Canon 7

[tennis-joe]

I won a Canon 7 RF on Ebay and the description said it had the Titanium shutter ribbon replaced and it looks great. I have only run one roll through it but I am not sure the light meter is right on. Need to do more testing to see if it is close to being on.

I am wondering if the little circle on top near the speed dial is an adjustment? If not I can either crank up or down the ASA to make up for it I assume?

It is a great camera as most of the ones I see on Ebay have drastic wrinkles of the shutter and this one is smooth. I read the brake sometimes causes the wrinkling???

Since it came from a seller in Japan I didn't realize there were still new titanium shutters available for 50 year old cameras? Anybody know for sure?
Joe

 

[dexdog]

Originally, the shutter on the Canon 7 was stainless steel. Not sure where the replacement titanium shutter would have come from. Later Nikon RFs had titanium shutters, and I think early Fs used the same curtains- who knows, maybe some camera tech used the titanium curtain material sourced from a Nikon.

 

[tennis-joe]

Canon 7

I guess you are correct about being Stainless but I am repeating what the seller said. To me it really looks like a cloth shutter but I don't want to touch it.
Thanks,
Joe

 

[illuminati_02]

Quoted from Photoethnography.
http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/Canon7.html


"* I heard that there is a Japanese company that does full overhauls of Canon rangefinders, replacing the steel curtains with titanium curtains that don't crinkle. Unfortunately, the overhaul costs about $500 so it isn't cost effective for the most of us."

 

[Mackinaw]

That little circle you see is an access port for the rangefinder. I'm pretty sure you have to take off the top plate to adjust the meter.

There's always been a lot of speculation on what causes the wrinkled metal curtains on a Canon rangefinder. Most folks believe it's due to clumsy film loading, some folks think it's a design flaw (e.g. brakes, like you mentioned). I have a Canon 7 and 7sZ, both which have absolutely perfect stainless steel curtains, so I'm in the clumsy loading camp.

If you do have titanium curtains, you've got one of the rare Japanese-modified cameras as mentioned in Illumanti's post.

Jim B.

 

[Mackinaw]

Here's a site that has a Canon 7 repair manual. There is a page in the back that talks about adjusting the meter:

http://www.pentax-manuals.com/manuals/service/canon 7 repair.pdf

Jim B.

 

[zauhar]

Joe, the light meter on my Canon 7 seems not very accurate - not sure if that is due to the old Se cell, or the light collector, but it is funky. I was forewarned before buying not to expect it to work.

If by the red dot you mean the little wheel on the back of the top plate, that is to set the sensitivity of the light meter to normal (black) or high (red). In any event I would not count on it. Unfortunately, there is no accessory shoe to put a small meter in. That said I think it is a great camera and a good bargain.

The curtain on my camera is likewise completely straight and unruffled. However, I do find loading film into this camera awkward, so I can believe that ruffled curtains are due to operator error.

Randy