Found a tiny spring inside a Canon AE-1 that wasn't in the manual

I was cleaning the mirror box on a customer's camera and this little guy fell out. Spent an hour looking at the service guide before realizing it was just a leftover from a previous repair. Anyone ever find extra parts that shouldn't be there?

3 comments

3 Comments

shah.olivia2mo ago

Wait, you're sure it was a leftover? I've had a few cameras where a tiny spring like that actually goes in the film advance lever assembly. It's easy to miss in the manual because the drawings are so small. One time I reassembled a Minolta without it and the lever felt totally loose.

ryanburns1mo ago

That Minolta story hits home. I had an old Pentax K1000 apart last year and spent an hour trying to figure out why the shutter wouldn't cock. Turns out a tiny brass washer, maybe 2mm across, had fallen off the gear train and blended into my work mat. It's crazy how the whole machine relies on these parts you can barely see.

coleman.jade2mo ago

Ugh that spring thing is the worst. Did you ever get a camera back from a repair and it rattles? I had a Canonet come back with a mystery rattle for years until I opened it up and found a tiny ball bearing just rolling around in the bottom. It was for the film counter tension and the guy just forgot it.