Remembering the time a shutter spring flew across my garage in Austin

I spent three hours with a magnet and a flashlight, piecing that tiny Canon AE-1 part back together from under my workbench, so has anyone else had a spring launch into the void like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

michaeltorres27d ago

You ever think those tiny springs are just trying to escape back to the factory? I swear they launch themselves with more purpose than the camera ever had taking a picture. It's like they wait until you look away for one second to make their break for it. The magnet and flashlight routine feels less like repair work and more like a sad magic trick where nothing comes back. Honestly, the real skill isn't fixing the camera, it's outsmarting a piece of metal that wants to be free.

wilson.joseph27d ago

Absolute nightmare fuel. The tiny springs in a Nikon FM2 film advance lever got me once. They shot out like angry metal confetti. Found one in a shoe, the other behind a baseboard heater. My friend lost the aperture spring from an old Minolta lens. We never did find that one. It just vanished into the carpet, gone forever.

the_alice27d ago

Honestly I used to think people were overreacting about tiny camera parts. Like how bad could it be? Then I tried to fix the shutter on an old Pentax. Two springs the size of a grain of rice just disappeared into thin air. I spent an hour on my hands and knees with a magnet. That was the day I learned. Those little demons have a will of their own.