Erin's Quest

/ Blog / Canon AF35M II Repair Attempts /

Toward the end of 2025 I inherited a Canon AF35M II from my late great aunt. I have a fascination with digital point and shoot cameras, so i was immediately interested in seeing what this category of camera was like during the 35mm era. I had some Ilford HP5 left over which felt era-appropriate.

It had been sitting in storage in its original case and was in near perfect condition, for the most part. The batteries had not been removed, leaving behind corrosion. I figured that this would be an easy job; removing the batteries then using some white vinegar and cotton swabs to clean up the corrosion, but it didn't play out quite so well in practice.

I was able to get one of the corroded batteries out easily by gently tapping the top of the case with the battery door open, but the other was stuck fast. Initially, I tried prying it from the edges using a wooden toothpick to prevent any damage to the plastic surroundings. The surrounding plastic was hugging the battery too closely, and wouldn't allow for any sort of movement. I was somewhat overzealous and started trying to free it with pliers, which gave me more purchase on the battery but also led to me shearing some of the plastic off of the inside lip of the battery cover.

Not making any progress, I moved on to cleaning up the corrosion. I was able to clean up the corrosion within the free compartment and its surrounds fairly well. I used an eyedropper to get some vinegar down the sides of the compartment with hopes of freeing the negative end of the remaining battery, which is when I noticed that the vinegar had begun to seep through the internals of the camera.

As a result of these difficulties, I feel that I have to to put this repair attempt on hold until I'm able to get more information. I was able to find a few forum threads on this camera through cursory research, but overall information on this camera online seems to be sparse. If you've managed to repair this camera successfully, please send me an email about it or something.