Tag: Photography

Canon EOS 5D MkII

My second chance at reviving a DSLR from 2008, the Canon EOS 5D MkII. Will I have a little more success with this one?

I’ve been approached by an old colleague who used to be a syndicated sports photographer, he had a number of items he wanted to “get rid off” as they were just taking up space in his new house. “Would you be interested?” You betcha, so as a result I’m now the owner of a complete Bowens lighting system, two Canon EOS 1D MkIV cameras and a Canon EOS 5D MkII camera.

Lighting
Lighting
Cameras
Lights, cameras – now need some action!

My days of fussing and farting about with lighting rigs has now long passed, so I know a youngster starting out in the world who is a very talented young fellah, I have donated this equipment to him and he will certainly have a use for this lighting setup. He has been approached and accepted the offer, I think he is quite happy with his new acquisition, here’s hoping his talents continue to flourish.

However the cameras are mine as no one wants this old stuff anymore 😂

This post focuses on the repair of the Canon 5D MKII, the repair of the EOS 1D MKIVs can be found here: Canon EOS 1D MkIV There is also a link to my first attempt at a Canon EOS 5D Mk2 and here is the actual assessment of that camera and the issues experienced with it Canon EOS 5D MK2 assessment and repair, I failed with this repair due to it having sensor issues, so sold it on at a small profit, i’m hopeful that this new attempt at the 5D will bring better results.

The Canon EOS 5D MkII

Let’s hope this camera acquisition comes with a better outcome. Whereas the other two 1D cameras i received in this package have required me to to purchase a new battery and charger, I do already have a number of LP-E6 batteries and a charger in my possession, so there is no initial outlay required to test this camera. We are off to a good start here and should be easily able to diagnose any issues fairly quickly.

Anyway, before we assess the camera, here is a little bit about the Canon EOS 5D MkII.

The Canon EOS 5D Mark II is a 21.0 effective megapixel full-frame CMOS digital single-lens reflex camera made by Canon, the first Canon EOS camera to have video recording capabilities. It succeeds the EOS 5D and was announced on 17 September 2008.

On 2 March 2012, Canon announced the camera’s successor, the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. On 24 December 2012, Canon Japan moved the camera to their “Old Products” list, effectively discontinuing the camera.

The Canon EOS 5D Mark II is a full-frame camera and requires Canon EF-mount lenses. It is not compatible with EF-S lenses (which are for APS-C crop sensors).

Features:

  • 21.0 megapixels (5,616 × 3,744 pixels), compared to 12.8 megapixels (4,368 × 2,912 pixels).
  • DIGIC 4 image processor, compared to DIGIC II.
  • 100 to 6400 ISO (expandable to L (50), H1 (12800), H2 (25600)), compared to 100 to 1600 (expandable to L (50), H (3200)).
  • 3.9 frames per second continuous shooting (78 JPEG or 13 Raw in a single burst), compared to 3 frame/s (60 JPEG or 17 Raw).
  • Small Raw modes: sRAW1 mode (10 megapixel/3861 × 2574 pixels), sRAW2 mode (5.2 megapixel/2784 × 1856 pixels).
  • 98% viewfinder coverage with 0.71× magnification, compared to 96% coverage.
  • Larger 3.0-inch (76 mm) LCD with 920,000 pixels, compared to 2.5-inch (64 mm).
  • 1800 mAh LP-E6 battery, compared to 1390 mAh BP-511A.

New features

  • Movie recording full HD at 1920 × 1080 and SDTV at 640 × 480 resolution.
  • Monaural microphone for audio during video recording, speaker for playback and microphone jack for external stereo microphone
  • Live preview with ExpSim LV “exposure simulation” live preview (full exposure preview control utilizing ExpSim LV, a first for video in a DSLR)
  • Live preview with contrast-detect autofocus
  • HDMI video output for live preview or playing clips and images on an external monitor via Type C MiniHDMI port
  • Dust reduction system to perform automatic sensor cleaning
  • Battery management software

Key Lifespan Factors:

  • Shutter Rating: 150,000, though this is considered conservative by users.
  • Real-world usage: Many cameras show failure rates increasing closer to the 100,000–150,000 range, but many exceed it significantly.
  • Longevity: Some, though rare, individual cameras have recorded over 2 million shots.
  • Repairability: The shutter mechanism can be replaced if it fails, which may extend the camera’s life further.
  • Component failure: Other parts, such as the power board or rubber grips, may fail before the shutter. 

Common Issues:

  • Rubber grips: Rubber grips can become loose over time.
  • Button/Dial functionality: Buttons and dials may wear out over long periods of use.
  • Sensor maintenance: Regular sensor cleaning is needed to maintain performance. 

The 5D Mark II is the first camera in the EOS line to provide video recording functions. Still photography during video recording is possible, but the camera suspends recording video until the final still frame is captured.

The lithium-ion battery for the 5D Mark II (LP-E6) has an 1800 mAh capacity. Each battery contains a microchip with a unique identifier for reporting charge status and battery health for display on the camera. The 5D Mark II’s “Battery Info” screen can track battery health and shooting history for up to six LP-E6 batteries.

The camera has native ISO values of 100 multiplied by a power of 2; other ISO values are obtained by a digital exposure push (ISO values that are multiples of 125) or digital exposure pull (ISO values that are multiples of 160). The digital exposure push ISO is 1/3 stop greater than the native ISO, and a digital exposure pull ISO is 1/3 stop less than the native ISO. The digital exposure push ISO settings produce more noise than the native settings with a reduced dynamic range, and the digital exposure pull ISO settings produce less noise than the native settings.

Wikipedia

Assessment:

The camera has arrived and here are my first thoughts. But first some pictures.

Canon Eos 5D MkII

Just holding the camera and looking around it, you can see it has been well used over the last eighteen years. There are chips and scuffs, but nothing excessive, and certainly no “hard” dents that would indicate it has been dropped at anytime. The top LCD panel has a scuff on it, but this doesn’t stop any information being read.

Scuff on top screen
Scuffing on pentaprism
Scuffing on battery housing
Scuffing on base under lens mount
Battery contacts clean
Rubber cover missing on base

The battery contacts are clean and there is just a small rubber cover missing on a connection that is on the base of the camera. All switches and buttons appear to operate as intended, everything is there and the exterior appears to be used, but in a good condition.

The lens barrel appears to be clean, the mirror and focus screen have a little dust and dirt on them however this is an easy clean. The shutter is closed underneath the mirror ensuring the sensor stays isolated from the outside world. I won’t be able to check how this is until I have a battery installed.

