Ricoh 500G - shutter repair

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npeters

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I have a beautiful Ricoh 500G rangefinder, working meter, etc. but it has a shutter that only works at B and one constant speed (1 / 125 th maybe?) across all indicated speeds. Any ideas / instructions / schematics on opening up one of these? Any info on shutter repaoirs too would be appreciated. Google has not helped.....
 
I don't know about the specifics of the 500G (mine is stuck and does not shoot at all !), But, that sounds like a battery problem, since some of these cameras were meant to shoot at 'B' and one fixed speed if the meter/battery died.
Subhash
 
I would guess battery as well. Clean the contacts. If that does not help, remove the baseplate and look for a bad solder joint. A dead battery will corrode the contacts.

The one I saw on Ebay is an aperture preferred automatic, meaning an electronic shutter.
 
Hi, Just afew points, my 500G works fine without a battery at all shutter speeds without a battery, I use a hearing aid battery which powers the meter, unfortunately the auto function doesnt work, so I have to use it as a metered manual. I would think the shutter is mechanical as when working in auto, you set the shutter speed and the camera sets the aperture. making it a shutter priority automatic. If the shutter is jammed on one setting it would seem it needs a good CLA although how you get at it is another matter! major dismantling I would imagine.
 
I've never used one, just saw the photo. If it is a mechanical shutter, either the linkage got dislodged or something else has gone wrong. Hard to say without having it in front of you. Usually, shutter's will gum up and not work at all- flood cleaning will often clear up that problem. But a shutter that is working on just one speed- very strange.

Could someone post some pictures of the location of the controls on the camera?
 
Ricoh 500G

Ricoh 500G

Hi Brian, Here are a couple of pictures of my 500G, as I said the Auto operation does'nt work but it works OK on manual, although sometimes the shutter can operate at a higher speed than set especially on slower than 30th. This is over come by twisting the shutter speed ring round to the fastest speed then back to the slow speed you actually want. I have found that this is the best method to use when selecting a slow speed for more than one shot.
 

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> This is over come by twisting the shutter speed ring round to the fastest speed
> then back to the slow speed you actually want.

That trick usually gets the attention of the slow-speed escapement. Gets it to charge. Very common in older cameras. Also tells me it is an all-mechanical shutter.

I can see the shutter speeds clearly on your photo's. The pictures I saw earlier on Ebay lost them in the glare.
 
If it turns out that the problem is not the batteries, you may have to do a teardown on the camera. First thing would be to take the lens apart to access the shutter mech from the front. If there are linkages that are not connected or making because they were jarred out of place, then you might want to think about how much you want this camera. You would have to take the leatherette covering off the front of the camera as everything else is accessed this way. It has been described as one of the hardest cameras to do repairs on. Good Luck!

PF

ps: I'm hoping my 500G is not in bad shape, but won't know until I get some seal material and dig it out of the to-be-repaired box.
 
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