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Nik Bradash
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 22, 2004 - 11:31 pm: | 
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Love this site,
I have a Canon AE-1 that needs new light seals. It seems easy enough to do (I think). But, I need reccomendations on what is the best foam, the thickness and way to remove and reattach it correctly. I'd really like to save the local going price of $80.00 to fix several dollars worth of foam. Thanks to you all... Other than this problem, the camera has worked flawless for what seems like centuries. |
paul obrian
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 01:04 am: |
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Nik: There are a couple of ways to go here,and, yes, you can save a bit by doing it yourself. I have a catalog from a firm called Micro Tools - they carry foam,small tools specific to camera and lens repair,as well as other stuff.If you already had a good idea of how to procede,this would be the BEST!
If you are like me, and would need a bit more of a self-explanitory way to do this, I have seen on Ebay a couple of vendors who sell seal kits for various cameras. One guy has kits of seals only, another has seal & bumper kits. If the seals need replacement,the bumper does,also!They are pretty much of the same type of material,except for thickness,etc., and deteriorate about the same. JUST BE SURE NOT TO GET ALL KINDS OF DEBRIS IN THE CAMERA"S INTERIOR while removing the old stuff,or you'll be seeing the shop guys anyway! |
Charles Fallis
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 03:19 am: |
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Jon Goodman, who is on this site lots, makes a really good and very inexpensive kit, with better foam than you get with most. He sells them on Ebay under the name "interslice" and they have the foam for both seals and bumpers. Additionally, if you need help or advice, he is great with support via email. |
Sean OKeefe
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 05:06 am: |
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Nik,
I buy self adhesive "foamies" at walmart for under a buck a sheet. The cell density is higher than for some other foam but they work fine for mirror and rear door. I use thin black cotton twine for the thin rails inside the back of the camera. You need to clean all of the old gooey mess carefully - I scrape off what I can with thin knives and small screwdrivers, then toothpicks, alcohol and small pieces of lintless paper balled up, soaked in alcohol, and run down the channels with a small tweezers or toothpick. For glue, I use Elmers white glue or any other that dries clear. Avoid crazy glue or expoy. I have a syringe with a wide tip that I fill with the glue to get it in the bottom of the channels before I put the twine in. I have done this with a thin toothpick as well. You can cut the foamies thin and use them for the channels but that is a lot trickier...it is easier to use standard (non self adhesive) foamies and use glue in the tracks than to use self adhesive foamies there - at least in my experience.
In most cameras there are foams under the bottom cover and under the top cover that need to be replaced at the same time to do a proper job.
Sean |
Jon Goodman
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 08:18 am: |
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Thanks for the mention, Charles. I'd add you'll need different thicknesses of seal to do the job right. You may need fabric seals as well as foam seals in many older cameras, and some prefer fabric at the hinge anyway. The kits I sell include both fabric & foam (in different thicknesses) and two weights of mirror damper. Even the $6 kit should allow the re-sealing of 6 typical SLR or rangefinder cameras with top quality material.
Jon |
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