Technical Comments; Quality Criteria - Canon A-1 Repair Manual

6. Technical Comments
6.1 Quality Criteria
(1) Using the AE-l as a base, and with the goals of
using as many AE-l parts as possible and holding
production cost to a reasonable level, to produce a
product with 50,000 plus operation durability.
(2) As a successor to the EF, the product must be at
least equal in quality to the EF.
(3) Using digital techniques and the latest precision
electronic technology, to build an extremely
versitile product with accurate operation and
excellent reliability.
6.2 The operation of mechanical parts is based on the AE-l,
but the electrical operation is digital rather than
analogue. The use of a dual-trace oscilloscope is
practically imperative . A digital voltmeter is not suitable
as the prime test instrument for this camera.
6.3 The camera uses five integrated circuits. It is necessary
to thoroughly understand the operation and interaction
between the IC's to successfully repair the camera.
(Understanding of Internal operation of individual IC's is
not necessary).
6.4 If the digital inputs for shutter speed, aperture, ASA,
maximum aperture, self timer etc. are not correctly adjust-
ed there will be a direct affect on the viewfinder informa-
tion and exposure accuracy. Each input has a check pOint
built into the pattern. The tolerances are very tight
and careful adjustment is necessary .
6.5 The flexible circuit boards have patterns on both sides of
the boards. Limited space makes it nearly impossible to
install jumpers on the back side of the flex, so caution
should be taken not to break the flexible pattern during
repair.
6.6 To raise the durability to the level established by the
quality criteria, many AE-l parts have been improved.
Some of these parts appear to be identical but there are
differences in material or manufacture. Strict parts
control is required to insure that the correct parts are