Canon EOS SLR film camera troubles

[Unkel Gilbey]

Howdy! First time posting here, be nice!

I have a Canon EOS model 630 SLR film camera that has a vexing problem that maybe someone out there can shed some light on.

Sometimes, when trying to make an exposure, the shutter will trip, or at least, the view finder goes black, but the camera doesn't complete the action. In other words, the film isn't exposed. This isn't a consistent problem. It comes and goes, but can be very frustrating.

All this happens when the shutter release is pressed. The camera focuses properly, and after that half push to focus, as you continue the press, is when the problem happens. If I hold down the release, the viewfinder stays blocked until I release it, or, if I just momentarily hit the release, then the viewfinder will be blocked for the duration of how long my finger is on the trigger.

If I continue to try to shoot the camera, it will eventually fire, and a normal exposure is made. Sometimes the camera "locks up" for only a few attempts, but other times, it will continue to malfunction until I just get sick of it, turn off the camera and put it away.

This problem isn't cleared by putting in a new battery, changing lenses, different film, cycling the power to the camera, or even changing the shooting modes. It doesn't happen every time I use the camera, but it happens enough to really tick me off. Nothing more irritating than losing a shot to a malfunctioning camera!

So, is there anyone out there that has experienced this sort of problem? Is there any hope? Any insight you folks can offer is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Unkel Gilbey

[mjs1973]

Welcome to the forum Unkel Gilbey,

I have never had this problem but from what you described, it almost sounds like the camera is functioning as if in bulb mode. Perhaps there is a short in it that is making it think that the shutter speed is set to bulb... Sorry I can't be of more help than that. You can try calling Canon or do a google to see if this is a common problem. I'm sure Canon would be able to fix it, but it might be pretty expensive.

Good luck!

[Lthlwpn1979]

Are you shooting in auto or manual mode? It sounds like you're shooting on aperature priority and the camera is using a long exposure to compensate.