Took apart a Canon AE-1 at a diner in Cleveland and it clicked for me

I was stuck on a sticky shutter issue for weeks, then I sat down at Tommy's Diner with the body and a screwdriver while waiting for my club sandwich. Watching the mirror box mechanism work through the bottom plate while a waitress yelled 'Order up!' just made everything make sense. Has anyone else had a repair epiphany in a weird spot like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

keith9432d ago

Man, I used to be totally in that camp too (like, I thought anyone working on gear outside of a clean desk was just asking for trouble). But then I had a similar thing happen at a bus stop in Pittsburgh where I finally figured out a stuck mirror bumper on my old Pentax. There's something about the low stakes of a regular place that lets your hands just do the thing without overthinking it, you know? The noise and the distraction actually helped me calm down and stop forcing the mechanism. Plus, I found the tiny screw that dropped into a puddle of coffee grinds way faster than I ever would have on my boring grey work table.

olivia_anderson4d ago

Wait, is that really such a great idea taking apart a camera in a random diner though? I mean, losing a tiny screw or spring on a sticky floor or in some ketchup spill feels like a recipe for disaster, not a eureka moment.