't work.
Until i found out that it worked fine, save for a meter needle that needed a "bump" to come alive. Thus I bought it.
Mechanically the shutter was fine, all speeds seemed to work fine including the 1/2000 speed, and the sound was Ok.
This camera i didn't use often. It sat on a shelf mostly. A few years passed and when I picked it up again, the shutter sound had changed and now it included a squeal. Not like the Canon A-series squeal, which is caused by a mirror governor, but a more brief and high pitched squeal.
Now, sometimes, say, 1 out of 10 trigger attempts, the sound was fine, without the squeal.
So long story short, I also found out that now the 1/2000 speed had uneven exposure at the left-hand side (looking from the film side), what looked like shutter bounce, capping or a malfunction of the curtain brakes. It's important to mention that the New F-1 has a very peculiar shutter brake (see pic).
More interestingly, sometimes the 1/2000 exposure was fine and this was coincident with those odd times the shutter didn't malke a squeal. Hmmm...
I exercised the shutter every day, through more than 7 days straight, yet no improvement at all.
I gave a thorough reading to the New F-1 service manual and, the amount of precision adjustments required to take apart and reassemble the camera is so high, I bet servicing a space shuttle is easier. Far more complex service than your regular run of the mill camera. FAR more complex than the original F-1 service manual! Taking out the mirror box and then re-syncing it again requires the removal of some levers and a set of precise steps to be able to re-attach it, for example. I think the good repairmen have all the right to charge good money on servicing these F-1N cameras.
Now,back to the story -- the "Lab Report" and "Strip Down Report" of Popular Photography, 1982, of the Canon F-1, mentions the extensive weather sealing EXCEPT for the meter -- they mention that dirt can get into the galvanometer.
Interestingly, this camera has a galvanometer problem -- it gets stuck until I bump it, then the meter needle jumps and shows the proper reading. Yes, the "strip down report" was right.
Now, where can outside dirt get into? Here was the "eureka" moment: The viewfinder positioning rails!!
They have two small (ca. 3mm) holes that, yes, aren't sealed at all. What's below the left-side hole? The galvanometer mechanism, which I already know is malfunctioning... What's below the right-side hole? The shutter curtain gears and the shutter brakes!! (see attached pic).
Eureka moment!!
So, if some times the shutter worked just fine at 1/2000 (no capping) and this was coincident with getting a normal shutter sound, maybe some debris had gotten inside the brake mechanism or something near it.
Since this was a machine i was about to relegate to the parts bin, I was ready to do experimentation.
So this is what I did. I used a medical syringe filled with "pure" (96°) medical grade alcohol, and inserted it through the aforementioned right-hand HOLE, positioning the camera sideways so I knew the liquid was going to fall to the shutter brakes. Of course i removed the batteries. But here are little electronics there, only the shutter dial switch (the camera CPU is located on the rewind-side of the body, behind the front standard)
I poured about 1mL of alcohol, and exercised the shutter. Another 1mL again, more exercise. Soon, the problem was gone! Shutter sound got back to normal. And the 1/2000 speed now doesn't show capping!! Now i'll have to check after some days if the problem is still there.
Before my fellow canonistas want to crucify me, I must stress that i was already going to relegate this camera to the parts bin, and that i would NEVER attempt to do these kind of "repairs" on my sacred 1984 edition F-1N, a camera which is only slightly less important that my daughter. And I know what you're going to say: Why not taking out the top wind-side camera plate? Yes, that's what I should have done, and that's what i'll do if the problem gets back. This involves removing the black cap at the center of the shutter dial without scratching it, and removing the shutter button without losing the small bearing ball that positions the shutter lock, so not as easy as it seems.
But it was a nice "cheap and dirty" pseudo-repair... The kind of thing one could use in the field as an emergency measure!
I'll report how the camera behaves in the next days.
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