Lens barrel a bit dusty
Some dust on the focus screen

Batteries. As I have stated above I do have compatible batteries for this camera. This camera has a battery management system installed that communicates with the original “Canon” batteries that report back on their charge status amongst other information. However my batteries are not Canon originals and are in fact third party ones that don’t have the ability to communicate as original batteries would. That said, they are more than capable and usable. I just know that the very second I put the battery in and turn the camera on, it will show some kind of battery communication error on the rear screen. It’s ok though as we can opt to ignore that warning, click ok, and just get on with things, with no issues to the general operation of the camera.

As expected
No issues

Let’s do a little digging around. I’ve downloaded a little program that appears to be quite popular, to try and find exactly how many times the camera shutter has been activated in its lifetime, (still photo count – not including video). Here is that count.

243,487 shutter activations…wow!

I guessed the count would be high as it was the previous camera of a syndicated sports photographer, I just wasn’t quite expecting this high. But who am I to complain when I have received this camera for free. if you read the camera specs in the paragraphs above, the expected lifespan of the shutter is around 150,000 actuations, however the photographic community tends to question this figure. Some cameras have gone into the millions with shutter counts, however this one will plod on with me on much lower figures, if I get it working. I don’t know its service history, it’s a rugged built heavy use camera, that will go on for years if looked after properly. And that’s what I intend to do with it.

Another piece of information that can be obtained from the piece of software above is the firmware version. The current installed version is 2.0.7 and that was installed sometime in 2010. The latest and last version is 2.1.2 that was released in 2012. I will attempt to update this cameras version of firmware to the final updated one.

I think I’ve had a good assessment with this camera, I know what needs looking at so let’s get on with giving it a little TLC to ensure it will go on working for a few thousand more shutter actuations, I’ve got to try and get this camera to the 1/4 million mark at least!

Repair:

The first thing I want to do, is to look into why, when you input a date into the camera, the information disappears as soon as the camera is turned off and turned on again? This is a simple issue, easily located and soon rectified. These cameras normally have an additional battery buried somewhere in the camera that acts like a cmos battery in a computer. It simply supplies a small charge that maintains dates and program settings when the camera is an a sleep mode, instantly reinstating the correct information when the camera is switched on again.

And this camera is no different.

A single coin cell CR1616 battery is what does the job in this camera, its life span is usually around five years. So let’s check this one out as I suspect it has failed. It is located on the bottom of the camera on the opposite side of the main battery chamber, below two rubber accessory panels.

Coin battery access
Remove one screw, the coin holder can then be removed
The coin cell holder

The CR1616 battery is a 3v lithium coin cell. Using a multimeter I was able to confirm that this one was well and truly depleted as it was only holding a charge of 99.3mV. The new battery cell was holding a much more acceptable charge of 3.3V.

Old and new battery voltages

With the new coin battery in place, I’ll reset the date values and test that the battery is doing its job, by powering the unit up and down a few times.

That appears to have worked

As you can see in the picture above, I’ve managed to update the settings, and when the unit is shut down and restarted the information remains. Hence the new clock/cmos battery is working fine.

Next let’s try to update the firmware to the latest release. This small video below shows how easy this task can be. This particular file in the video is for an earlier, older update, however the principle is exactly the same for all camera updates with Canon.

Updating firmware on a Canon Eos5D MkII

Following the recommendations in the video above I have downloaded the latest firmware update file and extracted its content to the freshly formatted CF card for the camera.

It’s thinking about it….

The whole process was followed exactly as laid down in the instruction video, and it went as expected. The update was successful.

Firmware update, before and after

The camera is now correctly updated to the most recent firmware. I can now progress to doing some final checks in the lens barrel area prior to moving on and checking the functionality of the camera with a lens in place.

The mirror bumper felt is in good condition and does not need replacement. I have blown out the barrel and inspected the sensor and that is clean and needs no attention.

Final touch is that I have printed off a cover for the hotshoe flash holder.

Printed hotshoe cover

Time to get the battery installed in the camera, along with a formatted CF card, and I’ve also put a stock 28-80 EF lens on the front to test. And here are some of those pictures taken to test, just around my garden.

Rhododendron
Venus fly trap
Back porch
Garden ornament
The wife’s solar houses
A dying magnolia

And I am so damned impressed. It’s only a basic lens but the tonal quality, sharpness and colour has really shone through. The camera has worked perfectly, I’ve used it in auto mode, shutter priority and aperture priority and all works fine. When I use the video mode, all is fine but the basic lens when you telescope, can be heard throughout the video, not really an issue just an observation, hence why people invest in the higher end optics. For testing purposes though, this lens has performed perfectly. I’d be more than happy to venture out for a picture session with this setup.

Every setting on this camera has been tested and it has passed with flying colours. My job here is done.

Result:

A far better result than my last attempt on this specific type of camera. This time around the sensor has performed perfectly and remains in good order, hopefully for quite a time yet. It would be good to see it go through the 250,000 exposures count, and seeing that it’s only about 6,600 exposures away I don’t foresee it being a hard to achieve target. I’m going to get some good use out of this camera, I’m currently looking at taking it to a local nature reserve to see what can be photographed. I’m quite looking forward to that.

The finished camera in all its loveliness

A final polish and this project can now be put to bed. Onto the next one.

Many thanks for passing by, it’s always very much appreciated.

A bit of Black and white

Just a few black and white pictures, taken whilst testing various cameras I’ve been working on recently. Just snaps, don’t get too excited.

Just a few pictures taken recently on various cameras I’m testing out. Nothing special, just mooching around and taking snaps.

Just a few test shots of old cameras

All around the Leicester / Melton Mowbray area.

Have a great day.

Canon Snappy 50 automatic 35mm camera

A compact Canon 35mm camera from 1982. It doesn’t work, so let’s make it work!

What the listing stated:

In generally good condition but does not power up
Sold as spares or repair

EBay

Canon snappy 50

I came across one of these a few weeks back and was just taken by the shape and aesthetics of it. However i wasn’t going to pay a high price demanded by the seller, so i just hung around and waited for others to come on the market. I have just purchased this camera with free postage for a total of £1:13GBP. I’m confused, the seller will basically be paying me to take it off his hands as postage will be at least twice the value of what I have paid today. Let’s wait and see if this sale gets suddenly cancelled, as I suspect it may well do.

Anyway here’s a little bit of its history:

Released in July 1982 and based on a new concept, this is a fully automatic 35mm Lens-Shutter compact camera.

