Picked a beat-up Canon AE-1 over a mint Pentax K1000 and I'm not sorry

Went to a camera swap meet last Saturday in Portland. Had fifty bucks saved up. The Pentax was pretty on the outside but the shutter sounded sticky. The Canon had a dent in the top plate and the foam was crumbling. But the light meter worked perfect and the lens glass was clean. Ran three rolls through it this week at the coast. First roll came back totally blank because I loaded the film wrong... second roll had some cool light leaks. Third roll looked like actual photos. The dents add character. Has anyone else gone for the ugly functional camera over the pretty one?

2 comments

2 Comments

kim.emma1mo ago

honestly functional over pretty any day. that canon's a tank once you fix the foam.

stone.thomas1mo ago

Oh man, that blank first roll is exactly the kind of thing I'd do too. I mean, I once shot a whole wedding with the lens cap still on, so at least you caught it early. Good for you for sticking with the beat-up Canon, those light leaks just add free art.