Contax I setting shutter speeds

[Dralowid]

My newly acquired Contax I (c I think) has arrived. Rather surprisingly the shutter appears to work on all sorts of speeds.

However, can someone help me with a short tutorial on how to set 'em? I can see that knob can be lifted out and repositioned against the two dots, I can also see that the body of the dial can be turned to line up with the marker on the camera body. What bothers me is that it appears to be possible to set the same speed in two different ways ie you can get a fast speed to fire and still hear the slow speed mechanism or you can get it to make a satifying klunk.

The blinds appear to be behaving correctly but I sense that I am doing something wrong in the way I set the speeds. (Yes, I do wind on before setting).

Part of the problem is that the thing needs cleaning, I can barely see the markings!

Thanks in advance

Michael

 

[dexdog]

Goofy system with these old cameras. There are several dots on the rotating shutter dial that represent a group of shutter speeds, such as 1000,500, 200, or 50, 25, 10, etc. Don't recall exact groupings of shutter speeds on the Ic, but I hope that you get the idea. The shutter speeds are grouped in discrete ranges

Once a group of shutter speeds has been selected, you lift up the top of the shutter dial and turn the arrow/dot to one of the speeds located in selected group. You should see and feel the arrow drop down into place on the selected speed

I don't think that it is possible to set one shutter speed from two different groups. Given the shape of the cut-out ring at the base of the shutter speed dial where it meets the camera body, one or two of the speeds from the adjacent speed group (NOT the group that is selected) may be visible, however, while you may be able to turn the arrow to these speeds, you will not be able to drop the arrow down to enable these speeds.

You can see why the Contax II had a much simpler top-mounted dial

 

[Dralowid]

Dexdog,

Many thanks, I reckon I get the gist. I'm going to try and clean up the markings in the hope that there is some 'colour coding' assistance behind the grime.

Best

Michael

 

[Dralowid]

Well, it worked for a week before things went wrong and it was satisfying to use while it worked.I guess coming out of long term retirement was too much for the shutter tapes. Going to send it off for shutter repair and cleaning of the rangefinder which is seriously dim. I'm happy to tackle Leicas and have done a Kiev or two but this thing looks a bit too much for me and I don't want to butcher anything.

More anon,

Michael