The camera height was reduced by about 30 percent, giving the camera an oblong and unique form.

The camera uses active autofocus with a solid-state near-infrared beam. EE and the aperture are controlled electronically with a program. Metering range is EV 8.6 (f/3.5 at 1/30 sec.) to EV 15 (f/9.5 at 1/350 sec.). The shutter speed is set within a range of 1/20 sec. to 1/500 sec. to suit the film speed.

There is only two film speed settings. ISO/ASA of 100 or 400.

The built-in flash (Guide No. 11 at ISO 100 in m) must be turned on manually with a switch when the camera-shake warning lamp lights in the viewfinder.

Canon

I’ll just wait now to see if it turns up. I don’t know what the problem with it is, it’s just listed as a power up problem.

Well I’m shocked, I’ve received a postage notification so it is definitely on its way. Next stop…Assessment.

Assessment:

Well, it arrived, I’m shocked. It’s got to be one of the best packaged items I’ve ever received, never have I seen so much bubble wrap protecting an item that cost just £1:13GBP.

My Canon snappy 50

On top of that the sender has spent £3:45GBP on postage and charged me nothing. God I feel guilty now, least I can do is give him some glowing feedback.

Wow – And I paid nothing

Right, back to the camera. For a 44 year old camera it really is in beautiful cosmetic condition and needs nothing but a slight dusting to finish it off. But first I put in two AA batteries and can confirm it is dead. No life at all. Also, the film door is flapping about (So there was another issue!). I’m going to have to get inside this unit to see what is wrong. To be honest the unit is such a basic one, I suspect there isn’t a lot that can go wrong with it.

Repair:

The film door issue is a simple one, and if I didn’t have a ton of spare parts spread around the place, I’d be quite annoyed to say the least. It would have been either a case of making a new catch for the door or building some Heath Robinson contraption to secure the door, looking completely out of place. However, I just so happen to have a complete rear door for one of these cameras so hopefully it should be a simple swap out of parts.

Broken door catch
Replacement door with catch

But before I do this simple replacement, I need to get the top and bottom off of the camera to check where the electrical issues lie.

Taking the bottom off of the camera, the problem presents itself quite clearly. At the bottom of the battery chamber the negative wire has detached and needs soldering back into place.

Negative wore detached from battery chamber

I put the base back on and put two batteries into the chamber and the rewind motor instantly kicks in. We now have power. The shutter works and the winder motor operates as it should. When the rewind button is depressed the rewind motor kicks in as well, all seems to be good…..until!

The live supply to the flash was detached

I try the flash, and nothing. Not even the usual sound of the flash capacitor charging. Damn, I hope that capacitor isn’t dead! So now I have the top off of the camera and another problem presents itself just as clearly as the first. Not a problem here as I need the top off to replace the rear door.

Rear door hinge removed and replaced

The live supply to the flash had broken loose and this also needed re soldering, in fact I re soldered about eight wires in total as it seemed that the solder joints in these critical areas could possibly be fairly. They may not be failing, but whilst I’m inside why not just do this simple task to prevent anymore premature failings?

Batteries back in, flash turned on (it’s manual on this camera) and the check light illuminates. This camera is now fully operational.

Flash check light now illuminates

Result:

I’ve had a fairly simple repair here with some soldering and luckily, some spare parts available. These cameras are quite tricky to repair due to their compact build. Normally when you detach one part you have tiny springs and other parts that fly out, leaving you with a head scratching puzzle to add to your issues. However having dealt with these cameras in the past and having learned my lesson previously, I was very careful and took my time ensuring nothing occurred that would cause me any issues further along in this fix. I also open these cameras in a box, so if anything does fly out, it doesn’t fall onto a carpet disappearing into the pile, it just falls into the box, saving me the embarrassment of looking for a tiny piece of camera, that could be just about anywhere on the floor of that room. You learn from previous mistakes, I have, and i now have procedures in place to prevent such issues happening again.

All cleaned up and working
And neatly cased

We now have a lovely example of compact 35mm photography, rejuvenated, repaired and ready to get back to doing what it was designed for, creating memories.

And long may that last, another one saved from landfill, repaired, recycled and now with many more years of purpose.

Many thanks for passing by 🙏

Photographic light sensors in older point and shoot cameras

A little explanation of the differences between the light sensors of two vintage point and shoot cameras produced 12 years apart

I’ve recently purchased two old point and shoot cameras as a lot. One was from 1960 and the other one was from 1972 only 12 years apart, but a world away in technology regarding light sensing ability and technology.

Yashica 35 ME & Ricoh Auto 35

These two cameras only cost me £4:99 In total, they were sold as spare parts, and I suspect the issues could be around the light metering, as to be honest there isn’t a great deal else that could go wrong with them. Here’s a quick breakdown of the metering methods on each camera, followed by a more complex explanation around just what each method of metering involves.

Ricoh Auto 35 – Circa 1960

The older camera, the Ricoh, dates from 1960 and just by looking at it, you can see its light sensing system is built around the face of the lens barrel, it’s that glass honeycomb concoction that is so typical of a number of cameras and light meters of this period. Here is a post I previously made regarding Selenium light meters – (Sangamo Weston Master V light meter) The meters were known as selenium meters, there was no electrical components such as batteries, it was a little bit of scientific magic, here we go with a little explanation….

How the Selenium Cell Works in This Camera:

A selenium light cell operates on the photovoltaic effect (similar principle to modern solar panels):

The cell contains a thin layer of selenium coated onto a metal base. A very thin transparent conductive layer (often gold or another metal) is placed on top. When light hits the selenium, it generates a small electrical current. That current directly drives a tiny moving-coil meter needle.

The honeycomb ring is the selenium cell, light hitting it generates a small electrical current of approximately 0.5v. That current directly moves a needle inside the camera, the needle mechanically links to the exposure system. On the Auto 35, the meter is coupled to the shutter/aperture system, meaning that in “Auto” mode, it helps set exposure automatically. In manual mode, you match the indicator.

No battery is used — it is entirely self-powered by light.

Expected life span:

The Ricoh’s selenium cell is now about 60+ years old, so condition varies.

Typical selenium lifespan:

Originally: ~20–30 years

Many survive 40+ years

After 60 years: often weak or dead, this one probably is

Common Conditions Today:

✅ Still accurate (rare but possible)

⚠️ Works but underexposes 1–2 stops

❌ Needle barely moves or is dead

They usually fade gradually rather than fail suddenly.

