Canon P questions

[fbf]

I have only seen one canon P without the wrinkle but it does have oil marks on it.

btw. anyone knows how to service the advance lever mechanism? Mine is very dry and makes squeaky sound whenever i try to advance.

 

[nandemofoto]

I used Canon P and Canon 7 both with wrinkles, I don't think they affected operation in any way. It's more about esthetics...

 

[Bingley]

Many seem to have "squeaky" advance mechanisms, which obviously need some oil. Is that all there is to it, or does it require a more expensive repair? Many of KEH's P's are notated to have the squeaky advance, so this seems to me like part of a good CLA. Am I missing anything here?

Thanks!

-Dan, presently converting from Leica M's to Rangefinder Canons and multiple Sony Nex-3's.

Dan, the film advance mechanism on the Canon P is not as smooth as that on a Leica M, even after a CLA, and it's possible that squeaks develop from wear over time. My P's film advance doesn't squeak, but it does feel a little rougher than the film advance on an M of the similar vintage. The P is still a very nice camera, though.

 

[Nokton48]

That's good to know. Thanks Steve.

Dan, the film advance mechanism on the Canon P is not as smooth as that on a Leica M, even after a CLA, and it's possible that squeaks develop from wear over time. My P's film advance doesn't squeak, but it does feel a little rougher than the film advance on an M of the similar vintage. The P is still a very nice camera, though.

 

[Frontman]

I've had lots of these cameras (and still do), and I have never found wrinkles to be a problem. On occasion I will find one without wrinkles, but they are not common. As for the squeaking issues, it is important to service these cameras from time to time, it's amazing what a little oil and grease can do.

Serious P issues are mainly stickiness at slow shutter speeds, and fungus in the viewfinder glass. Occasionally dried lubricant will cause the shutter to stay open. Fortunately, these are not difficult cameras to work on.

 

[shadowfox]

My Canon P is a zero cost to me.
The patch is bright and the shutter wrinkle is really negligible.

I only wish I could justify the price for the excellent black paint job by Robert (digitalintrigue).:bang:

 

[Mablo]

I had three of them. I sold two and the last which was supposed to be a keeper broke beyond repair. I still have a nice 50mm/1.8, five Canon reloadable cassettes and a working Canon meter.

 

[Sonnar2]

From the (100+) 35mm cameras I had, the Canon P is one of the smoothest in operation. And the most silent one I had with a metal shutter.
I had the impression that this camera never had a CLA, and typically don't need one in a man's lifetime. I know very few cameras for which this is also true. I'm not talking about Leica here, but Nikon F. I'm quite carefull with the expression "bullet proof" in cameras except for these specific models.
I have three Canon RF's with metal shutter (P, VI and 7) and all of them are working exceptionally well even with slight wrinkles. With the cloth shutter Canon's (L) you come much closer to a Leica in maintenance requirements. Which means, service once every 20-30 years for proper functioning. Note I'm using the expression functioning here (1/2 or 1/3 of a stop) vs. precicion (1/10) for metal shutter cameras. The Pentax Spotmatic is probably the only exception from this rule, but just to some extend. You can easily find worn Spotmatic ex-workhorses.

 

[Frontman]

Ironically enough, I found a nice Canon P today with no shutter wrinkles. It's in good cosmetic shape as well, though the lens has some serious haze on the rear element.

 

[Nokton48]

I just picked up a repainted Black P today on Ebay. It has a wrinkle, but I'm not worried about it. My Canon 7 also has a wrinkle.

 

[caila77]

wrinkles are quiet common on Canon P. I've a canon P with wrinkled curtains... it works well.... no problem at all.

 

[mgchan]

I just received my EX condition Canon P which was described as "winding defective" and "curtain damaged."

Each curtain had one crinkled spot near the middle, most likely due to butter fingers from loading the film. It doesn't sound like it's affecting the speeds. I'll know better after I finish shooting and developing my first test roll.

Without film in the camera, winding the film advance lever produced the noticeable gear sound. The sound did go away when I'd loaded a roll of film.

However, being obsessive as I am, I'd investigated further and discovered the sound was coming from the base of the film take up spool. Using a hypodermic needle, I administered one drop of synthetic motor oil between the bottom of the film take up spool and the base of the camera. Voila! No more sound and smooth as silk.

Whether this will work in the short term or the long term, for me this will do until the sound crops up again. Hopefully not! Maybe this solution will work for others having the same issue.

 

[Thomas78]

I had three of them. I sold two and the last which was supposed to be a keeper broke beyond repair. I still have a nice 50mm/1.8, five Canon reloadable cassettes and a working Canon meter.

Are you interested in selling one (or two) of the Canon relodable cassettes ?

 

[John Shriver]

I got several Canon Magazine V's from Cambridge World (the descendants of the notorious Cambridge Camera Exchange) for about $20 each. I think it was through an eBay offer, but I didn't buy them out at the time. Might be worth an e-mail to them.

They are generally much rarer than the magazines for the bottom-loaders.

 

[ndavid813]

Definitely check the gold/ yellow RF patch! Many have faded. If it's faded, it's unusable. The wrinkled curtains are a non-issue to me.

Not all is lost if the rangefinder patch is faded. You can apply a patch on the viewfinder window which will make the superimposed image of the rangefinder visible. Take a look at this fix:
http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-165.html

It probably doesn't help the collector value, but it definitely revives a user camera. I just bought a Canon P out of a junk bin. It looks great except for the spot applied on the viewfinder window. I've also applied a dot on a Canonette and have a perfectly workable camera.

 

[raid]

I still have three P's (chrome-black-olive), and I love using these cameras. In one camera, the shutter developed a small slit in it,which I fixed with black paint drops. The camera is 100% a user camera from a practical point of view. It is Leica M3 and M6 for me, followed by Canon P.