mooge
Well-known
retyping this post... keep getting logged out after five minutes:bang:
#1 -graphite powder-
if lighter fluid alone doesn't unstick your leaf shutter, try graphite powder. put some fine graphite powder in a jar and mix with lighter fluid. dab it on the shutter (or aperture) blades with a small brush. work the mechanism. let it dry... the graphite powder visible may be ugly, but it doesn't really affect performance (in my experiance at least). I'd still reccommend it be wiped off with lens tissue though.
#2 - Copal SV tip-
symptoms:
shutter stuck mostly open, opens fully when wound
speed ring stuck on slow speeds
solution:
someone put the self timer on part way and forced the shutter to wind. there's a lever near the self timer that was bent, and needs to be bent back. when it's in the proper shape, the shutter release will set off the self timer; if it doesnt, you need to do more bending.
remember, a bit at a time.
#3 - Canonet (original) wind stiffness-
if the wind on your Canonet is strangely stiff starting halfway through the wind stroke, your counter is jammed. poke at the advancing levers with the back open to unjam. the counter will be off the scale if this is the case.
#4 - Stuck group?-
if you can't get a lens group off to get at the shutter, try making your own spanner holes. for my Canonet, I removed the front element, drilled two holes with a dremel tool, then bruteforced it off with pliers that I had ground down. much better than the spanner slots that were provided.
so what if it's ugly? the camera works now.
#5 -smoothifying the shutter release-
Some fixed lens RF's use really complicated mechanical linkages to make some sort of autoexposure function work. all the bars and springs involved in turn make the shutter release long and heavy and just miserable. if you remove some that stuff, your shutter release will be much better- I've done this to a Canonet (original) and a Hi-Matic 7 with success. Oh, of course, your AE won't work now, but did you really trust your 50 year old camera to judge exposures for you?
Cheers,
EJL
#1 -graphite powder-
if lighter fluid alone doesn't unstick your leaf shutter, try graphite powder. put some fine graphite powder in a jar and mix with lighter fluid. dab it on the shutter (or aperture) blades with a small brush. work the mechanism. let it dry... the graphite powder visible may be ugly, but it doesn't really affect performance (in my experiance at least). I'd still reccommend it be wiped off with lens tissue though.
#2 - Copal SV tip-
symptoms:
shutter stuck mostly open, opens fully when wound
speed ring stuck on slow speeds
solution:
someone put the self timer on part way and forced the shutter to wind. there's a lever near the self timer that was bent, and needs to be bent back. when it's in the proper shape, the shutter release will set off the self timer; if it doesnt, you need to do more bending.
remember, a bit at a time.
#3 - Canonet (original) wind stiffness-
if the wind on your Canonet is strangely stiff starting halfway through the wind stroke, your counter is jammed. poke at the advancing levers with the back open to unjam. the counter will be off the scale if this is the case.
#4 - Stuck group?-
if you can't get a lens group off to get at the shutter, try making your own spanner holes. for my Canonet, I removed the front element, drilled two holes with a dremel tool, then bruteforced it off with pliers that I had ground down. much better than the spanner slots that were provided.
so what if it's ugly? the camera works now.
#5 -smoothifying the shutter release-
Some fixed lens RF's use really complicated mechanical linkages to make some sort of autoexposure function work. all the bars and springs involved in turn make the shutter release long and heavy and just miserable. if you remove some that stuff, your shutter release will be much better- I've done this to a Canonet (original) and a Hi-Matic 7 with success. Oh, of course, your AE won't work now, but did you really trust your 50 year old camera to judge exposures for you?
Cheers,
EJL
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