So that gives an idea of how 1960s light metering works, and to be quite honest it probably means that as this camera is now over 60 years old the metering cell is long dead. It does not mean the camera is useless though, it can be used manually using a third party light meter or you can always use the “Sunny 16” rule.

Yashica 35 ME – Circa 1972

Now moving on 12 years to 1972 and the selenium meters have now gone only to be replaced by the CdS system- Cadmium Sulfide sensor, otherwise known as an electrical photocell. The sensor can be seen at the top of the lens ring, a little glass bubble. The downside with these sensors are that they contained Cadmium which is a toxin, replacements are no longer available so modern cameras use photo diodes instead. Here’s the explanation of CdS technology:

Unlike selenium (which generates electricity), CdS works by changing resistance:

In bright light → resistance drops

In dim light → resistance rises

The camera contains:

A CdS photoresistor, A battery, A small electronic circuit, A meter or automatic exposure mechanism

The battery sends current through the CdS cell.

Light changes the resistance, which changes the current.

That signal controls the exposure system, and a 1.3v battery cell is required to power the meter.

Why CdS Was an Improvement:

Compared to selenium cells, the CdS photocell was much better in low light, it was smaller, more accurate and required a battery that could be replaced to extend life whereas the selenium cell in time would naturally just die away.

CdS cells generally last a very long time — often decades — and usually outlast selenium meters.

Hopefully this gives an explanation regarding the two types of metering sensors that were present between the 60s and 70s. It is always worth considering when purchasing such cameras that the light meters may not, and will probably never work again, the camera itself is probably fine, you’ll just have to find other ways to ensure your lighting conditions are sufficient, and that really is no big issue, it’s easy and second nature to most camera users. As stated earlier just use the “Sunny 16” rule. Just enjoy your photography, experimentation is half the fun.

Reviews on these cameras will be following soon.

Thank you for passing by, it’s always appreciated.

Random acts of Cameraness

House sale collapse and expectations, and some random photographic chuff

Just invented that word, I think.

Lately there’s not been a great deal to write about. Our continuing saga regarding the house sale that has been going on since August this year, has had the chain collapse yet again for the third time. Not our end but lower down the chain. It’s a pain in the ass, the whole system of selling in this country is crap, it’s poor and only allows the legal people a way to squeeze more money out of you. Meanwhile we have a load of stuff in storage, and guess what? Every thing you need is now in that storage about 15 miles away. Damn it.

Hey ho, the house went back up on sale for the fourth time last Tuesday, we had five viewings on Wednesday and four offers on Thursday, it was sold on Friday. Wow that’s quick, but you watch it slow down from here on in, it will believe me.

Meanwhile here are a few pictures taken recently on multiple media types, just to fill some space.

Some random acts of cameraness

Have a happy day, behave yourself and stay happy.

Canon EOS 7D

Can I get this classic EOS 7D operational again? It has damaged card reader pins.

I received this camera from a good friend who is a professional photographer, a few weeks back in a bundle of cameras and photographic equipment he no longer uses, he has kindly donated them to me to get working again. You can see that post, and just what was donated here: Cameras…i need more!

Canon EOS 7D

I’m in a situation where I don’t have my repair gear with me at the moment, as it is all packed and in storage awaiting our impending house move. Hence the reason I am racking up a whole load of draft posts that I can’t complete until I have my workspace back in use. Therefore any work I can do is severely restricted to inspection, cleaning and preparation with the only maintenance being attempted on the outside of the camera.

Let’s have a brief history on the Canon EOS 7D:

The Canon EOS 7D is a high-end APS-Cdigital single-lens reflex camera made by Canon. It was announced on 1 September 2009 with a suggested retail price of US$1,699, and was marketed as a semi-professional DSLR camera.

Among its features are an 18.0 effective megapixel CMOS sensor, Full HD video recording, its 8.0 frames per second continuous shooting, new viewfinder which offers 1.0X magnification and 100% coverage, 19-point auto-focus system, movie mode, and built-in Speedlite transmitter.

The EOS 7D remained in Canon’s single-digit APS-C model lineup without replacement for slightly more than five years—the longest product cycle for any EOS digital camera. Its successor was the Canon EOS 7D Mark II, announced on 15 September 2014.

Wikipedia

Structurally and cosmetically this is a beautiful camera in very good condition. However it would not have been donated to me unless it had problems. Let’s now put my detective hat on and go looking for clues.

Assessment:

As stated earlier, cosmetically there is nothing at all wrong with this camera, it even has the plastic screen cover in place. Mirror looks clean and curtain looks fine no issues here. All electrical contacts such as HDMI are in good condition with no visible damage to the ports.

Everything is fine, cosmetically, externally.

One last place to check and I now believe this is where the problem lies. This is the CF card door, and when opened it reveals one possible big issue.

Bent pins

Bent pins on the CF card reader. These pins are quite small and only millimetres in diameter, in a very restricted space about 8 cms deep and 6cm in width, it really is quite a small aperture. There are two options here, one I try to gently coax these pins back into place with a fine point tool, however the pins are minuscule, and brittle and prone to breaking. I can see potentially 7 pins that are out of position, not an easy or expedient option. But I’ll have to give it a go. Option two is to purchase a new CF card reader replacement, this option carries some expense and quite a complex dismantling of the camera to achieve said replacement. Needless to say I will initially attempt the pin bending procedure. Pending on success or failure, i could venture into step two. Read on to see what occurs.

Repair:

With a fine point set of tweezers, I’ve decided to have the first attempt at seeing if I can straighten the pins. Using a bright LED torch I angle the beam slightly so I get a bit of shadow on the pins, and this allows me to see how many are bent. I can see seven pins in total that are bent, and two of these seem as if they have been forced down to about half their height. This is quite normal when people go in a bit heavy with the CF card, if these pins go down too far there is no option but to go inside the camera and push them out from inside, or replace the card reader completely. I kind of hope that I have been able to pull them out far enough for them to work. I won’t know though until I get the CF card and batteries out of storage.

The camera in question

I’ve spent about an hour, bright lights, little subject matter, and now have very tired eyes. I’ve been breathing slowly just like a surgeon heading into a part of an operation that requires the utmost concentration, and precise and very delicate movements. I think I’ve done a good job. Only testing will tell.

LED light and some fine tweezers
Pins straightened as best as can be externally

Speaking with my friend Jon, who this camera came from, he has stated that he rather foolishly lent this camera to a ham fisted colleague who hammered the card into the camera, causing the issues that I am dealing with today.

