2 Comments

1. 
   venusina · 2014-09-24 18:16

   Hello! Could you explain me how you do this? I also have Canon AE-1.

2. 
   hairymelon · 2014-09-24 22:24

   hey, no problem - i'll do my best to explain it here but its a little tricky, it took me a few rolls to really get the double exposure method down, and i still mess up now and again. (i couldnt tell by the question if you already know what a double exposure is, so ill just try to explain it here, in case you do not. and if you do, go right ahead an d skip to the next paragraph) essentially the idea of a double exposure is to trick your camera into thinking it has moved on to a new frame, so that the shutter will release again, even though the film hasnt actually moved - so you end up with two pictures on the same frame. so you take a picture, use the method i describe below to wind the film, and then take another picture and end up with a double exposure.

   okay here goes.

   On the ae1 it involves three parts of the camera, the film release button (on the bottom right of the camera), the rewind knob, and the film advance lever. First, flip out the rewind knob like youre going to rewind your film and wind backwards until you feel the slightest bit of tension, once you feel the tension, stop winding the film but keep one finger there maintaining the pressure on the knob. Then, you have to press down your film release button HALF WAY. try to make sure you press it half way because if you accidentally push it all the way it can take three or more exposures to recatch the film and you end up with crazy multiple exposures (which are sometimes really awesome) instead of just double exposures - it takes a while to get the hang of it, dont worry if you mess up the first few times.

   okay, so then its time to wind the film but you have to make sure that while youre winding it youre holding the film release button halfway down and maintaining the backwards pressure on the rewind knob. if youre doing both of those things, wind the film as normal (or as normal as it can get while youre hands in that position). if all went well, the exposure count should not increase (on certain cameras it does increase, but on ae1s it doesnt) so if you take a picture on exposure 18 and you attempt to double expose using the method i told you above, but the counter increases to exposure 19, the picture will not double expose because the film wound normally.

   one final tip is that you should know is to lower the aperture on the second photo of the double exposure even lower than the camera reads. so if your light meter reads 8 you should actually set your aperture just under 8 or even at 5.6 depending on the effect you want. basically you just want to avoid over exposing the photo by making both photos too bright, but in reality it does not have to be the second photo that is underexposed. which ever layer of the photo you want to be more prevalent should be exposed normally and with the other you should set the aperture lower than the meter reads.

   i really hope that helped - while i was writing it it made sense, but that doesnt really mean it actually makes sense. let me know if you need further clarification, and ill try to help you out. good luck!