Canon LTM leaving a canon P shutter cocked?

[lex]

so i got a habit of always advancing and cocking my shutter after each shot so i will be ready for the next. does it damage the shutter of the canon P to leave it cocked? (this sometimes lasts for days but not weeks...)

 

[jlw]

Days, no; weeks, no.

But suppose you got abducted by the Canadian Secret Service and didn't come back for 20 years?

Okay, that's probably an exaggerated fear -- on a Canon shutter, the worst that would happen would be that a repair technician would have to adjust the curtain spring tension a bit, and if the camera had been sitting for 20 years it most likely would need some service anyway.

So I'd say it's a good habit to leave the shutter uncocked on a classic camera that you don't use frequently. Since evidently you use your P a lot, it's probably not an issue.

 

[sirius]

I remember reading that it is not a good idea for the Canon P. I also read that it was a different story for Leicas as they are constructed differently and can sit for years without any damage. It was on this forum, so perhaps the original people in the know will respond, maybe it was over at the photoethnography website too.

 

[Steve Bellayr]

As a rule do not leave the shutter on a camera cocked. However, if there is film in the camera then I leaved it cocked. When I take the film out of the camera and may not use it for an extended period of time I leave it uncocked. It is also a good idea to fire the shutter periodically to maintain it in proper operational condition.

 

[jlw]

I may be one of the people who posted about this before, but what I said was that I don't like to store my metal-curtain Canons with the shutters completely uncocked. Here's why:

With most any horizontal focal plane shutter, the working edge of each curtain -- the part that actually covers or uncovers the film gate -- is folded around a metal reinforcement that provides the attachment point for the winding ribbons.

When the shutter is uncocked, the curtains are rolled up around the takeup drum. And I've noticed that on most of the Canons I've owned, each curtain picks up a slight impression from where it's rolled over the extra thickness of this reinforcing piece.

So whenever I put away a Canon and I'm not sure how soon I'll be using it again, I release the shutter, then wind it just far enough that the curtain band shows at the edge of the film gate. That way it's clear of the drum and can't make a deeper impression on the curtain.

Incidentally, a sobering thought about this issue of not knowing when you might use a camera again comes from Henry Scherer's Contax website; cheerful Henry points out that when you put a camera away, you never know when it will be used again. You might keel over dead and it could sit in that drawer for 20 years before one of your heirs is interested enough to start poking around in your old furniture.

 

[lex]

hmm.. so the concensous is... perhaps? regardless, thanks for the ideas so far...

 

[jlw]

hmm.. so the concensous is... perhaps? regardless, thanks for the ideas so far...

If you average all the responses, I guess the answer you get is that you should leave it half-cocked!