If we have to open up the camera, I will probably be looking at about 3 hours of work, as there is an awful lot of dismantling that has to occur, and I believe there are around 30 screws to remove just to get under the skin of this camera. It’s built like a brick, weighs about the same and is just packed with electronics.

Fingers crossed 🤞 let’s hope option number one has been successful.

Well, today I went to the lock up and dug out a small 2GB CF card and the two Canon batteries and a charger. I came home and Put the batteries in that surprisingly still held a little charge, sufficient to turn the camera on. I gently inserted the CF card only for the following message to appear on the screen, “Card cannot be accessed. Reinsert/change the card or format card with camera.” Aww shucks I thought, it hadn’t worked. I tried to format the card and the format failed, at this point I thought the pin maintenance had not worked. Damn. I was a tad annoyed.

CF card being installed

So I removed the card and checked the pins, they were ok. I reinserted the card and the same fault appeared, however this time when the option came up to format the card it worked. I was so shocked I tried it again and forced another format, again it worked!

Right it was now time to get a lens on the front and test the camera to check to see if it would write to the card, it’s only a stock lens, nothing special but absolutely fine for testing purposes. Just walking around the house I put the unit into auto, the flash popped up and I proceeded to rattle off a few random shots. And it worked, the results all came up on the rear screen.

Random shot 1
Random shot 2
Random shot 3

To say I was pleased at this is an absolute understatement. The work on the pins has worked and I now have a perfectly well working example of quite a top end camera. There’s no doubt that in the future the camera will require a replacement card reader, but for the moment it’s been given a new lease of life, and whilst I remember to be gentle with the removal and placement of the CF card, let’s just enjoy the camera and its capabilities until that time comes. In the meantime here are just a few, “Randoms” taken to test the card and camera in and around my home.

Just a few random test shots. It works.

Result:

You little beauty
A perfectly fine working unit

Time to give this camera a little buff up. (Clean)

This unit only appears to have taken 1,860 pictures. It is completely unused, and in perfect condition. And it now works. To be honest I feel more confident with this camera than I do with the mirrorless Sony that my wife purchased for my birthday. This was going to become my number two camera, however it’s just been promoted to my number one, as long as that card pin issue and repair holds up, and I have no reason to doubt that it should be a long time before any issues arise. I am confident that my repair has longevity as they say.

I want to give it a good test in daylight conditions in all modes rather than auto. I want to get a bigger CF card maybe a couple of 8GB ones, I don’t see the point in going for the bigger cards just in case there is a read/write issue in the future. It’s just an OCD thing for me, you know what I’m like.

So overall I’m really quite happy and satisfied with this camera. Of all the cameras I was gifted by my good friend Jon, all have been repaired apart from one that was beyond economic repair, even that has been broken down into it component parts, every screw recovered and will be used for spare parts. Nothing, and I mean nothing has been disposed of from this collection of cameras and accessories.

That’s what I do, I don’t waste anything. Ask the wife!

Many thanks for passing by, it’s always very much appreciated.

Olympus OM10

Always liked and wanted an Olympus OM10. 46 years later I now have one. Of course, it needed repair.

Much to the wife’s annoyance, and because I was feeling a little low and in need of some retail therapy, I’ve purchased this lovely little camera from the Barnardos charity. It looks like it’s been stored in a full Hoover bag, it is so dusty. It has a few dents and dinks, this one is going to be a challenge. I like challenges. I’ve paid the grand total of £17:67GBP for the camera and the standard Zuiko 50MM F1.8 Lens. I think that is an excellent price.

These cameras were produced between 1979 and 1987. I’m hoping I’ll be able to date this actual camera more accurately when I receive it.

This is what the original listing stated:

This listing is for a vintage Olympus OM-10 35mm Single-Lens Reflex (SLR) film camera, bundled with a Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 lens and a leather neck strap. This is a single bundle containing the camera body, lens, and strap, ideal for collectors or film photography enthusiasts.

UNTESTED. This sale is for spares/repairs. There are some marks and cosmetic imperfections. Please see images for more detail.

The standard untested post from the auction sites, but I’m not really bothered to be honest. It’s a charity, and I’m happy to pay for these items as the charity always benefits, and that’s all that matters to be honest.

I have some history around this camera and whenever I see one I think of Bruce Springsteen and here’s why.

1984, Bruce released this Album

Born in the USA was released in 1984, so I can kind of pinpoint the first time I’d ever really heard him, courtesy of my friend David K, when I used to live in a small town in Hertfordshire called Bushey. David had been a school friend, we were now in our mid to late teens, he was working in a restaurant whilst I was in a photographic lab. He introduced Bruce to me and for many months after he first purchased that album, we played it non stop and knew it off by heart, beat for beat, and word for word, we were totally smitten with it. It was the Bruce effect. At this time i would have been about 18-19 years old, and had a very basic Russian Zenit camera, it took some great photos. However, David had recently had a bonus payment at work and purchased himself the Olympus OM10. I was envious, who wouldn’t be? What a camera and this is where it all ties in with our hobby, we loved photography and used to always discuss it with Bruce in the background singing his heart out. It all ties in now, fantastic memories, and a single camera can bring back these memories. Amazing isn’t it?

Anyway here’s some pictures where you can see the amount of dirt, and what looks like some bumps on the outer edge of the lens.

Nice camera, few dinks and dents, and a lot of dirt

Here’s some information regarding this camera:

The OM10 was the first consumer OM series body. Launched in 1979 it accepted the full line of OM lenses and most of the OM accessories for a lower price. The lower price was reflected in the construction of this camera and the features available, however, it was still a very competent performer and it reflected the elegant lines established by the compact OM-1 and 2 designs. Early production runs of the OM10 have known malfunction issues with electronics, metering, and shutter magnets. Olympus later changed the shutter to a ‘Type II’ design to correct the latter problem.

In its standard configuration the OM10 offered aperture priority automatic exposure, simple and accurate enough for a consumer camera in most lighting situations. It also offered exposure compensation for more complicated lighting situations and for more advanced users. A small plug-in manual adaptor was available as an accessory to enable manual control of shutter speed. The manual adaptor is possibly not as easy to use as the typical shutter speed ring around the lens bayonet on the OM-1.

While not well known to consumers, the focusing screen for the OM10 is indeed interchangeable, though not as easily as the OM-1. It shares the same focusing screen as the OM-1, but the extra protruding tab needs to be cut off as the OM10 doesn’t have a placeholder for it.

The OM10 can accept all the lenses of the OM system. 

The finder screen is fixed, as well as the back. It can accept the winder but not the motor drive. It existed in chrome and in black finish.

