canon ae-1 help

[maine_iac]

new guy here heh hi
first off...
Im a senior in highschool taking a photography class. my dad let me use his old canon ae-1 that he had (from the 70's I think?) it has been working perfectly until tonight.
our assignment was to take self portraits so my teacher let me borrow a hand held shutter release (not sure if thats the official name of them heh) so i plugged it into the shutter release and snapped a quick one to make sure it worked and it did. so I go downstairs to my basement and get all set up (I wanted some high contrast pics in a dark room wearing all black with light and shadows playing on my face) so i get all set up, and go to take the picture...nothing. the shutter release wont push down far enough to take the picture, well i shouldnt say that, it goes down all the way but the shutter doesnt flip up. so i thought maybe the film wasnt advanced but it wont advance. I've taken the film out and it all seems normal


Ill ask my teacher about it tommarow but I was hoping i could get it fixed and still take the pictures tonight
any and all help is greatly appriciated
-C. King

[dang]

You might want to see if the mirror is in the down position if it has "Mirror lock up". I'm not familiar with this body, but does it have a small battery that might need replacement (even tho' it sound's like a full manual camera if it doesn't have a meter)? Is the film advanced & shutter cocked? Is it on "Bulb" setting, or is the "Self Timer" on? If it has a meter, does the body have a limit on it's time exposure, (tho' I've not heard of this with a film camera)?
Sorry I can't be more specific. But many things could cause this problem including it may have broken a spring, or other part.

[phschallenger]

Make sure there is no debris in the release port. Older Canon's are notorious for getting bits and pieces of junk in the little screw port which will eventually jam them up and require the use of a fine instrument to remove it. Also make sure there is nothing mechanically wrong with the release. (IE: the release rod is not severed.) Also make certain the battery is not dead.

Hope that helps. I use 2 A-1's, the big brother of the AE-1, but virtually the same camera.

[400d]

Sounds like your battery is dead. Press the battery check button.

More info: http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/co ... basic2.htm