Bessa R jammed shutter fix: photos

[vdonovan]

I followed Jonathan_100's instructions for clearing the Bessa R shutter jam and they worked a treat. Very, very easy to do.

AND I took photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21036453@N08/sets/72157603307420057/


Someone mentioned putting together a repair manual wiki for the Bessa R. Has anyone started this? If not I'll try to get one together.

 

[rogue_designer]

sweet! Nice work - I'm sure there are others who've run into this and will find a little visual guidance helpful.

 

[BillBingham2]

Vince,

Very cool and looks straight forward too. Thanks.

B2 (;->

 

[Jason Sprenger]

Very, very cool indeed!

 

[ltketch]

as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!

 

[cmogi10]

I was always under the impression the fix was to throw it really hard against the wall.

 

[Morca007]

I was always under the impression the fix was to throw it really hard against the wall.

A brick wall. 😉

 

[vdonovan]

I tried those first and they didn't work. :bang:

 

[ltketch]

I was always under the impression the fix was to throw it really hard against the wall.

No No No, your confusing this with the Leica fixit method!

 

[jamxo]

ahahaha

P.s. Cheers for this, has happened twice on my Bessa R2a, and repaired without qualms by robert white under warranty both times - but my warranty will soon run out, so if it happens again I will try to repair it DIY style.

P.P.S. Am I right in saying that most people jam the bessa shutters in the first place by winding the film on whilst the shutter is still moving? I.e. fast advancing when using slow shutter speeds?

 

[Spider67]

It happened to me only once and I had the impression that it was the film (well the first time I used AGFAPAN) I had to sacrifice it after 20 frames and cahnged the film and had no problem further on...

 

[vdonovan]

The connection between the shutter linkage and the film advance is not robust. It's just a post and slot arrangement with no lock ring to hold it into place. Too much movement (i.e. shutter and film advance moving at the same time, or overly vigorous film advance) can knock the slot off the post. As I saw on my camera even a small displacement jams the shutter.

This also explains why you can sometimes fix it by whacking the bottom of the camera. :bang: If the slot is only a little ways off the post this will slip it back on and you're good to go. But it's almost just as easy to open the bottom and slip the linkage back on, and you have less risk of damaging something else on the camera, like throwing the rangefinder out of whack.

I'm trying to think of something to put on the end of the post that will positively lock the linkage. A blob of solder would do it, or even a blob of crazy glue. I would just be reluctant to put that stuff in my camera in that it will inevitably work loose and gum up something else.

 

[DrLeoB]

How about a Full circle Snap Ring? Easy to put on with appropriate pliers and a "Root Cause" fix.

 

[charjohncarter]

Thanks for the pictures, I know I could fix that problem now.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Yeah, thanks vdonovan. In case my Bessa R ever fails this way, I'll do this before throwing my arms in the air (and not the Bessa to a brick wall)