In 1980 the OM10 Quartz was released with a fixed databack (equivalent of a Recordata Back 3) to print the time or date on your pictures. The OM10 Quartz was only released in black finish.

The OM10 was sold in large quantities before production ceased in 1987 and many working examples are still being used today. Largely overlooked in favor of its more professional ‘single digit’ siblings, you can easily pick up a working example for $50. Try to find one that includes the manual adaptor though, as this accessory alone can fetch $30 at auction.

Camera-wiki.org

Assessment:

In a perfect world this camera would just need a clean. But this is me and to be honest I’d like a little bit more of a challenge, as a lot of the cameras I have worked with lately did not need a lot of maintenance because they’d been well looked after. This one may be different.

The camera that has been received

These cameras were renowned for electrical faults especially with their mirror motion magnets, very similar to the issues suffered on Canons earlier EOS cameras such as the 1N. But to be honest I am just surmising at this point as the camera is not yet in my hands. I need to be patient and await its arrival.

Well, it’s arrived so let’s have a look and see what’s good, what’s bad and what’s indifferent. It has dirt, yes, quite a bit of it, so it will require quite a deep clean as we need to get into all those little crevices, where the dust has settled.

Dirt in all the crevices

Cosmetically it looks really good with no dinks, dents or scratches, so that is very much a positive. It’s in not too bad a shape for being 46 years old.

The capstan to open the camera film door, along with the operation dial are a little loose, so they will require tightening.

Loose capstan and controller

Batteries are long dead, this camera requires two LR44 button batteries to do even the basics, I have tested the batteries with a multimeter and they are so low that they hardly register, they are very dead indeed. The good thing however is that they have not leaked in anyway and the battery chamber is clear of corrosion.

Battery chamber is clean

The mirror is stuck in the halfway position, this could be purely to do with there being no battery in the camera. It would be good to see with new batteries installed, if the mirror magnets would then kick in, and then they’d be no further issue. However, knowing my luck they are probably inoperable as well, we will just have to wait. And for this same reason the winder is also stuck, again the batteries may well solve this problem 🤞

Mirror trapped at the halfway point

Good news is though that the mirror and curtain are in really good condition, because the old lens has been kept in place preventing any contamination getting into that area.

Viewfinder looks clear apart from a little dust build up

However the lens, does appear to have fungus in it, and will require a clean at some point along the way.

Visible lens fungus

There are also a number of light seals that need replacing as they have perished.

Some light seals need replacing

To be quite honest, the easiest part of this camera to clean will be the standard plastic and rubber neck strap. This can just go in some warm soapy water to rejuvenate it. However, my first priority will be to get some batteries in place and see what occurs. I may have to rethink my approach to this camera dependent on the outcome of this simple action.

Repair:

Straight home and I’ve found a couple of LR44 batteries that had a little more power than the old ones. In they go….and nothing. There is a check position on the main dial that should light up and a buzzer should sound to confirm that there is sufficient power, obviously there isn’t in this case. I run all the other LR44 batteries I have through a tester ( I had a packet of 12 ) and they all show as low power, they’ve died during storage. I then pop over the road to see my brother in law who always has a good supply of batteries and bingo, he has a couple of spare LR44s.

We have the check light, and a little buzz…intermittently

With these in place I get an intermittent buzz and a light, it appears the capstan control and operation dial that I mentioned earlier was loose, and has intermittent contact issues, it will need removing and cleaning then reseating.

If I hold the capstan in place I do get a good signal, with both buzzer and light operating in the check position, and when I move the control to “On” position I can now cock the shutter lever. It will then fire but again only to the half way position as it did earlier. If I gently push the mirror down and let it spring back it will then fire. But you have to do this on every stroke of priming the advance lever. Not good.

This is pointing towards an issue with the magnets and I believe I’m almost there, and that’s when I have a eureka moment.

Eureka moment

In the bottom of the mirror and curtain bay on the base of the camera is where the mirror magnets are situated, along with a light sensor that takes a reading off the shutter curtain behind, that is checkerboard coloured. Something here didn’t look quite right for me as it did not look level, the base seemed quite uneven. I just simply put my finger in here, applied some light pressure on this base and it just clicked into position, nice and level and then the stuck mirror fired, just like that. Every single prime of the shutter and actuation since, has worked just perfectly, I wonder if this camera has been dropped at some time just knocking this part out of true configuration? Or has someone been here before me? I’m going to have to remove the base to check a few things anyway, so I can then make sure this issue doesn’t happen again. For now, I’m satisfied that the shutter and winder are working fine. I just need to make the contacts and the electrical continuity a little bit more reliable.

I’ve dismantled the faulty switch. Inside, the old tracks on the camera and the pickups on the switch were showing signs of tarnish so I used some contact cleaner go get these looking better. I’ve re assembled the switch and used a new circlip to hold it all together. It’s a lot more secure and responsive now with no interruption to the check signal. It’s quite solid as it always should be.

Capstan needs dismantling
Circlip needs removing
Those tarnished tracks

Here’s a small video regarding the switch repair.

Switch working as it should

With the switch sorted I’ve now removed the focus screen to give that a bit of a clean.

Focus screen removal, cleaning and replacement

And after this I have gradually started to remove the old light seals in preparation for their replacement. They really are in quite a bad way and creating a lot of dust and dirt as they degrade.

Old light seals removed and degraded
Mirror damper seal removed

Now to get the remainder of the old seals removed, clean the troughs they sat in, and then put the new seals in place.

With some IPA, and a large bamboo stick it’s time to remove the old seals
Some seal cut to size
Door seal replaced
Top seal installed
Bottom seal installed

I’ve replaced all the seals on the camera body apart from the mirror damper. I need to get some adhesive first, to secure the plastic plate that sits above the damper. Hence I have to wait for this to be in place before I can finally put the damper in situ, i will do this in the next 24hrs.

Now, the plastic piece that covers the focussing screen access is now secured in place and the mirror damper has been installed, all light proofing has now been completed.

Mirror damper installed

The original lens that was suffering with fungus has been dismantled and given a clean, however because the top two optics are a sealed assembly, guess what? The fungus is within the sealed section and is unable to be accessed. Therefore the lens will never be cured of this issue, it has been improved by cleaning the other optics but it’s not in anyway good enough to use with film in the camera, I will therefore use the old lens purely for testing purposes, it works fine for that and will be just fine for testing other Olympus equipment. In the meantime I have purchased two further OM 50mm std lenses, one is an earlier “Silver nose” model with a single lens protective coating whilst the other is a later production “Black” MC (Multi coated) model. Both are in an excellent clean condition conducive for film photography.

