Question about Canon 814XL Electronic

[mwkurt]

Hello,

I have a question that I hope someone can answer. I have purchased the above camera off of Ebay and wanted to test out the workings. I have installed batteries and am trying to get the motor to work. The Zoom works okay, but when I press the trigger, the film motor does not seem to work. Does this camera need to have film installed for the mechanism to work? I don't have a roll of film yet so I am hoping there is some way to test it out.
Thanks,
Mark

[Guy Bennett]

On mine the motor runs whether there is film in the camera or not.

[morales72]

Hi! I got the same camera from ebay several months ago. I was nearly mint condition but when I put the batteries and push the buttom did weird things. I runs with or without film inside. What I did was to plug in the remote and start playing with it. I seems that there is a sort of magnetized mechanism in those cameras that gets stucked if they are not used in a long time (like most of them). Give it a try and I hope this works.

Best regards,

Morales

[Mitch Perkins]

Does this camera need to have film installed for the mechanism to work?

Definitely not. However since it maybe sat around for a long time, popping a cartridge in might somehow "jump start" it.

It does have an electromagnet, but sometimes that works and the camera still won't transport film. If you feel like getting inside it, a close look and some gentle prodding [wood or plastic prodder] might be educational.
All the action is under the left side cover panel [operator POV].

Let me know if you want more detail, but I'm no expert - these cameras have stumped me more than once.

Mitch

[PCQ1]

:idea:

Please don't take this the wrong way, I am NOT insulting your Intelligence. I have been a professional FAX technician for 24 years and sometimes the answer is so obvious that nobody thinks of it and it's literally under your nose.

Here goes: The control knob on the left hand side near the bottom marked "off", "R" & "RL" is it turned to R for "Run" ?

[johnnhud]

I got one as well. The camera would run at all speeds except for 24fps. After some "gentle prodding" inside of the camera, it started working. Again, probably just gummed up or something from so many years of non use...

[Billbot]

I've had a few cameras of e-bay that had this problem. Basically, the contact in the trigger wears out or dies somehow. I took my cameras to a professional camera repair shop to get this fixed; usually cost me $60- $80. I'm not saying that this is your problem; I'm just saying that I've had this happen to me.
My cameras were a canon 1014 electric, and a nikon r10 that I still own.

Good Luck!