[jojuki]

Almost every Canon AL-1 I have ever seen used has a broken battery latch. This latch, which should hold the vertically placed two AAA cells, is one of the most flimsy 'works of art' Canon ever made.

The camera is superb but how to keep the batteries from falling out taxes my imagination. Anyone have creative ideas how to secure this latch? I have thought of drilling a tiny hole on the center top of the battery compartment and working a bracket of some sort but I would like to know how others have dealt with this dilemma before taking drastic measures.

It is so tempting to put in good batteries and then place a drop or two of crazy glue in the latch in order to seal up the mess. But then, when I had to change batteries I would be crying anew. Thank you. - David Lyga

just last night i came up with an ingenious (at the risk of being immodest) solution to this common problem. there is a litte screw at the base of the battery compartment at the upper right with the camera resting on its back. I removed this screw and replaced it with a longer, slightly fatter one and made a bracket out of a narrow strip of metal with a whole in it at one end. while pressing down on the cover with batteries in, i screwed down the strip of metal across the cover. voila! barely visible and totally functional repair! i got the screw and metal piece from a junk lens i took apart.