Leon C
Well-known
Finally got round to looking at the Fujica G690 I bought a while ago and never used it due to the rangefinder not working properly, at the far end it moved and lined up but only so far, when focusing closer it stopped moving and was stuck it seemed.
By the time I got to looking at it it had stopped working altogether.
So took the top off today and had a looky, this is just a hobbyist fixing his own stuff and by no means a professional repair lesson or even the right way to do it but it now works as it should, I should add here that it is relatively an easy Camera to work on to a certain level and even though it's an old camera there are very few 'how to's' on the www.
1: First part is to take the winder off, just unscrew the top part with the shutter release and comes off in 4 parts, just be aware of how the last piece comes off as its position is important so the winder goes back in the right position.
2: See how the lug in the piece on the left is offset.
3: Shoe is just 3 screws and a rectangle washer underneath.
4: Once the winder and shoe are off there are just 4 screws holding the top on, one on the front, back and either end, you can see the 4 screws top left off picture, they are all the same size. You can see the washer from the shoe, top right next to the shoe.
5: Top off, with scabby paint!
6: Clean the glass.
7: It does come out for ease of cleaning.
8: I know the paint and wear is part of the history of the camera but it looked too scruffy for me.
9: Cleaned up and was covered with a Sharpy for now to stop any possible oxidisation, Tamiya Black Semi Gloss Acrylic paint is here but that's for another day, I'll never get it looking like new and don't want to but the old paint was flaking off anyway.
10: In picture 4 you can see the black top plate and that's just held on by 2 screws, here it is removed.
11: After poking around for a few minutes I discovered the lens wasn't moving along the shaft as it should be, marked with 2 white dots, there's another one at the bottom of the lens as well, I cleaned the best I could with some IPA but it's a tight fit but it seemed to release it a little but still kept stopping, so something wasn't quite right!
12: It was this bar, with the 2 white dots, that felt like it wasn't springing back as it should, this is also linked to the parallex system and that works fine so no linkages seemed out of place, it just felt stiff.
13: The rangefinder system is held on with just 3 screws and this picture is underneath it, this post was the culprit it seems, I cleaned the post with IPA by soaking a cotton bud and letting it seep into the mechanism, the bottom goes nowhere so nothing can get into the camera or mirrors. It felt like it was just dirty as almost immediately it freed itself and was springing back as it should.
For now it works, no doubt it needs to be stripped down and cleaned properly but now at last I know where to go when I get down to it, which I'll do when I decide to paint the front.
14: Back together and ready for testing this week.
When putting it back together the only thing to be careful of is the Roll/Sheet Film Selector switch on the back of the top, as it has a lug inside that needs lining up with the switch inside and it's on a spring, so needs fettling to get lined up.
Thanks for watching.
By the time I got to looking at it it had stopped working altogether.
So took the top off today and had a looky, this is just a hobbyist fixing his own stuff and by no means a professional repair lesson or even the right way to do it but it now works as it should, I should add here that it is relatively an easy Camera to work on to a certain level and even though it's an old camera there are very few 'how to's' on the www.
1: First part is to take the winder off, just unscrew the top part with the shutter release and comes off in 4 parts, just be aware of how the last piece comes off as its position is important so the winder goes back in the right position.
2: See how the lug in the piece on the left is offset.
3: Shoe is just 3 screws and a rectangle washer underneath.
4: Once the winder and shoe are off there are just 4 screws holding the top on, one on the front, back and either end, you can see the 4 screws top left off picture, they are all the same size. You can see the washer from the shoe, top right next to the shoe.
5: Top off, with scabby paint!
6: Clean the glass.
7: It does come out for ease of cleaning.
8: I know the paint and wear is part of the history of the camera but it looked too scruffy for me.
9: Cleaned up and was covered with a Sharpy for now to stop any possible oxidisation, Tamiya Black Semi Gloss Acrylic paint is here but that's for another day, I'll never get it looking like new and don't want to but the old paint was flaking off anyway.
10: In picture 4 you can see the black top plate and that's just held on by 2 screws, here it is removed.
11: After poking around for a few minutes I discovered the lens wasn't moving along the shaft as it should be, marked with 2 white dots, there's another one at the bottom of the lens as well, I cleaned the best I could with some IPA but it's a tight fit but it seemed to release it a little but still kept stopping, so something wasn't quite right!
12: It was this bar, with the 2 white dots, that felt like it wasn't springing back as it should, this is also linked to the parallex system and that works fine so no linkages seemed out of place, it just felt stiff.
13: The rangefinder system is held on with just 3 screws and this picture is underneath it, this post was the culprit it seems, I cleaned the post with IPA by soaking a cotton bud and letting it seep into the mechanism, the bottom goes nowhere so nothing can get into the camera or mirrors. It felt like it was just dirty as almost immediately it freed itself and was springing back as it should.
For now it works, no doubt it needs to be stripped down and cleaned properly but now at last I know where to go when I get down to it, which I'll do when I decide to paint the front.
14: Back together and ready for testing this week.
When putting it back together the only thing to be careful of is the Roll/Sheet Film Selector switch on the back of the top, as it has a lug inside that needs lining up with the switch inside and it's on a spring, so needs fettling to get lined up.
Thanks for watching.
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