My old boss told me to never use canned air on a shutter, and he was dead right.

I was fixing a Canon AE-1 last month and the shutter was sticking. A friend said to just blast it with air, but I remembered my boss at the camera store in Austin saying that pushes dust INTO the mechanism. I used a soft brush instead and cleaned it properly. The shutter works perfectly now. Has anyone else had a client ruin a shutter with canned air?

3 comments

3 Comments

bennett.vera20d ago

Seen it happen. Guy brought in a Nikon with more grit in it than a Texas dirt road after his "cleaning". Your old boss knew his stuff.

cameronn6220d ago

That repair bill probably cost more than the camera.

rosebarnes20d ago

My buddy tried that on his old Pentax. He said the shutter sounded like it was full of sand afterwards. Took it to a shop and they found all sorts of tiny grit jammed in the curtain rails. Basically turned a simple clean into a full teardown. He learned that lesson the hard and expensive way.