Canon A-1 at curio shop near me... bite?

There is a Canon A-1 with motor drive, no lens, sitting in a curio shop near me.
it looks sharp and well kept, but I do not really know how to check shutter firing and such, as it is totally dependent of battery power, I think?

It is priced at 50 dollars, so worth taking a chance, at the risk of getting a messed up unit?
This strictly for home consumption.
I thought there was an A-1 mystic... any better than an AE-1 Program?
I have no clue on motor drives in general. Can these survive unused for a long time ?

Same place has a Balda Baldessa. Hmm...

i am being a bad dog!

A-1 with a motor drive? You bet! Worth a tumble. Take some batteries and give it a try or it will be "the one that got away"!

Check for the mirror sound. A-type cameras can develop that "cough" and show slow mirror movement. In that case I would refrain.

Kino said:

A-1 with a motor drive? You bet! Worth a tumble. Take some batteries and give it a try or it will be "the one that got away"!

Click to expand...

I like the Balda as well...

A-1 takes one LR44, i think?

Bring a PX28 battery for the camera and try it. Check the motor drive battery chamber. These motors are often found with leaking battery mess inside.

The A-1 came out in 1978 so some are already 42 years old. I don't think they can be repaired if the main board is not working. I have one working A-1 with the squeak and I will soon be sending it out for service. I don't care for the standard screen but I have a spare parts A-1 which has a grid screen. I will have that screen put into the working A-1 and then I will enjoy using it more. The screens for the A-1 are hard to find and are considered factory interchangeable rather than user interchangeable. I prefer the AE-1 Program of 1981. While it doesn't have all of the exposure modes of the A-1, it has user interchangeable screens. My AE-1 Program now has a plain matte screen installed but I have the standard screen and a grid screen for it too. The A-1 is both electronically and mechanically complex. Later cameras like the AF EOS models used menus rather than dials and switches for most functions. I find the A-1 particularly fiddly when using the depth of field review.

An A-1 or AE-1 Program might work for ten more years or it might stop working in ten minutes. That's the nature of early electronic cameras. In the hybrid/electronic Canon line I like and use the New F-1. If electronics fail then I can put my Canon lenses on F-1, F-1n, FTb, FTbN, TLb etc. Without knowing whether the A-1 and its accessories are working, I would try to get it for $25. If you do buy it and it's not working the way you would like, I would e interested in getting the battery pack for the motor drive or the pair.

Using old cameras can be fun but there's always the possibility that they will stop working. I even have a working Canon T70. How long will it work for? I don't know. I used two Canon F-1 (mechanical) cameras for 17years between overhauls. The oldest F-1 cameras will turn 50 next spring. Not many early electronic cameras will still be working or repairable when they are 50 years old. I like using Minolta X700 cameras but if I am ahootng anything important, I have a recently overhauled SRT camera as a back-up. Whatever you decide to do with the A-1, have some fun.

Make an offer. If not accepted, go for it anyway. $50 is near risk free. If it turns out it is broken, or otherwise not for you, you can flip on eBay (or Photrio) and most certainly get your $$s back, and maybe a bit more...

How much is the Baldessa?

Hawkeye said:

How much is the Baldessa?

Click to expand...

40 dolla'.. cute as a button.

Next to them is a Falcon!

As a side note:

dynachrome said:

I even have a working Canon T70. How long will it work for?

Click to expand...

I yet have to come across a T70 that does not work.
The worst fault I ever found at them was the screws for the bayonet ring being somewhat loose, a easy fix.

The most common problem I have seen with T70s is the battery door. I was lucky enough to find a bottom plate with a good battery door as a spare. The repairman did the switch but had to rebuild part of the bottom of the camera so it would fit. He would not agree to fix any other part of the camera. Over time, with many years of collecting and using, I have had fun with both electronic and mechanical cameras. As long as I am here to use them, the mechanical cameras will probably outlive the electronic ones.

AgX said:

Check for the mirror sound. A-type cameras can develop that "cough" and show slow mirror movement. In that case I would refrain.

Click to expand...

This is easy to repair. I can do it in 10 minutes or less.

dynachrome said:

An A-1 or AE-1 Program might work for ten more years or it might stop working in ten minutes. That's the nature of early electronic cameras.
.

Click to expand...

A-1 and AE-1P have very resilient electronics.

If they "fail", suspect corrosion of battery contacts or a dirty electromagnet. Easy things to solve. There's more chance for the curtain electromagnet to get dirty than to any electronics to fail.

The classic AE-1 and AT-1 use a tungten wire to link the meter to the dial, and this can break rendering metering inoperative. I've seen this happen many times. Happened to my AE-1 and happened to an AT-1 i was servicing.

This is a MECHANICAL FAILURE folks. (emphasis added).

dynachrome said:

In the hybrid/electronic Canon line I like and use the New F-1. If electronics fail

Click to expand...

The electronics on the New F-1 don't fail. They are deluxe grade and the circuit is coated to keep humidity away.

Do you think that Canon, a company that in 1965 got famous for its cutting edge electronic calculators, which were reliable, wouldn't have solved camera electronics reliabiloty problems by 1980, after selling millions of electronics A-series cameras?

There's a 100x probability of the (sophisiticated) shutter brakes showing some signs of failure than electronics failing.

And yes, the F-1N is prone to having dirt inside the meter movement so the needle doesn't move easily or stops moving. This isn't really "electronics failing".

Seriously, people, the New F-1 is a 1980 machine, camera electronics were already reliable in 1980, unless the camera maker want to cheapen out on the electronics; which isn't the case on the New F-1. It is the case on Nikon EM. Piece of ___ elecrtonics on the NIkon EM. So far out of 3 cameras I find out there, only 1 has the meter working as it should.

Update: I am betting that the A1 as described in the original post is still there on the shelf, in sleepy, out of the way shop.

I think I have the correct battery on hand, so I may give it another (powered) look.
On first visit, I did look at he winder battery (AA?) compartment and it was very clean.

jay moussy said:

Update: I am betting that the A1 as described in the original post is still there on the shelf, in sleepy, out of the way shop.

I think I have the correct battery on hand, so I may give it another (powered) look.
On first visit, I did look at he winder battery (AA?) compartment and it was very clean.

Click to expand...

For what it's worth, I've purchased two sleepy-shop, pig-in-a-poke 35mm SLRs: the Canon A1 was good to go after a wipe-down and a fresh battery; the (100% mechanical) Miranda turned out to be junk.