Adjusting the shutter on Zenit SLRs

[Huss]

This was written up for the Zenit E komrads, but is identical for my Zenit TTL which had a lazy second curtain at 1/30.
Super easy to do, just takes a few minutes. Saved me many rubles from taking it to a shop.

https://www.lomography.com/magazine/189403-zenit-e-shutter-curtain-repairs

 

[wolves3012]

Unfortunately, I can't entirely agree with this. Although it will effect a "repair", my experience of these shutters is that a freshly CLA'd shutter runs properly with very little tension. A shutter that sticks is almost always due to it needing a CLA and winding the tension up does nothing to solve that, it just puts more strain on the parts. It might be true that the springs lose tension over very long periods but that's not happened on my 60 year-old Zorkis (same shutter).

 

[Huss]

I can see how that may be for yours, but it totally makes sense that a 60 year old camera can lose tension in its spring. My shutter wasn't sticking, it had a lazy second curtain. Those tension adjusters are there for a reason. If they weren't meant to be adjusted, they wouldn't be there.
Mine works great now at all speeds.


p.s. I agree a CLA would be ideal, but when one spends pennies on a camera that now works as intended, the incentive is pretty low.
🙂

 

[wolves3012]

Indeed, it's a possibility and I wasn't suggesting it's never an appropriate action. I was simply pointing out that it is more often a symptom of a shutter needing CLA.

 

[Steve M.]

I agree, it's fine for a home quick fix attempt, but it does nearly always mean there's other issues. This didn't work on my Zenit when I tried it years ago, which had the same curtain issue yours did. It was a very frustrating problem because it would ruin several frames each roll, but not the same frames. I finally decided that FSU lenses were a good deal, the cameras were best left alone. Youxin Ye "CLAs" shutters like this, and it caused severe shutter bounce on an M3 I owned. Cost me $350 to send it out to a pro shop and have the shutter fixed right. John at Focal Point Optics (they only do optics now and don't do cameras anymore) told me he had never seen a shutter that had the screws tensioned so tightly before. You can't just keep adding tension to the screws more and more. I mean, sure, I can give it a try at home, why not? It worked on a Canon FT QL I own that was shutter capping, so I'm not knocking it. It's just that this is a work around, and not a fix. The real problem I suspect is dried lubricants and debris, which end up hindering proper shutter operation. I wish it had worked on my Zenit because I really liked that little camera, but truthfully, every FSU camera I ever owned was nothing but trouble.

 

[Huss]

I would never do this on a fancy camera, but when that camera was $20, $15 of which was shipping...
😉
I will give an honest report once my film comes back from the test roll. If I messed things up, I will let you know.
(it will be about a month as I make sure I have a bunch of rolls to be sent in at once)