M2 with shutter issues...Is it worth the money?

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niels christopher

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I'am seriously considering to buy myself a film m, preferably a M3 or M2. It'll be my first film M, I used to shoot the M8, but sold it some while ago.

I found someone who is willing to sell his m2, the camera looks absolutely mint, almost no scratches, no dents or whatever.
Unfortunately the camera seems to have problems with long shutterspeeds, he says that the shutter runs with errors on 1sec, 1/2sec and 1/4sec. Other than that the camera seems to be in perfect user condition.

Now the question:
Should i go for it? I guess i would'nt use the long speeds that often anyways, so it would'nt bother me too much.
How much would you pay for such a camera, is this a rather serious problem or easily fixed with a CLA?


Thanks in advance,

Niels 🙂
 
Hard to estimate a price w/ a camera that possibly needs a CLA, but since everything but the slowest speeds are supposed to be OK, maybe $500 to $700 if it's really mintish and the viewfinder is crystal clear. If you don't shoot the slowest speeds, just leave it as it is for now. A CLA can run anywhere from $100 from Youxin Ye to $350 from DAG.
 
What price are they asking? I bought a beater M2 that needed an overhaul and before I knew it I had $1100 in it. I say buy one in good condition unless you can get that one for $2-300 as is and then plan to spend $200-500 on a full CLA. How is the contrast in the finder? That's something you cannot fix.
 
Steve M. said:
Hard to estimate a price w/ a camera that possibly needs a CLA, but since everything but the slowest speeds are supposed to be OK, maybe $500 to $700 if it's really mintish and the viewfinder is crystal clear. If you don't shoot the slowest speeds, just leave it as it is for now. A CLA can run anywhere from $100 from Youxin Ye to $350 from DAG.
Click to expand...

To $500 from Sherry.
 
If its only the 1sec, 1/2 sec, and 1/4 sec speeds that are playing up, the slow speed governor needs adjustment and/or cleaning. A basic repair for a competent repairman.
 
niels christopher said:
...I found someone who is willing to sell his m2, the camera looks absolutely mint, almost no scratches, no dents or whatever. Unfortunately the camera seems to have problems with long shutterspeeds, he says that the shutter runs with errors on 1sec, 1/2sec and 1/4sec. Other than that the camera seems to be in perfect user condition...

How much would you pay for such a camera, is this a rather serious problem or easily fixed with a CLA? ...
Click to expand...

IMHO - it sounds to me like it simply needs a CLA - plan on ~$350 for that. If you budget this amount, then ~$500 (around $350 for a button rewind) would be a fair price - assuming there are no other issues with the camera.
 
I agree with jonmanjiro- it should be an easy fix. it's the kind of thing someone like me would hope for. you could probably do it yourself if you were daring enough, but then again, I'd only recommend that if you've repaired cameras before...


nice deal on that M3 by the way. I bought my M2 for about that much and it was beat up and had a leaky shutter curtain.
 
The slow shutter speeds tend to "gum" up a bit if not used. If everything else works, go for it. It could be that the slow speeds just need a bit of exercise to start working. It is not a huge job to clean and adjust anyway. Get it, shoot with it and if you find yourself in slow speed territory frequently - have them adjusted.
One thing to check for on all speeds is that the shutter is not "capping" at normal speeds. Common at 1/250 and above with cameras that have been sitting unused for a long time.
Depending on the price, it sounds like a good deal if it is under $700. Most likely a local camera repair person can adjust the speeds and/or clean the slow speed escarpment for modest amount - and also check the speeds across the the whole range.
A full CLA is something you might want to factor in after a while - depending if you start having uneven exposures or irregular travel of the shutter curtains.
Mechanical cameras have a large latitude in speeds. Usually in the range of 10-15% - film has sufficient latitude to handle that anyway.
When you get the camera, spend an evening "dry firing" it - watch some movie on TV and just cycle through the speeds a 25-50 times, just to distribute lubrication around the mechanism. Drives anybody else in the room nuts though!
 
Since it is an auction, I don't know the exact price it will sell for just yet. I'll contact the seller again & try to find out a bit more about the camera, judging from the outer appearance it looks like it sat in some shelf unused for quite some time. However I will definitely keep an eye on it now!


Thank you so much for all the friendly advice! 🙂
 
Well, the M3 has not arrived yet, but my regular go to person for CLA mumbled 130USD for slow speed fix + cleaning of the RF windows + general CLA. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the description of the condition is accurate.

cheers!
 
funny enough, I've got shutter capping at 1/1000 that I'm trying to fix right now. I had to pull a roll of Kodachrome 200 before I took it apart... oh, screwing up is so inconveniant...:bang:

M-2.jpg


That's actually the right way to pull the shutter bits out of the body casting by the way. my M2's okay by the way.

cheers.
 
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