RTSIII Mirror Problem?

[bwcolor]

I've not been lucky with my Contax SLRs. Only had them for a short time and barely used them and now two are on the outs. About 5% of shots find the viewfinder blacking out for a long long time. I can't find shots that look as if the shutter is staying open, so I must assume that this is a mirror problem. Is this a known issue? I assume that the camera needs to go back to Japan to get things right...??

 

[fuwen]

All Contax bodies has slipped mirror problem except Aria. If it is a mirror slipped issue it should only happen with wide angles unless the slip is a lot. Or did u check your camera settings?

 

[oftheherd]

All Contax bodies has slipped mirror problem except Aria. If it is a mirror slipped issue it should only happen with wide angles unless the slip is a lot. Or did u check your camera settings?

I didn't know that. I did have an apparent electrical problem with a Contax 139Q. So far my 167mt is OK. I would be very sad if it went on the blink. There used to be a place in Canada that did a lot of Contax work. That was 10 years ago so I don't recall the name. Essex in NJ gets a lot of good reports.

 

[MartinP]

You could also check that the foam 'bumper', in the area where the mirror arrives on the up-stroke, is not decayed and causing the mirror to stick to it momentarily.

Note, I have replaced the foam on a couple of 139Q's and an RTSII but not on an RTSIII - so I'm only assuming that it has a piece of foam there.

 

[shadowfox]

All Contax bodies has slipped mirror problem except Aria.

That bad? then I've been lucky with all my encounters with Contax bodies.
I had 137MD and MA, RTS, RTSII (returned because the shutter is messed up), and now a Contax ST.
None of them had this problem.

 

[tlitody]

I bought a s/h 159 from a so called reputable dealer in the UK a while back. Unpacked it, put a lens on it and straight away it was obvious there was something wrong. It gave wrong aperture reading. So I looked it over and could actually see that the mirror was out of alignment. I rekon someone had had it in bits and hadn't put it back together properly. It went straight back to dealer and I got a full refund including postage which saved them from being outed since they said it was in perfect working order.
Moral of the story being that if you are going to buy s/h then its worth paying extra and buying from a dealer because you can get a warranty and/or your money back if its turns out to be a dud.
What really annoyed me though was that they hadn't even checked if it was working properly before selling it to me. All they had to do was a put a lens on it and it was obviously faulty. I won't be using them again.

 

[fuwen]

That bad? then I've been lucky with all my encounters with Contax bodies.
I had 137MD and MA, RTS, RTSII (returned because the shutter is messed up), and now a Contax ST.
None of them had this problem.

I thought the same until my recent purchase of a C/Y 28/2 Distagon. I am at this point not sure is it the problem of the lens but the lens focus OK at infinity. However, when shooting with the lens at infinity, only my Aria mirror clears the lens rear. I have checked with my RTS III and RTS II both mirror able to flip up but cannot return. I have a 159MM but too lazy to install batteries to test.

So now I put my RTS III flat so to prevent further mirror slip hahaha!

 

[bwcolor]

The RTSIII is now my favorite SLR. So, if I can't get this squared away, I'll have it sent back to Japan for repair and CLA. It will be like paying twice for the camera, but the other option is to lie to someone and sell it and buy another. That just won't do and I have no assurance that the next RTS III won't have issues. They aren't new cameras.

 

[fuwen]

The RTSIII is now my favorite SLR. So, if I can't get this squared away, I'll have it sent back to Japan for repair and CLA. It will be like paying twice for the camera, but the other option is to lie to someone and sell it and buy another. That just won't do and I have no assurance that the next RTS III won't have issues. They aren't new cameras.

My advice is unless u can buy from someone u know very well and he also know his RTS III very well, u may need to avoid RTS III. The most serious problem is the fading blue LEDs which I encountered many. And even if I get one OK in the first place the LEDs can still fade away. Also the date printing of the data back not working (though not really something important), rewind gear not working, metering coupling issue, and also the very real mirror slip issue (which the owner himself may not know).

 

[ChrisP]

Probably

Probably

I would guess this is the problem,
had this happen with a Pentax ME Super, foam had turned into black chewing gum

You could also check that the foam 'bumper', in the area where the mirror arrives on the up-stroke, is not decayed and causing the mirror to stick to it momentarily.

Note, I have replaced the foam on a couple of 139Q's and an RTSII but not on an RTSIII - so I'm only assuming that it has a piece of foam there.

