# Canon AE-1 Program ~ Light Meter Woes. Any tips?



## Stephen.C (Jul 11, 2011)

Hello! 
Long time since I have posted, and First time posting in Film section. 
I bought a Canon AE-1 program off of Craigslist, and I didn't know how the light meter worked because it was my first film camera. Turns out, the light meter is kinda busted, and the craigslist guy won't email me back, return my phone calls, and even his wife wont let me talk to him when I found out their home phone number. But thats not what my post is about. 
The light meter when not working, Blinks 32 no matter what setting. 
I have discovered that if I lay my camera flat, with the lens facing up, as if I was shooting the ceiling, and keep it off for a while, my lightmeter works for a little while, enough time to take a few shots. 
Anyone else experience this? Any troubleshooting that could be done? I tried cleaning where the battery goes, and a fresh battery is also in. 
I placed my camera in my bag with the lens shooting to the side ||= ( = is the lens ) and when I turned it on, the light meter didn't work. Very strange. 
Thanks for the help.


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## ghache (Jul 11, 2011)

find the guys house, wait for him in the driveway and tell him you want a refund OR you going to r4pe his familly.


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## Stephen.C (Jul 11, 2011)

ghache said:
			
		

> find the guys house, wait for him in the driveway and tell him you want a refund OR you going to r4pe his familly.



Dont think that is a great idea heh.


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## ghache (Jul 11, 2011)

Stephen.C said:


> ghache said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



set car on fire?


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## Stephen.C (Jul 11, 2011)

ghache said:
			
		

> set car on fire?



Alright, lets stick with some realistic ideas about the camera, not the guy :ap


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## kevinfoto (Jul 12, 2011)

Get used cameras on keh.com


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## Pgeobc (Jul 12, 2011)

Canon cameras of that era took mercury batteries and will not work correctly with alkaline. That may or may not be your problem. I suggest that you try one of the zinc-air cells or one of the battery adapters that change an alkaline or silver-oxide cell into the equivalent mercury cell.


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## compur (Jul 12, 2011)

^ The AE-1 Program uses a PX28/4SR44 battery which is a silver oxide type, not mercury.
Same with all the A-series Canons.

It's the earlier "heavy metal" Canons that used mercury PX625/PX13 batteries like the 
FTb, TLb, Pellix, etc.


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## Stephen.C (Jul 18, 2011)

Ill check that out, thank you


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## glh17 (Aug 9, 2011)

Can't help you on the light meter problem, but perhaps on the CL problem.  I've seen dissatisfied buyers and sellers post warnings about problems they've encounter. I'd post something on CL spelling out the problem and warn people about dealing with this character.   If the seller sells a bunch of stuff on CL, you might get a response.  I don't know how often such posts get responses, but at least it would give me some sense of satisfaction.


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## earthmanbuck (Aug 9, 2011)

My Canon AE-1 was doing similar things not too long ago...I would point the camera to the sky on a clear sunny day and it would tell me there wasn't enough light for a few seconds, then all of a sudden start working again. I'd point it into a dark corner of my room directly after and it would still say there was plenty of light. I changed the battery and now it seems to be working fine. I know you said you just changed the battery, but you might want to check to see if it's a silver oxide battery&#8212;I'm pretty sure the manual says silver oxides work better with it than lithium or alkaline batteries.


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## dxqcanada (Aug 9, 2011)

Flashing "32" is a camera indicator of over-exposure if you are in Shutter Priority (lens on P) ... speed up shutter speed ... and if you are not in an extremely bright scene check your ISO dial.

Does the ISO dial have any affect? ... it could be the problem.


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