problem with revue 400 se

[der.chris.tian]

i just arrived from a flea market with another revue 400 se in my hands.

i couldn't believe, that i found this exemplar right on my first flea market since last summer so... it seems that my happyness overshadowed parts of my brain, cos i forgot to test all functions.

back home i realized, that the aperture stucks at one size. always. i think it's f5,6/f8 or so... the light meter seems to work properly and shows different values.


do you have any idea, what the problem could be? is it maybe well known?

 

[kmack]

I am no expert on the Revue but I believe it is a modified Minolta Hi-Matic 7SII. You may want to check if it has an AE exposure lock. Set your aperture and press the shutter button halfway and see if the iris changes.

 

[der.chris.tian]

[...)Set your aperture(...)

hm. this camera has no aperture i could choose. it has a time-priority...


another thing which i don't understand is this 'two-aperture-system'.

when i look into the lens there are two of them; one which - as is said - always stucks at a size of ~f8 and one which is behind it and makes the exposure.

maybe the outer aperture covers the inner one... i don't know... 😕

 

[cbass]

Hello, I own a similar camera (Vivitar 35 ES) and I may be able to help. Our cameras share a very similar shutter and aperture system. There are two five-bladed openings: the outer aperture and the inner leaf shutter. The outer opening never completely closes. The outer aperture is set by the camera's meter while the user has control over the inner shutter's speed.

From your description of the problem it sounds like your camera's shutter works but its aperture blades have become stuck together with dirt or oil. The stuck aperture is a common problem with these cameras, and it can be fixed easily by a competent repair person. The technician will remove the lens elements and gently clean the shutter blades with solvent. You could even attempt to do it yourself if you are mechanically inclined. Other forum members may be able to guide you.

Another suggestion....with no film in the camera try firing the shutter over and over again. This may allow the aperture to free itself naturally. Of course, this method does nothing to remove the dirt and oil from the aperture blades and it's likely that the problem will occur again.

The Revue 400 SE is an top-class little camera with a fantastic lens. It is probably worth the cost repair it. I hope you are successful in your efforts to revive your camera.

 

[lubitel]

there are some threads about this camera here:

http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/forum/

may be it helps.

 

[Richard Black]

A word of encouragement, if it is like my Vivitar 35ES it is definitely worth the trip to a repairman. By your moniker, I suspect you live in Europe. I would contact Cupog, seller on ebay, if he did repairs of this model. He has a great reputation and is reasonable to boot.

 

[der.chris.tian]

i agree, that the outer aperture might have become stuck togehter due to dirt... i had the same problem with two cosina cx-2's half a year ago, but any repair trials failed. even the ones of a friend of mine, who's good in these things so..

actually i don't know what a reparation will cost, but i guess it'll be more than 20-30€, wouldn't it? that's the average ebay-price here... i don't know.. 😕


to: lubitel: thanks for the link. i'll see what i can exert from that...

 

[der.chris.tian]

btw: where's the difference between the '400 se' and the '400 ef'?
i found an 'ef' (in black) for 30€ in a list of an onlineshop...