GSN Exposure Counter not working

[DrTebi]

Today I put the first film into my "new" Yashica Electro 35 GSN. The camera seems to be in superb condition, very clean, new seals etc. Shooting works flawlessly as well. The lights both work, however they flicker a bit at times.

What's not working however is the exposure counter. I noticed that it does actually move when I advance the lever, but once the lever is turned to it's max, the counter moves back to "S".

Is there an easy way to fix this?

I remember that with my last analog camera I would often keep shooting without looking at the exposure counter, and at some point I realized I couldn't advance any further. I suppose I can do the same for now... it says in the GNS manual that the film could tear, but I wonder if it really is that easily torn. Has anybody torn a film out of it's cassette before?

Thanks!

 

[Mablo]

Don't worry about it. I never keep an eye on the film counter anyway. It's not that easy to rip the film out of the cassette unless you are Hulk Hogan. Those aperture lights are flickery sometimes so nothing wrong there. Enjoy your new GSN and post some photos!

 

[btgc]

My GSN had similar issue. If I pressed advance lever down while advancing, it moved on. Note, this were needed for couple of first frames only, then counter worked fine.

 

[nathanp]

I have the same problem. It didn't move at all for the first roll, the second roll wasn't properly loaded (oops - blank film), before loading the third I wound & "dry fired" a load of times and it started moving a little. On the third roll I think it advanced to about 4 or 5 through the course of a 36 exposure film.

I'll have to try btgc's tip..

 

[DrTebi]

I am glad to see that I am not the only one experiencing this.

Well, I guess I just have to make sure I always keep an extra film with me. Or maybe the trick of pushing down the lever when advancing will work.

Thanks, and I promise that I will post some images soon!

 

[DrTebi]

Well, I have now shot my first roll of film and ripped it out of the cassette.

After the last picture, I turned the lever as usual, and it stopped half way. I started the rewind procedure, but when rewinding somehow the film lost it's connection to the spool inside the cassette. It was a mess. I somehow managed to move half the film back into the cassette, but I am pretty sure the film is useless now.

When I inspected the camera a bit closer, I noticed that there is a small little contact within the right top light seal that corresponds to a little metal lip on the lid. These are a bit worn out, and the lid doesn't close super-tight either.

I then noticed that the exposure counter actually works if I press the lid a bit when winding, or by just applying pressure to where the contact is.

So my thinking is that I could either try to somehow restore the metal lip so it pushes a bit more onto the contact, or I could try to make the lid close tighter.

Has anybody experience with this? It would prevent me from ripping another film out of it's cassette...

 

[DrTebi]

Solved it.

I realized that the camera's film door was just slightly bulged. So I simply straighted out the door, carefully. This effectively brought the "metal lip" closer to the contact, and now it works just fine!

Just posting this here in case someone else tries to fix his exposure counter.

 

[b1bmsgt]

Are the light seals in good shape, or are they a gooey mess? If the latter, that could contribute to the problem with the frame counter, as well.

As far as ripping the film out of the cassette, just wind the film slowly. You will be able to feel the resistance if you take your time and stop before it pulls out.


Russ

 

[DrTebi]

The light seals are new. There is no seal on top of the contact for the exposure counter though, but I assume there is not supposed to be one.

Anyway, it works fine now after straightening out the door a bit, the exposure counter runs now with now problems.

 

[Dfin]

DrTebi,if you look closely at the door,on the top edge at the right hand end (looking @ the camera back) you will see a very small lug/protrusion that corresponds with the "button" in the groove of the camera body. Hope this helps, just had a close look at my GT.

 

[Special Kai]

Hi there. I'm having a similar problem here. After fixing the POD everything seems to be working fine, apart from the exposure counter. It always stays at 'S' and when I advance the lever, the counter moves slightly, just to return to 'S' straight after. I've also changed the light seals, but it doesn't seem to cause the problem. I've turned the Internet upside down and found no answer. It's super frustrating! Does anyone here have any suggestions?

Kai

 

[DrTebi]

Have you read post no. 7? That did it for me... you may have the same issue, at least it's worth taking a closer look.

 

[Special Kai]

Thanks for the reply. I've tried that, but it doesn't seem to be affecting the counter in any way. I think I might have messed something up while fixing the POD.