Lynx 14 / 14e Popularity

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Fixcinater

Never enough smoky peat
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Dec 10, 2013
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I've hoarded a few of these now and after shooting with them a bit, I'm curious why they aren't more popular than they are. Fastest fixed lens, full manual mode and solid VF / RF systems.

Any thoughts why these are overshadowed by the Electros and Canonets? Was it just lack of popularity when in stores?
 
I guess it's the PX625 and PX640A button cell issue — I also have a Lynx somewhere in my basement vaults (I presume), but I didn't touch it for years because I couldn't get the matching button cell.
 
I never bothered to find out why, but mine was noticeably inferior to the Electro in low-light conditions, and underexposed significantly.
 
Fixcinater said:
Any thoughts why these are overshadowed by the Electros and Canonets? Was it just lack of popularity when in stores?
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To answer with a bit of rationale, we would need to know how much did cost Lynx 14, Lynx 5000 and Electro 35 (GSN size) when new. Size wise, they all weren't too small, but maybe at the day Lynx 14 was assumed to be larger than other two.

My bet is Electros were sold in much larger volumes because of electric shutter (well, rather perfectly usable Av automation) as next level of camera advancement. People who cared about replacing batteries and matching exposure to meter reading got fine exposures also with Lynxes, I believe. Then these were new cameras and meters haven't degraded.
 
A friend gave me a Lynx with (surprise, surprise) a problematic shutter. I stripped it down and found it was just migrated and degraded lubricants; cleaned up it works just fine. I saw nothing in the shutter mechanism to suggest an unusual tendency toward mechanical faults.
 
I guess it's the PX625 and PX640A button cell issue — I also have a Lynx somewhere in my basement vaults (I presume), but I didn't touch it for years because I couldn't get the matching button cell.
Click to expand...

You can always use a hand-held meter. Much more accurate anyway...

Russ
 
They do tend to gum up easier than the G series, and the meters would wear out too. But I just Sunny-16 it, or like Russ said, use a handheld meter when the light gets iffy. Right now, I need to clean my shutter again, only this time I'll give it a good dunk.

PF
 
I had one of these, fully CLA'd and functional. However, the lens never struck me as one of the finest. It's glowy wide open, and never very high contrast. It flared easily too. Also, the camera is rather large and bulky for a rangefinder. I felt that I'd rather take my LTM camera along if I want a compact camera, or just use my M7 with the Zeiss C-Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 instead.
 
I love my Lynx 5000 E. Speeds below 1/30 are sticky, but I don't use them anyway. I won't spend any money trying to repair. Will shoot as long as it lasts and then it be a shelf queen...

8036887361_24555c9b8a_b.jpg
 
Got a bargain Lynx 14e. Shutter stuck. Russ (see post #8 above) cleaned it up for me.

It's a terrific camera. I don't trust and don't use the meter.
 
The mechanical shutters on the Lynx require more lubricant in assembly than the Electro series cameras, and this lubricant invariably gums up the shutter and aperture blades. A proper cleaning with disassembling the lens and shutter is difficult because the meter contacts are difficult to line up when putting things back together. If the meter doesn't work, this isn't relevant. But the quickest way to get the shutter working decently is with a few drops of naphtha. Remove the front lens elements, put a few drops of naptha on the shutter blades, and cycle the shutter at 1/60th a few times. Wipe up the excess naphtha with a cotton swab, and repeat two or three times. The let the camera sit with the lens elements removed for a couple hours so the remaining naphtha evaporates, clean the insides of the lens elements, and put it back together. The speeds should be reasonably accurate.
 
valdas said:
I love my Lynx 5000 E. Speeds below 1/30 are sticky, but I don't use them anyway. I won't spend any money trying to repair. Will shoot as long as it lasts and then it be a shelf queen...

8036887361_24555c9b8a_b.jpg
Click to expand...

Beautiful image!

That kind of sharpness and rendering is what I am hoping for with the Lynx 14E I bought off Etsy. After a complete CLA by Mr. Hama, the camera meters very accurately in daylight (haven't tested the meter in less light yet). The only problem I have with it is that as an eyeglass wearer, I have trouble seeing the exposure indicators at the top of the viewfinder sometimes - have to hold my head just right. I'm running a roll of ISO400 through the camera now to see if all is well with camera and if I still have a modicum of an eye for a good photograph.
 
I hadn't seen this thread before now -- last night I pulled a 14 out of a box and started to refamiliarize myself with it. The finders are very prone to haze, so that's the big negative for me with these cameras -- low light focusing (the point of that fast lens) is almost impossible.

I have never had a shutter problem. But upon inspection of the copy at hand, I found the aperture blades have apparently come out of their tracks. I've never been able to do that repair -- way too many things to mess up on the way there, like the shutter. (But if someone can walk me through it I'd be very grateful!)
 
I have a Lynx 5000e with a non working meter, I truly believe some of my best B/W photos have come from this camera. I think I bought it about 8 years ago and it still works fine. I would like to have it CLAed just to clean the viewfinder innards.

David
 
The lens on the Lynx 5000 is superb. I stopped using mine when the meter became erratic. When I purchased it, the old battery had corroded the contact wire in the battery compartment, I resoldered that and removed the top plate and cleaned the viewfinder windows (not difficult). I ran a few rolls of film through it and I was stunned by the IQ. After that the meter became erratic again so I put it away for several years. I took it out last week and applied some de-oxit into the meter button on the front of the camera. The meter started working again. I think that a lot of the problems with the meters on these things relates to corrosion on the switch and battery contacts. The shutter on mine purrs, so I'll be taking it out again soon. I love this camera!
 
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