The two new lenses – “Silver nose” to the right

I’m happy that the repairs have now been completed, all that is left now to do, is to give the unit a thorough clean, and to clean that original plastic/rubber camera strap with some warm water.

Result:

Here we present a fully cleaned and maintained Olympus OM10 35mm SLR camera from the 1980s looking quite resplendent after all the work on it has been completed.

All cleaned
Looking superb with a new lens
Looking fine from all angles

It’s been a lovely camera to work on. The make of this camera is superb, and back in the 80s Olympus were on a high note with the high end advertising, using many well known celebrities, and their cameras as a result became extremely popular. They are very well made and have stood the test of time. This one camera will go on to continue being used, and has many good years of life ahead of it. Another one saved from the scrap heap. As with all my cameras I have an immense backlog of units all awaiting the time when they have a roll of film run through them, and this one is no different. When I do pass a test roll through it I will post a link to the results here.

As always, thank you for passing by and glimpsing this post. It is always very much appreciated.

It’s foggy out

Just got in from work, followed this bank of fog home. Grabbed a quick picture.

Just got in from work. Chased this fog all the way home and just had to get a photo.

Fog in the East Midlands
And in colour

Have a safe and happy day.

Canon EOS 500N

A nice entry level camera, from the mid 90s, now back in working order

Here I have a very basic, entry level camera made by Canon. Produced between 1996-9 this camera is currently between 26 – 29 years old. These cameras don’t have the traditional identification number printed within the film spool holder that the older cameras had, hence the precise manufacturing date is difficult to confirm.

Canon EOS 500N

This is a camera passed onto me by a good friend and professional photographer, Jon, as can be seen in this post: Cameras…i need more!

I believe this camera was previously used by a large photographic organisation, to teach staff and students wishing to learn traditional 35mm film photography techniques. It was a training camera, at entry level specs.

It is a very good example of this model of camera, and despite its simplicity, low cost appearance and feel, it is in a very good condition cosmetically.

Here’s a little information about this camera:

The Canon EOS 500N is also known as the EOS Rebel G in the Americas or the New EOS Kiss in Japan. Sometimes it’s referred to as the EOS Kiss 2 as it followed the release of the EOS Kiss in Japan. This camera was released in 1996 and replaced the EOS 500. The Japanese version of the camera had the date back as standard. Its successor was the EOS-300 / REBEL2000 / Kiss III, released in 1999.

The body of the Rebel G is plastic, weighing 370 g (13 oz). The only colors available were black or a mix of silver and black. The Rebel G has an EF lens mount making it compatible with any EF lens. The viewfinder offers a 0.7x magnification, 90% coverage, center auto focus, wide auto focus and many more. The Rebel G shooting modes consisted of 6 basic modes, full auto, portrait, landscape, macro, sports and night scene. It also has 5 advanced modes, P, Av, Tv, M, A-DEP. These modes would continue on in the Rebel G series. The camera features a built in flash, and can shoot at 1 fps. The fastest shutter speed with flash was measured at 1/90 of a second.

A few new features include compatibility with ETTL type flash. It still has the same 1/90 of a sec sync speed of the previous model, but when equipped with a Canon Speedlight such as the 380EX, 220EX it can be used at 1/2000 of a sec. Focus has improved a bit as as a AF assist light is now available. Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) can be use from -2 to ++2 in 1/2 stop increments. The command dial now has an easier to access night scene mode. The body is able to use the BP-8 vertical grip that can also accept four AA batteries.

Camera-Wiki.org / Wikipedia

Assessment:

As Stated, this camera is in a good cosmetic condition with no sign of dents, dinks or wear. Considering this was a camera used in training I can only presume the students were extremely careful and respectful, or it was lightly used. Having worked with some of these students myself, i very much suspect, it’s more than likely going to be the latter option.

There is another such unit I have of this very same camera however that is damaged with a faulty screen that requires replacement and that will be dealt with in a future post. Meanwhile, let’s get back to this one.

A sticker on the rear

There is an old ownership sticker on the rear and this is one of those old vinyl type ones that will be able to be removed, but just may take a little while, as they are brittle and break off into lots of little pieces that go everywhere.

The battery chamber is clean and there are no signs of contamination. The screen is clear and does not show any bleed, though I haven’t powered it up just yet.

Clean battery chamber
No screen bleed

The film chamber, back pressure plate and shutter curtain all appear to be in good order. Again I will further test this when I put some batteries in and run a dummy film to check transport.

Curtain and film chamber appear fine
Back pressure plate and door working fine

The unit is quite grubby and dusty, the mirror is dirty and the prism is as well. initially all looks good. Batteries, and the dummy film might tell us something different.

Repair:

Let’s get that sticker off the rear, a little soak in IPA to soften things up, and then using a small plastic modelling spatula to gently get under the label, I was able to remove the sticker relatively easily. If I’d used the metallic option I may well have scratched the casing. I’m happy that this option has worked well for me. A final clean at the end with some car cockpit cleaner should bring the detail out nicely.

Sticker now removed

Let’s get some power in, and fire this unit up. It takes two CR123A 3v lithium batteries.

CR123A batteries
We have power

Batteries in, and everything lights up, all menus function and as stated earlier their is no bleed from the LCD screen.

I load the film in and it instantly winds the whole film on to the take up spool. Here on the display, you can see that this roll is 24 exp and it has wound fully on to the take up spool. I fire off these 24 exposures to check the shutter and that fires fine, film transport also works well and the final rewind of the film at the end also works. In a nutshell, this camera works!

Film in and film out

I clean the prism and the mirror with a soft swab and you can just see the dust and dirt lift. A final brush over with a bulb blower completes this task. The internals are now clean.

It just needs a very thorough exterior clean and polish.

Result:

I’ve cleaned the exterior and used some ceramic cockpit polish to finish it off, I must admit it’s looking very good.

Here I have a nice little camera packed with features that will make a great camera for someone to learn the basics of traditional photography with. However, it’s remaining in my collection for the while.

Looking clean and presentable
From all angles a lovely clean example, operating just as it should

I’ve cleaned the camera throughout and used compressed air to finish the clean prior to sealing it from the elements. It’s yet another camera that I need to test, another one that needs to have a film put through it for its final test, however I am 100% confident of it’s capabilities and the fact that it operates just fine and all its settings, buttons and controls are doing exactly what they should. When I do get to put a film through, I will link to it here.

