I jammed the shutter on my R...

[Kyle]

Well, I was shooting this morning with my Bessa R and somehow managed to jam the shutter. I was shooting on 1/250, so I do not believe I advanced the film while the shutter was still open. Although I suppose that could be a possibility. To be quite honest, I wasn't paying too much attention to the camera when it happend. I was just shooting away. Anyways, I already emailed Stephen Gandy about the issue as I bought it from him and its still under warranty. Although I suppose to him this will clearly be my fault and he won't cover it under warranty (Cameraquest's site specifically says they do not cover jammed shutters due to user error). Is there a cheap or easy fix for this problem? I'd hate to have to trash such a wonderful and useful camera, but I also don't want to spend nearly the cost of a new R for a repair. I guess the timing of my M3 purchase Friday could not have been better... :bang:

 

[rpsawin]

Kyle,

Below is a post from the CV Users Group. While it is not an exact match it may be helpful. Good Luck & Merry Christmas.

Bob



make sure the batteries are good
make sure the batteries are installed correctly
make sure the battery cap is turned all the way to lock
make sure the shutter lock is not on

Stephen

Matthew Powell wrote:

> I recently purchased an R2A body (LNIB used from Badger Graphics) for
> a backup to my M7 (or if I liked it enough, a replacement).
>
> It arrived this morning, but I seem to have run into a problem. With
> two different sets of batteries I can't get the shutter to fire or
> the film advance to move in order to wind on film, and I can't get
> any of the viewfinder LEDs to come on. I'm afraid the electronics are
> DOA, but want to see if anyone's encountered this or has an inkling
> what's going on before I ship it back.
>
> The only thing out of the ordinary that I find is that the rewind
> button seems to be depressed (does that interrupt the viewfinder
> circuitry?), but I can't seem to find a way to un-depress it, and
> opening/closing the back seems to do no good. The shutter release
> button pushes all the way down, but doesn't engage the shutter or the
> electronics.
>
> (Despite it not working, I'm quite impressed by the feel of the body,
> the raised portion on the back actually makes it easier to hold than
> my Leica. I know Leica's stuck in the '60s, but could they please
> hire one ergonomics expert?)
>
> Thanks,
> Matt Powell

 

[jlw]

The CVUG post won't help, because it's about the R2a (electronic shutter) whereas Kyle's problem is with an R (mechanical shutter -- batteries have no effect.)

When you say the shutter is "jammed," what do you mean? Do you mean it's stuck open? If so, don't touch it -- send it in for service. You can make it worse if you try to touch the blades.

Or do you mean it doesn't fire, but you can't advance the film? If so, try this: press in the rewind button and hold it; while the button is in, see if you can work the film advance lever; if you can, work it until it stops. Now see if the shutter will release. If it will, try the advance again and see if everything now is functioning normally.

This may help, and even if it doesn't, at least it shouldn't hurt anything. If this procedure does not restore the shutter to working properly, you'll need to send in the camera for service.

Don't try forcing any of the controls, or banging the camera against anything.

I once had the shutter become blocked on my R2, apparently because the shutter lock and advance lock got out of sync, but was able to get it working again by the procedure above.

 

[rpsawin]

JLW,

Pardon me for trying to be helpful. Thank you for clarifying my post.

Bob

 

[jlw]

Oh, for goodness sake, I wasn't criticizing you for trying to be helpful! Lots of good info there for people who might encounter this problem on an R2a or R3a.

 

[Kyle]

jlw, thank you very much for the info. Unfortunately it looks like its back to Gandy for service. Hopefully it doesn't cost too much.

 

[CameraQuest]

Kyle, the camera is under warranty. We won't know the problem until the tech opens up the camera. Just ship it back to CameraQuest, along with a $15 check for warranty return shipping. The Bessas are dependable cameras, but being made by man sometimes they break ... just like Leicas! The warranty verbage developed after people dropped their cameras or ran their fingers thru the shutter, and then expected it to fixed for free!

Thanks,

Stephen

 

[ChrisN]

And you can't ask for better than that.

 

[Kyle]

Kyle, the camera is under warranty. We won't know the problem until the tech opens up the camera. Just ship it back to CameraQuest, along with a $15 check for warranty return shipping. The Bessas are dependable cameras, but being made by man sometimes they break ... just like Leicas! The warranty verbage developed after people dropped their cameras or ran their fingers thru the shutter, and then expected it to fixed for free!

Thanks,

Stephen

Stephen,
Thank you for your reply on here, and I also received your email. I am shipping out my camera tomorrow. Also, I wanted to add, that if my original post came off negative in any way, that was not my intention at all. I only made this post for two reasons: 1) to vent for the camera failure and 2) to find out if there were any fixes in case my camera was no longer under warranty. I only wanted to add that because, reading over my original post again, some of my wording wasn't so great, so I do not want there to be any misunderstanding.
Thank you!

 

[Nearsighted]

Good things to say about Steve.

Good things to say about Steve.

Iv'e had a simular experience with my R a year or two ago. I contacted Steve at CQ by phone. The man was most helpfull along with being totally honest. I told Steve that I had purchased the camera used and that I didn't know where to send it to get the shutter un-stuck. I'm glad I called him. He told me that there would be a $75.00 fee for him to work on the camera. Then what he said suprised me. He said that I might be able to free the sticky shutter myself by very gently using my finger nail against one of the little rivets in the shutter mechinism. Whala! My shutter was free and hasn't givin me ANY trouble since. I'm not sure Steve would like all this to be public information. Ofcourse, your milage may vary. I don't mean to divuldge any trade secrets. I'm just trying to write a simple "thank you" note.

 

[Nearsighted]

I just read Frank's "Gandy's Bessa madness" thread. All I can say is I found the man to be polite and to the point.