Canon A-1 Meter Problems

[b.cipolla]

Hey guys

I recently inherited a Canon A-1 and have had some trouble with the meter. The shutter seems to be working fine and I have the the lever on the right is set on "A". The aperture ring is set on "A" as well. The meter seems to be stuck reading "60 F M" no matter what I set it to. When in aperture priority, the reading does not change no matter what aperture I set it to. When in shutter priority, the shutter speed on the meter does change to whatever speed I have the shutter priority set to, but only for shutter speeds slower than a 60th. I have noticed that when I took the lens off, the lever on the right inside the camera is stuck in the upward position, I read on a different site that it should be in the lower position. Could this be causing problems? Also I purchased two new batteries, but when I press the button on the top left to test the battery life, the light on the right only blinks once and then shuts off. I read that it should blink repeatedly when the battery life is good. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Chan Tran]

Hey guys

I recently inherited a Canon A-1 and have had some trouble with the meter. The shutter seems to be working fine and I have the the lever on the right is set on "A". The aperture ring is set on "A" as well. The meter seems to be stuck reading "60 F M" no matter what I set it to. When in aperture priority, the reading does not change no matter what aperture I set it to. When in shutter priority, the shutter speed on the meter does change to whatever speed I have the shutter priority set to, but only for shutter speeds slower than a 60th. I have noticed that when I took the lens off, the lever on the right inside the camera is stuck in the upward position, I read on a different site that it should be in the lower position. Could this be causing problems? Also I purchased two new batteries, but when I press the button on the top left to test the battery life, the light on the right only blinks once and then shuts off. I read that it should blink repeatedly when the battery life is good. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

It seems like your camera has battery problem but since you installed new battery. Can you check and see if your battery is still good. Sometimes the defective camera simply run down the battery quickly.

 

[asa64]

Sure hope you work this out. As a long-time Nikoniac I have had
my eyes [and mind] opened my by the accurate metering of the A-1
and the wonderful FD 50 mm. f1.4.

 

[benjiboy]

Hey guys

I recently inherited a Canon A-1 and have had some trouble with the meter. The shutter seems to be working fine and I have the the lever on the right is set on "A". The aperture ring is set on "A" as well. The meter seems to be stuck reading "60 F M" no matter what I set it to. When in aperture priority, the reading does not change no matter what aperture I set it to. When in shutter priority, the shutter speed on the meter does change to whatever speed I have the shutter priority set to, but only for shutter speeds slower than a 60th. I have noticed that when I took the lens off, the lever on the right inside the camera is stuck in the upward position, I read on a different site that it should be in the lower position. Could this be causing problems? Also I purchased two new batteries, but when I press the button on the top left to test the battery life, the light on the right only blinks once and then shuts off. I read that it should blink repeatedly when the battery life is good. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

You mention you bought two new batteries, the A1 only uses 1 PX28 6volt Silver Oxide battery, have you got the correct battery s ?

 

[b.cipolla]

You mention you bought two new batteries, the A1 only uses 1 PX28 6volt Silver Oxide battery, have you got the correct battery s ?

Sorry for the confusion. I realize that the A1 only uses one at a time. I tried each battery separately and got the same results. They are Varta V28PX silver 6.2V. I was told they would do they job. Could 6.2V be too high or is that negligible?

 

[benjiboy]

No if they are PX 28 they should be O.K . I suggest you read the book of rules here http://www.butkus.org/chinon/canon/canon_a-1/canon_a-1.htm
It occurs to me that on the A1 if you take the lens off the "A" auto exposure position the camera goes onto manual and to put it back onto auto exposure you need to put the lens back onto "A" and activate the multi-exposure lever below the film wind lever then wind the film, look in the instruction manual it will explain it.

 

[Andrew K]

its not a battery fault..

with the lens set to A and the camera on aperture priority (A) you need to set the working aperture on the dial on the top of the camer anear the shutter release lever.

From memory (it's been nearly 20 years since I repaired camera at Canon) if you press the battery check down and it blinks only once then its one of 2 things - a main IC fault, or if you are VERY lucky dirty contacts between one of the shutter flexes and the main PCB .. or it could be a broken track on the PCB..

I would first take the top cover off and see if anyting in the display changes...

if not, remove each of the flex connectors, clean the flexes and the pcb, and see what happens. Then try cleaning the 2 shutter switches and see if that works. It could also be the AM switch on the mirror box - only way to fix that is to remove the mirror box..

from what I understand you were concerned about the lever on the right being stuck up? this is the manualt aperture stop down lever - it is hinged so it can sit up - with the lens on A if it is activated then the aperture will be on f22..

Sorry I can't be of more help...its one of those things I could probably fix if I had it in my hands..but over the net ?????