Every popular film camera has a weak spot, and after 40 or 50 years most of them have shown up. That's useful for a buyer. If you know what tends to go wrong on a given body, you know which photo or video to ask for before you pay. This guide covers the famous faults on specific models, then the problems every old camera can have.
The Canon AE-1 squeal
The Canon AE-1 is known for the Canon squeal, a high-pitched noise when the shutter fires, put down to wear in the mirror linkage. It's easy to hear once you know it. A healthy AE-1 makes a clean mechanical clack. A squealer adds a whine on top. Ask for a short video with sound, firing at a few speeds. If it squeals, treat it as a camera that needs a service.
The AE-1 has two other weak points. Its battery door was prone to breaking, so look at it in the photos and make sure the listing says it closes. And because the camera won't work at all without its 6 V battery, a dead AE-1 might only have a flat cell or dirty contacts. Ask for a photo of the battery compartment with the cover off. The AE-1 Program came out in 1981 with a program mode added, so check it the same way.
Minolta X-700 capacitors
The Minolta X-700 and its simpler X-series siblings like the X-300 are known for capacitor failure. On the X-300 family the usual symptom is a camera that works for a dozen or so shots, then the display goes dark when you half-press the shutter release and it stops responding. Switching it off and on can revive it for a few more frames. The X-700 has two of these capacitors, and one is buried deep in the camera. Since the X-700 has no mechanical shutter speed at all, a failure stops it completely.
Because the fault is intermittent, a seller firing the camera a few times may never see it. Ask whether the capacitors have been replaced. If not, ask whether it's been used for a full roll recently.
The Yashica Electro 35 pad of death
Inside the Yashica Electro 35 family, a spring-loaded slider works a set of switch contacts as you advance the film, and it strikes a small rubber pad at the top of its travel. Over time the rubber breaks down, and that stops the camera working properly inside, especially its metering circuits. Owners call it the pad of death. One owner describes a loud clunk when cocking the shutter as the lever slams back, and metal hitting metal from then on.
It's sneaky because of how the Electro behaves without power. With no battery, the shutter still fires at its top speed of 1/500. So a camera that clicks normally on the seller's desk can still be broken where it counts. Ask for a video with a working battery, in dim light, showing the shutter staying open for a slow exposure. The same owner also advises leaving the self-timer alone, since in their experience it's the first part to go.
Olympus OM-1 prism foam
The Olympus OM-1 is an all-mechanical SLR, made from 1972 to 1988. Replacing the foam around its prism is one of its standard repair jobs. Ask the seller for a photo looking through the viewfinder at a plain, bright surface. You want a clean, even image with no dark band or patches.
Hasselblad lens and body out of step
On a Hasselblad 500C/M, the lens and body have to stay in sync. If the lens comes off with them out of step, you can end up with a fired shutter on a camera with the mirror down, or a cocked shutter with the mirror up. Forcing the lens back on in either state can cause permanent damage. Ask whether the camera cocks and fires normally with the lens on, and never force a lens that won't seat.
Pentax 67 frame spacing
Early Pentax 6×7 bodies were criticized because the film advance could slip more over time, causing uneven frame spacing. The camera is also completely battery dependent. A strip of negatives or a scan from a recent roll answers both questions at once.
Bellows pinholes
Cameras that focus with a bellows, like the Mamiya RB67 and Mamiya C330, can leak light through old bellows. Pinholes often sit in the corners where the material folds. Ask for a photo of the bellows fully extended with a light inside or behind it, and look for any bright specks.
Faults every old camera can have
Light seals. The most common light leak on 35mm cameras is around the film door, where foam seals break down with age. The result is fogging on the film. Ask for a photo with the back open. The foam should look intact and springy, not sticky, crumbling or missing. Replacing seals is routine, so a camera with bad seals isn't a lost cause, but it isn't ready to shoot either.
Shutter curtains. Most of the SLRs here use a cloth focal-plane shutter, including the AE-1, the K1000, the OM-1 and the X-700. The Nikon FM2 uses metal blades instead. In a back-open photo, a cloth curtain should be flat and even, with no wrinkles or holes, and metal blades should be flat and unbent. In a video, the slow speeds should open and close cleanly, and each speed should sound different from the next.
Lens haze and fungus. Lenses that weren't cared for can grow fungus inside. Ask for a photo or video of a flashlight shining through the lens from behind. The glass should be clear, with no fog, spots or thread-like growth. This matters most on fixed-lens cameras, where you can't swap the lens.
Battery corrosion. A cell left in for years can leak and leave green or white crust on the contacts. Look at the compartment in the photos. Light crust can usually be cleaned. Heavy corrosion is a repair job.
Meters. A meter that reads wrong may just have the wrong battery. Many older cameras were designed for mercury cells that are no longer sold, and modern cells can throw readings off. Our battery and metering guide explains which cameras are affected and what to use.
How to use this
None of these faults should scare you off a model. They tell you what to ask for. A seller who sends a squeal-free AE-1 video, says the X-700's capacitors were replaced, or shows an Electro 35 holding a slow exposure is answering the question that matters for that camera. Our listing words guide covers how to read the rest of the listing, and you can browse what's for sale now.
