Foam thickness

A technical question.

I would like to change the light seal foam in one of my cameras.

So does anyone know the thickness of the light seal foam that is required for mirror bumper and the film door for an AE-1 Program?

1.0 mm for the film door, and 3.0 mm for the bumper?

Suggestions.........

Thanks

Gary

 

Gary , I have a lot of old film cameras and find it necessary to replace the mirror bumper material.
If you can not get replacement foam try the material computer mouse pads are made of.
as for the thickness, measure the original but if the new material is a bit thicker I would not worry too much as it's function is to take the vibration out of the mirror as it slaps out of the way of the sensor receiving light.
If you are still having problems send me a email and I shall send you some.
regards Craig S.

 

Thanks for your reply Craig. The problem that I have is that the original foam has broken down, so I don't actually know the thickness that it should be.

Gary

 

Have a look at your other cameras and measure what they are, this could give you a good idea of the thickness and it is then trial and error, still have a problem let me know.

 

I was lucky and found an example of how to replace foam on a film camera I had that specified the thickness as well as the fitting methods.
If you check out the internet with a search something like "replacing camera seal" you may find some information.
I then purchased the materials from ebay.
Good luck.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2VuUGUccMo , video on youtube for your camera, I do not know how to post a proper link unfortunately.

 

Excellent. I will have a look.

Gary

 

Be wary of people selling foam kits on eBay - I bought one when I didn't know any better for a Pentax and the mirror bumper foam decayed after about 4 months and turned into goo.

I use Jon Goodman - you can find him online with a bit of Googling - he doesn't run a shop as such but his seals are far and away the best. Plus the door channel seals he sells don't need glue so they are a doddle to fit.

If your stuck finding an addy for him hit me up on a private message and I will email you his addy. He is a nice guy and just the instructions are worth the price of the kit.

Cant say for the door seals as I replaced mine with one of Jons kits and they are made of a kind of expanding foam - you just press them into place and leave them for 20 minutes or so - the mirror bumper is 3mm if thats any help.

Mel

 

I used a piece of computer mouse pad, it works fine and I had no problems in it twelve months of use.

 

Call me picky ( I do in fact have baaaaaad OCD) but I just like everything ‘just so’ and am always inclined to spend a bit to get it perfect. Believe me thats a curse when working with old cameras and lenses because a bit of dust than anyone else would leave alone can turn into a marathon dust blowing seasion for me