Another successful restoration and return to use of another old camera that had been put to one side. Not that this one really required a lot of attention, just a bit of servicing and tlc.

Thanks for passing by. It’s always very much appreciated.

Canon EOS 30

Cleaning, repair and maintenance of an old Canon EOS 30 35mm SLR

I’m calling this camera my EOS Dirty, it really is suffering a bad case of the sticky rubber syndrome that was widely experienced on cameras of this era, where the Vulcanised rubber used in its construction, had a falling out with its own internal polymers, and they then decided to part company. Creating a sticky mess. This camera is currently 25 years old, originally manufactured in the year 2000.

A lovely lump of a camera
My hand, simply after handling this camera for no more than a minute.

That said, it’s a lovely camera with a lot of features, this was pretty much one of the last 35mm cameras that Canon produced, and they threw a lot of R&D into these units prior to producing its “D” Digital offering, hence it was packed with lots of pre “D” technology. It has “Eye” control, the Eye Control focusing feature makes selective focusing quicker for many. It uses IR to detect eye movements to determine focusing areas. Up to 5 eye presets can be stored for different users. I wonder if that still works?

This dirty sticky pup, needs some heavy cleaning

Here is some information, about this camera:

The EOS 30 (or Elan 7 / Elan 7e / EOS 7 / EOS 33 in different global markets) is a Canon autofocus 35mm SLR camera that uses the Canon EF lens mount. The camera was introduced in 2000.

There are three main auto focusing modes. Automatic, manual selection focusing, and Eye Control (EOS 30, EOS Elan 7E). It was given the 7 name because it has 7 auto focus points in manual selection mode. The Eye Control focusing feature makes selective focusing quicker for many. It uses IR to detect eye movements to determine focusing areas. Up to 5 eye presets can be stored for different users. Some users with corrective lenses may experience problems using this feature. The shutter speed ranges from 30 sec. to 1/4000 sec. in 1/2-stop increments with bulb. X-sync at 1/125 sec.

Metering modes use a TTL max. aperture metering with a 35-zone silicon photocell. The included modes are evaluative, partial and center-weighted averaging metering. The measurement range is from 1 to 20 EV (at 20-degree with 50mm f/1.4 lens, at ISO 100). The ISO can be set automatically with DX-coded film at ISO 25 to 5000. Exposure compensation can be adjusted from +/-2 stops in 1/2-steps.

Exposure modes available include Program mode, shutter priority, aperture priority, Depth-of-field, Auto, scene modes with (Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Sports, Night Scene), manual exposure and bulb mode. Flash exposure includes modes for E-TTL, A-TTL and TTL program flash modes. The motor drive is capable of up to 4 fps. The finder has dioptre adjustments built-in with settings from -2.5 to +0.5 dpt. Two CR123A batteries power the camera.

If equipped, the QD (Quartz Date) / Date back require the use of one CR2025 coin type battery. Imprint display modes include M/D/Y, D/M/Y, Y/M/D, D/H/M and off. The last date the unit can imprint is Dec. 31, 2019

Camera wiki.org

Assessment:

As stated in the sections above, the biggest problem with this camera is its stickiness, and to be honest that is not really a problem. I have cleaned many of these in the past and this one will be no different. Here’s a post I wrote a while back about sticky camera bodies: Sticky, Rubber camera grips

This really does feel like a lot of camera. You can see the digital “thought” that the development guys introduced into this camera in preparation for the arrival of its “Digital” brothers and sisters, I’m going to have to do a bit more reading up on its full operation and capabilities. This camera is in very good condition, no dinks, dents and very few scuffs, all doors are functional and when a battery is installed (a 2CR5 – 6v lithium) everything lights up, and appears to do what it should. I will check this thoroughly though later.

The horrendously sticky areas
Rear
Mode dial
Screen

The battery chamber is clear of any contamination, and looks nice, the mirror will need cleaning and the area within it will need a blow through, the shutter curtain seems to be working well at this stage. I will test it more after the clean.

Clean battery barrel
Dusty mirror and curtain chamber

So. Let’s get on with the repair and maintenance.

Repair:

I’ve started the clean of the rubber and it is filthy. The amount of black that came off on the first clean has required me to get another cloth as it really is that bad. Another two applications and the cloth is a lot cleaner, it has removed a massive amount of goo and dirt and feels a lot better to the touch, and my hands are staying clean and that’s a good sign. I will give a final clean with the car cockpit polish that should finish it off nicely.

Looks beautiful after a proper clean

I’ve cleaned the mirror and prism above using a swab and the effect is instantaneous, there was a lot of dust here. Opening the curtain in a “B” setting I gave the whole interior a good blast with compressed air that has left the chamber as free of dust and contaminants as I can get it. With the curtain back down, a bulb blower and brush is all that was needed to complete the task. A lens mount cover is now in place to prevent anymore dirt getting in.

Transport tested

I’ve put in one of my old test films to check the camera’s function, and it’s transport & rewind, and I’m pleased to say this works just fine. At a shutter speed of 4000 I’ve never heard such a sweet sounding camera. This really feels like a lovely camera that I can’t wait to take out and run a film through.

All functions and options tested via the display screen

Going through the function screen, there are no bad pixels and all options are available. I have tested the eye control function and programmed my own profile into the camera, it does seem to be working, it might be a little hit and miss, I programmed it very quickly so maybe I just have to read up on it more, just to tweak its use as such.

All rear sub menus working, and buttons operable

All sub menus on the rear of the camera are operable and all buttons and dials are doing what they should. This camera is ready to go, and is in a perfect working order.

Result:

She’s a beauty
Canon EOS 30

This camera was probably discarded to one side when the sticky grip problem started to rear its ugly head. It really is a shame that this happens, it’s such a simple problem to eradicate. This is an absolutely superb camera and packed with technology that would eventually have gone on to be incorporated into the soon to appear professional digital offerings from Canon. For 35mm photography this was a perfect swan song, 35mm photography had peaked with this range of cameras and Canon had perfectly produced cameras that in effect had pushed this theme of photography to its highest level. It was the best of the rest at the time.

This camera deserves some respect, it feels superb in the hand, looks good, sounds terrific and performs exceptionally well. There will always be the haters out there, there always will be. But as you will have gathered, I don’t really report badly of any of my cameras as I truly love them all. They are superb items of modern and semi modern technology that have captured history. They just deserve to be preserved and protected and most of all enjoyed.

I will shortly be posting some pictures from this camera that can be found here:

Thank you for passing by, as always it is very much appreciated.