Checking the function of a Yunon YN500 (or other toy cameras)

It has been a long time since I've posted anything to this blog. I was just asked on flickr about checking the operation of a camera, specifically a Yunon 500, since the asker had just picked one up though, so I think it's time to pick this back up.

The questioner said she'd loaded film into the camera, and wanted to be sure it was working properly. Well, here's my answer:


While your film is loaded, there are two main things I can think of to do, and on some cameras, a third indication:

1. When you press the shutter button, make sure the shutter actually opens -- you can do this by taking a picture while you're looking straight at/through the lens, in good light. If you're watching closely, you should be able to see a little movement. I think. [Goes to find his Yunon 500, and checks...] Yup. There's a little grey circle there that you can see through the lens. When you click the shutter button, you should (if all is well, and you have enough light, and you're paying close attention) see that disappear and then reappear very quickly.
2. When you wind to the next frame (turning the little dial on the back, with this camera -- though this applies to almost any mechanical 35mm camera), the rewind lever (on the left of the camera, when held in front of you, lens pointing away) should spin. Sometimes this won't happen on the first frame or two of the roll, as there can be slack in the film cartridge. But once you've advanced a few frames, it should be that that rewind lever turns every time you advance the film. This is mostly a good way to check that the film is loaded properly, but it can also be an indication of camera function.
3. On some cameras, though I suspect the Yunon 500 is actually not among them (and mine has film loaded at the moment, so I can't actually check), the shutter cocking mechanism actually depends on having the film travel across a sprocket. So if the film isn't moving, or there's something else wrong with the camera, the shutter button won't do anything.

Of course, the real test is to actually get some film back, and see what you got. In my experience, most drug-store mini-labs (or any other lab, really) will do inexpensive "develop only" processing if you request it. And they often have some inexpensive film, as well. If your new camera only cost you $1 at a thrift store, this might sound expensive, but you should be able to put a roll of film through the camera and get it processed for somewhere in the $4-7 dollar range, for both film and processing. So you can just "throw away" a roll, to test the camera, or go out shooting for real, but with the expectation that you *may* not get good results, and at least check it without losing much. You can always ask them to print (or scan) the negatives after the fact -- especially if you ask to get it back uncut, in which case they may still be willing (perhaps best to ask in advance of dropping off the film) to give you the at-development-time prices for things.

Happy shooting!