Konica S2, battery check yes, meter, no.

Greyscale

Greyscale

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I just got a Konica S2 today. It seems like a nice camera, needs agood cleaning, for sure.

I put a new battery in to check the meter, battery check reads OK, but no activity from the meter at all. There is no obvious signs of corrosion in the battery chamber, or any of the wires visible when the bottom is off. Also, no broken or corroded wires when I peeked behind the light meter.

Where are the most likely places to look when troubleshooting the light meter on this camera?

Or should I invest in a handheld meter, forgo the auto feature altogether, and be happy with what I've got?
 
So it will stop in most important moment.

Honestly, I believe those old shutters and lenses are better than meters built in next to them.

Also, if you plan to use KAS2 in Auto mode, make sure aperture is super clean, as in A mode it's set by weak spring and any hint of crud on blades will make aperture to be off right opening.
 
Sometimes the zinc-air batteries take a while to come to life. I've noticed this with my own KAS2.

The other thing to check is to make sure that the battery contacts are clean and making good contact with the battery. If you're using a hearing aid battery (instead of, say, a Wein 625), you'll have to use a shim in the battery box. Try a small piece of tin foil folded over a few times, and make sure the foil isn't grounding out the + and - terminals.

The Wein 625 cells work pretty well. They last a little bit longer than a hearing aid battery, but still only a couple of months.

You can also try a bit of nail polish to seal up a couple of the air holes to increase battery life. Let it dry, then sand down that side of the battery a little to ensure good contact between the battery and the contact.

The KAS2 is an amazing camera. One of my favorite lenses ever.
 
... and after several hours, the light meter stopped working again all on its own ... 😱

Not a big deal, I have several more important fish to fry on this project S2 before I put any film through it. The shutter is sticky, and a simple naphtha flush from the front end is not going to work this time, I fear. The aperture is also sticky, especially at 2.8 and 1.8, it doesn't want to open up that far. And "B" isn't working, it fires at 500 when set to "B", it appears, which is making it very difficult to even attempt to clean the aperture from the front.

Further disassembly is required, most likely including removal of tiny little screws that my carpet seems to have such a hunger for, no matter how careful I try to be.

Oh well. That's what rainy days are for. 🙂

FWIW, the meter problem was most like caused by a bad connection by the blue wire connected at on end to the light meter cell, and at the other end within the lens barrel, it basically just dis-attached with the barest of touch. It is now caused by the disconnection of both the blue and the black wire. The black wire offered a bit more resistance. I may reconnect them at a later date, and I may not. I may just leave the CLA of this fine old camera to a professional, and move on to the next project in line.
 
After removing the front and rear elements and repeated flood cleaning, the shutter is at least firing consistently on all speeds, including "B". The aperture is still sluggish wide open, but it is improving, and now I am feeling confident that I will eventually get it working smoothly once again, if I remain patient.

I like the way that this camera feels, I know that some have said that it is big and heavy for a "compact" rangefinder, but I have big hands, so it feels comfortable to me. I love the big viewfinder, although it is a bit cloudy on this particular camera, but not unusably so. The focus is silky smooth and somewhat longer than what I am used to, but not quite as long as on my Yashica M. The shutter release is almost as nice as the Yashica, short and smooth.

My only complaint ergonomically is that I wish that the aperture ring was a little wider, but I can live with it.
 
I'm still having problems with the aperture opening fully. I ended up following the disassembly instructions found here:

http://www.feuerbacher.net/photo/frame.html?repair.html~Main

to access the front and back of the shutter mechanism. Unfortunately, three of the four screws on the front of the camera were too tight for me to remove with my current screwdrivers, and I didn't want to risk damaging them to the point of having to be drilled out, so I ended up removing the lens assembly by loosening the retaining ring from the back of the camera. I made sure that all of the moving parts were clean and moving freely (I did find a piece of gunk in the front of the shutter assembly that looked like foam light seal material, how it got there and where it came from I have no idea).

I flooding the aperture again, as usual, it works fine when wet, it is drying now so time will tell if I've made any progress. If this doesn't work, I may have to resort to rubbing some graphite onto the aperture blades, I don't think that I can get them any cleaner than I already have short of disassembling the entire aperture and cleaning the blades one by one, and I don't think that I am advanced enough in my repair skills to attempt that, nor do I have the proper tools.

If all else fails, can anyone recommend someone who will CLA an S2?
 
Greg Weber comes to mind. Hurry up, as great camera people stop taking work one by one.

While considering if price matches your expected use of KAS2, read through this
 
After immersing the entire shutter assembly in a custard cup full of naphtha atop my Cerwin Vega loudspeaker with the stereo set to a techno station (poor man's ultrasonic ... LOL) for 24 hours, a distressing amount of sediment; fine particulates, fibrous, and even metallic; has settled to the bottom of the cup. I don't think this particular case of the stickies is caused so much by oily residue as by previous attempts by previous owner to clean the shutter and aperture using Q-tips and graphite lubrication. But after trying your (perhaps even more drastic than mine?) solution for cleaning the aperture, I think that I may be making some progress, dry aperture now opens consistently to perhaps one-quarter off of 1.8.

I don't think that a CLA is really a cost-effective option at this point, I'm sure that I could get a properly-working version of this camera for less than the cost of a CLA plus my original purchase price. And I have more time than money at this time; plus, the experience that I am gaining is invaluable.
 
Good going!

I know it's not your highest concern with your KAS2 at the moment, but my first thought concerning the light meter was that wires behind the sensor were broken, but you said you had the sensor off the camera.
Is the aperture in front of the sensor installed correctly? if it is not moving with the lens aperture ring the sensor might not be getting enough light.

I agree, the KAS2 is a great camera, aperture ring is too narrow.
I like how you can swiftly change DOF by twisting the Aperture and Shutter speed rings at the same time.

I used mine with a Vivitar 283 flash recently at a small rock concert. Looking forward to see how the pictures turned out.
 
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