Canon Prima Twin S

[jwestwood]

Hello all,

A few days ago I found an old Canon Prima Twin S in our attic.
If put a battery and some old film roll in it, but it doesn't seem to be working perfectly.

If I enable the self-timer, and I click the shutter-button, it will take a photo after some time.
However, when I try to take a picture without the self-timer, the camera doesn't seem to react on my click of the shutter-button.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong, I'm new to the whole analog-photography thing, or is it just broken (and if so, will I be able to repair it?)?

I hope someone can help me out. Thanks in advance.

Best, John

 

[BrianS]

Canon Prima Twin S - Operation Manual En

User Manual: canon Prima Twin S - Operation Manual Free User Guide for Canon POWERSHOT Series Camera, Manual - page5

usermanual.wiki

I did a quick search- found the manual available from the site above.

Your camera is a bit unusual in that it has a separate release for the self-timer operation. Most cameras use the main shutter release.

The main release is most likely an electrical switch with a rubberized covering. My "best guess" without having the camera in front of me: sitting in the attic has affected the switch. It could possibly "spark" to life with a good cleaning.

Some of these cameras are not hard to work on: a few screws and carefully separating at the tabs is usually what is required. Closest I came to this camera was the Nikon version with the two-focal length selector. I got lucky on that one- almost 30 years ago.

 

[MikeB]

As @BrianS says, it probably just needs a good cleaning. That refers to a cleaning of the inside of the camera, mostly to replace old lubricant that has hardened.

 

[jwestwood]

Great, that helps a lot. Thank you, both!