Over/Under light problem GSN

Damian

Damian

Yes. Have some.
Local time
9:15 AM
Joined
Jan 16, 2006
Messages
67
Hi everyone,
I acquired a very, very nice near mint GSN with all the little parts and everything working. It even came with a slick little battery adapter made from a piece of rubber tubing and a metal slug. I ran a roll of film through it this weekend, and I've noticed a weird problem. The metering lights don't work properly. The overexposure light only works if I depress the shutter about 1/4 of the way, and the underexposure yellow arrow will only come on if I depress it past 1/2 way. Anyone ever had this problem? I'm assuming its some contacts somewhere I need to clean up, but I'd like to know exactly what to look at if I can. As it is, I can predict the exposure well enough to not need to worry about it too much, but it would be nice to have it working 100%.
 
greyhoundman said:
It is working correctly. The red light is the first set of sliding switches. The yellow are the second set.
Click to expand...

It's normal for the overexposure light to not come on EVER if the button is depressed three quarters of the way? Maybe I ought to read the manual. :D
 
greyhoundman said:
If you aren't over exposing, it won't come on.
Set the aperture to f1.7 and the asa to 400. Now point it out the window. Does the red light come on?
Click to expand...


That's what I mean. Wide open, with the button nearly firing the shutter, the red light won't come on. I KNOW I'm overexposing - as I tested this in daylight. If I turn the aperture all the way down to f16 in dimmer light, the yellow light will come on and notify me. I'm thinking that the sliding switch for overexposure is disengaging as I push the button further down - If I get the light to come on, and I know the shot is overexposed, and then depress the button further, the light will turn off.
 
greyhoundman said:
Could be a corroded wire to the red bulb. The bulb coud be burned out. Or the switches have debris, like from the POD stuck in them.
To check any of these requires opening the camera up.
Click to expand...

Yeah - I'll have to check. The light is fine - like I said, it comes on. It just won't stay on if I depress the shutter far enough to engage the UNDERexposure switch. I have no idea what the switch mechanism looks like, but I imagine something has got some corrosion on it somewhere.
 
greyhoundman said:
The light won't stay on past it's switch position. If you get a red light, hold the button right there and turn the aperture dial till it goes out.
Click to expand...

This is basically what I have been doing, but shouldn't both switches be engaged at the same time? I'm not sure if I'm making sense. I should be able to push the shutter in half way and have either light come on depending on the situation. Right now, that doesn't happen. They engage at different points of shutter depression.
 
With all due respect, I'm confident in how I'm using the camera. The manual confirms what I am seeing as a problem with my camera. It indicates that I need to press the shutter halfway down, and the exposure lights will come on if necessary to warn me of poor shooting situations. It says nothing about me having to depress the shutter at various distances to get different parts of the meter working, which is my problem.
 
So basically, once I have deprssed the shutter and gotten either a yellow or red arrow, then I adjust the aperture to compensate.. Based on what you guys are saying, if I held the shutter still, only one light will turn on at that position. Thus If i over compensated, I'll never see the other light!? What stupid design...
 
G'man is correct. I have tested the shutter on my GSN, which works perfectly.

Set ASA to 1000, lens to f1.7. Point at a bright light. Depress the shutter to 1/3. The red overexposure light should switch on. Now close down the lens until the red light switches off. If you close down a few more stops to f16, while holding the shutter at this position and point the lens somewhere dark, the yellow underexposure light will not switch on. If you depress the shutter release to about 2/3, the yellow light should switch on.

If you keep the shutter release depressed at this position and point at a bright light and open the lens back to f1.7, the red light does not switch on. If you ease back the shutter release to 1/3, the red light should now switch on. The contacts for over and underexposure lights are at different points in the shutter mechanism.
 
Thank you everyone for your comments. Ill adjust my shooting method with this camera slightly.
 
Just be glad they come on every time :)

I have a wiggly shutter finger just to get them to flicker at me.

However, I try to hover around a faster shutter speed because I shake so much, so I try to ride the line of 1/500th if I can.
 
I just keep my aperture set to f16 and look for a yellow light. If I get one, I just open up until it goes out so I get maximum possible depth of field. If I don't get one, I shoot away. Works for me... :p

After a while, you'll get used to it...


Russ :D
 
Last edited:
Hello Sarge,nice to hear from you,and great info,you know what sarge just got a leica m2 in ebay with summicrom lens 50 m 1.2 nice clean camera for $779.00 I think i did good ,with a lens,case,and cap.Sarge that Yashica in blue din't you sell it in ebay,or do you have another,any more goodies,I have not see you in ebay,ok sarge take care .
 
Hi Jorge!

No, that is my personal machine, but I did sell one similar to it a while back. I just sold a nice Yashica, and I have a TLR on right now. I've been spending a lot of time back in the darkroom recently. I am just about to post some shots in the "Give us a sample picture from your Yashica" thread. Check 'em out!

Russ
 
ywenz said:
So basically, once I have deprssed the shutter and gotten either a yellow or red arrow, then I adjust the aperture to compensate.. Based on what you guys are saying, if I held the shutter still, only one light will turn on at that position. Thus If i over compensated, I'll never see the other light!? What stupid design...
Click to expand...



I think one just have to get use to it if one have to use it.

hm...........think postive, at least it has a light meter built in which is better than a Leica M2 or M3...............

hm.............and it only cost a few dollars today 2nd hand.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom