Is oily shutter blades a serious problem that needs to be cleaned/fixed by a technician? If it's left alone, will it get worse and affect the camera's operation? I have the opportunity to acquire a T90 from a friend (he's going digital), and on inspecting the camera I found oil patches on the shutter blades. I shot a roll of film with the camera and all the exposures were good, so it seems the oil is not (yet) affecting the shutter speeds.

Mark C.Y.Chan

-- Mark C.Y.Chan (mcyc@mail.com), January 28, 2002

Answers

Chan: You mean the aperture blades, not the shutter blades. Oil on the aperture blades will make the aperture sticky. Sooner or later the the aperture will be stuck and not able to stop down during exposing as it is supposed to. I will advice you to get the lens cleaned. This is a cheap repair, and should not prevent you from buying the T90 if anything else seems OK.

Jomar H

-- Jomar Haktorson (jomarh@online.no), January 28, 2002.

Thanks Jomar for the answer, but I do mean the shutter blades, those inside the camera, not the aperture blades. Thinking about it, I'm actually not so sure if it's oil, but since it looks like a liquid and it's on a moving mechanical part, I assumed it's oil. I wouldn't dare wiping it off to check.

Mark C.Y.Chan

-- Mark C.Y.Chan (mcyc@mail.com), January 28, 2002.

Sorry Chan! I have never owned a T90, only A-serie cameras and a F-1N They have all shutters curtains made of fabrics (titan in the F1).

Jomar H

-- Jomar Haktorson (jomarh@online.no), January 29, 2002.

This may be the same problem that I just started to have with a canon 630. Have it cleaned before it gums up your shutter on a trip to India (yes, it has happened before...). I'm having mine repaired, but sticking with my T70 that is still going strong. Good luck

-- Pulak Goswami (pulak_goswami@hotmail.com), February 07, 2002.