Jumpy Exposure Needle on Canonet 28?

[timgilbreath_photography]

Hey guys! Brand new to these boards, can't wait to explore a bit

Question....I found a beautiful Canonet 28 in great shape at a garage sale last week; the exterior is basically mint, the light seals look worn but intact; I put a new alkaline PX625A battery that was recommended online as a replacement for the old mercury battery.

After putting in the batt, setting the aperture to "A", and the ASA to 400, I took it outside, only to find that as I moved from areas of bright to dark, the needle moves, but not as much as I'd expect at that ASA, and it won't stay still for long.
If I point to a very sunny area, it will jump to 1/60 or 1/125 maybe at the most, but then it will nosedive back to 1/30, then maybe back up a couple of seconds later. This is all with my remaining stationary and not pointing the camera at a differently lit area.

Any ideas on what this could be? I know about the voltage differential with the alkaline battery, but I don't think that would cause the jumpiness? Needle stuck on something? It does work at least, but I don't want to waste a roll of film on it if it won't register exposure correctly. I got it for $5 anyway

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!

Tim

 

[gsgary]

The battery could be moving try placing a thin washer between the battery and battery cover so it presses on the contact firmer

 

[Derrel]

Battery contact areas must also be immaculately clean and free of ANY finger oils!!! There is very little contact area on most of the older camera batteries, and even a bit of invisible finger oil is enough to render MANY camera meters inoperative. I used to work at a camera store...I lost count of the number of "dead meter cameras" we brought back to life in 30 seconds by removing the batteries, cleaning the battery with a clean cloth and plopping the battery back in.

However...a LOT of "needle" cameras develop meter issues...one remedy is to take the camera and move the controls through their full range of movement many,many times, to remove any slight oxidization that has developed. So....move the ISO setting control thru its entire range like 40,50 times....then move the f/stop ring thru the entire range, lock-to-lock, a bunch of times.

Canonets are now to the age where many of them have problems.

 

[unpopular]

The Canonets typically take batteries that are no longer in production. As a result, many people jerry-rig them into place with modern equivalents. Make sure that there is no tin foil or some other such nonsense. If the battery is original, it's probably mostly dead.

From my experience, the best option with these cameras is an external meter, perhaps one that fits onto the hotshoe.

You could try modifying it to take a modern battery, but I have never managed to get a Canonet apart.

 

[Gary A.]

I was looking at an old film camera and the shoppe owner stated that often the capacitor sorta goes out ... which, in turn, causes the jumpiness. He said that if you start using the camera, over time things will settle down. I haven't a clue ... but that's what he shoppe keep said. (He could have just been trying to sell me the camera.)

 

[unpopular]

I was looking at an old film camera and the shoppe owner stated that often the capacitor sorta goes out ... which, in turn, causes the jumpiness. He said that if you start using the camera, over time things will settle down. I haven't a clue ... but that's what he shoppe keep said. (He could have just been trying to sell me the camera.)

If it's coming back to life, I'd think the needle gauge would be more likely at fault than a capacitor, right? Does the Canonet use a needle gauge? I don't remember.