Posted by Mal Woolford (e-mail withheld by request)

Hi Julian

I'd rather not post my email address to the list, but I've just
worked through the bc error options for the EOS-3 I picked up from
eBay last month, with some success and thought I'd share what happened.

I bought a used EOS-3 from a pro photographer on eBay. Clearly it was
well used and had been on the shelf for months or even years. It
shined up nicely, new batteries and received the flashing bc error
fairly early on. Worked my way through the manual and tried resetting
to factory defaults, including clearing custom functions. Seemed ok,
loaded a bulk-rolled roll of film and used that to get used to the
transport, the wind and rewind, the shutter button. Second go,
flashing bc again. Crikey, couldn't have left the camera on long
enough to run down the battery, nonetheless, changed to a fresh
battery. Successfully shot off a roll and 3 frames then - flashing bc
again. Knew enough now to see that the battery was still effectively
giving a full charge. Now starting to get concerned, I turned to
eosdoc.com to do a thorough snag check. Sending the body for a
service would cost much more than I paid for it.

All contacts cleaned, cardboard spacer above battery, shutter
curtains clear, no mucky stuff anywhere. I double checked the
viewfinder glass that drops down - was that jammed? no. Then, having
exhausted everything else, I decided to watch the mirror action when
firing the shutter. No movement. I lifted the mirror gently with the
edge of my finger to see if there was any resistance when it flips up
(from a drop maybe). On the underside of the shutter is a velvety
edge which *may* have started to become sticky and was *perhaps*
adhering either to the bumpers on either side of the front chamber or
to the small flap that folds down. Perhaps the camera had been stored
in warm conditions? Anyhow, once I had freed it, shutter works
perfectly. No more flashing bc (for now).

I'll keep ensuring it is freed up between rolls and be sure to use
the camera plenty to remind it what it was built for.

Thought I'd drop you this note as there may be more people giving
older EOS cameras a second-life and confronting the BC Error!

Mal