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The case of vanishing photographs.


Or you could get a CLA and then you would not need to fuss in cold weather.
 

I've been having the same problem with my Canon AE-1, and it was driving me nuts. Sometimes I would get 1 or 2 frames blank, other times I would get an entire remaining half of a 36 exp roll completely blank. It wasn't until I started shooting long exposures in bulb mode that I figured out the problem...

One day while shooting 2 second and longer exposures, after just 10 frames into the roll the shutter refused to stay open (using a cable release). I tried a few more frames in bulb mode, but the shutter would immediately snap shut at what sounded like a speed faster than 1/60th. I pressed the battery check button and it showed the battery was good. I rewound the rest of the film, opened the back of the camera, pointed the camera towards the light and fired the shutter. No light came through the lens opening...completely black. I noticed both first and second shutter curtains traveled across in sync, never leaving a gap to expose the film. Bad shutter. Off to Joe Careta for warranty servicing.
 
Or you could get a CLA and then you would not need to fuss in cold weather.


YUP - that would have been something to do - but when I was using this camera the farthest south I got was Churchill Manitoba for about 2 years and wasn't making enough money to even think about sending it away to the "Big Smoke" for a CLA etc. Funny thing about that camera - I put through about 6000 slides and probably about the same number of mostly color negatives in about a 10 year period - and other than that little issue with really cold weather the camera worked flawlessly for everything else. I still have the camera - but don't use it anymore - Have much better ones to use now - but it still remains a favorite for me.

Of course shooting a homemade 10" x 12" camera with a 16" barrel lens that came from a projector with homemade waterhouse stops set to F64 or F128 is what I consider to be fun now!! I suppose a little shutter issue probably wouldn't stop me from using this either and I would guess that my hat might have some problems working in that cold as well!! LOL

Perfect can be overrated sometimes!!

Seasons greeting to all!!
 
If one buys a used camera as a replacement it is essentially a pig in a poke. Whereas if you have the camera CLA'd then you will have a reliable camera again.
Totally agree. If you fix your damaged camera then you know that part will likely last a good while. If you trade it in for another you have no idea if that new camera is on it's last legs. I would get frustrated by this as I'd always be experiencing cameras breaking down and would never trust a used camera again. Your strategy would drive me to pinhole cameras.