 

[bwcolor]

More Info. On RTSIII and Shutter/Mirror Problem

More Info. On RTSIII and Shutter/Mirror Problem

I've discovered that the mirror hangs only when I use the 100mm Makro. I also have used the 45mm Tessar, 50mm F/1.4 and 100-300mm lenses without this problem. It would seem that the mirror must be hitting the most posterior aspect of this lens mount. When I look at the mirror itself, it is square and within the limits of the mirror frame. Any ideas here?

My Aria is toast, but it does seem to meter at 100 ISO, so I can set 25 - 400 ISO by altering the exposure compensation dial and use the camera as usual. I can't change out of the single shot mode, but I would not be using this camera any other way. So, if this works, I'll not repair or replace the camera.

 

[Rico]

I would be quite surprised if a longer lens like the MP100 is snagging the mirror in any way. A wide lens is where I expect such trouble, with the D18 being infamous for minimal clearance of its rear shroud. Check that the spring-loaded diaphragm mechanism of the MP is correctly returning to its open position after the camera completes a firing. Your Aria can assist in this investigation.

 

[bwcolor]

Yes, that is why it took me so long to test with different lenses. I have used the lens on my RXs without any problems and I have yet to have a problem with another lens on the RTS III.

 

[fuwen]

I've discovered that the mirror hangs only when I use the 100mm Makro. I also have used the 45mm Tessar, 50mm F/1.4 and 100-300mm lenses without this problem. It would seem that the mirror must be hitting the most posterior aspect of this lens mount. When I look at the mirror itself, it is square and within the limits of the mirror frame. Any ideas here?

Did the mirror hangs only when the 100 makro is at infinity? Does by focusing nearer resets the mirror? U can further check the mirror slip by activating the mirror lock up. The edge of the mirror should have some gaps with the edge of the frame.

 

[tlitody]

My Aria is toast, but it does seem to meter at 100 ISO, so I can set 25 - 400 ISO by altering the exposure compensation dial and use the camera as usual. I can't change out of the single shot mode, but I would not be using this camera any other way. So, if this works, I'll not repair or replace the camera.

OK so I know its obvious but just in case. There should be NO battery indicator showing when batteries are good. Then with camera turned on you have to press and hold down the iso button until it starts to blink. You use the iso and drive buttons for up and down and when its on the setting you want you don't touch anything for a few seeconds and it will lock on that setting and come out of update iso mode.

 

[tlitody]

Also, if you are entering custom fucntions that would indicte that both the iso and drive buttons are being pressed simultaneously. So if you are sure that you are only pressing the ISO button, then the drive button may be stuck down. But if that was the case then you expect it to constantly go into drive mode settings. I would try and and move the drive mode button around a bit and press it several times just to see if you can clear it. Also do the same with iso button. And make sure you aren't pressing both buttons together.

And go into custom settings and set all 5 functions to zero just to see if that makes a difference. And make sure bracketing and compensation are all zeroed.
And make sure a partial rewind hasn't ocurred by rewinding a film.

And make sure you aren't depresing the dof preview button when trying to press iso and or drive buttons.

 

[bwcolor]

I have not been able to relate the hang to any factors such as focusing distance or aperture. The focusing distance should not make any difference with this lens and a telephoto doesn't protrude into the mirror box. I did a mirror lock and the mirror locks into place perfectly and the mirror is symmetrically in place. I just tried various apertures and it was firing at f/2.8, 4, 5.6, but at f/8 and beyond it hung every time. I could not get the camera to work properly for probably fifteen shots, but just as I had related f/stop to the issue, it hung at f/2.8. Next, I ran off a series of fifty or so shots and it worked perfectly at all f/stops. I could not replicate the problem. I think that I just need to shoot with this camera with various lenses. Perhaps this is a problem with the electronics, but it is intermittent.

Regarding the Aria... yes.. All done per your instructions.

 

[tlitody]

is the lens on the rts an MM or AE lens? The MM lenses are later versions. An old AE lens maybe slightly different.

 

[bwcolor]

AE .. There is no green setting on the aperture ring.

 

[tlitody]

the early 100 makro lenses were never designed to go directly on camera. They were for fitting to the bellows accessory unit. I don't know if the mount is the same. Someone with a bellows unit can tell you but I suspect they were otherwise no other lens would fit on the old bellows. However, if they were different then its possible you have a a lens with an adapter fitted or that the original 100mm makro lenses should not be being used directly on camera body. Possibly due to the problem you are having. The Kyocera built 100mm macro lenses were designed to fit directly to body. (As far as I know) So if its japanese built then I think it should be OK but if its german then maybe not.

Although thinking about it, if it was designed for bellows then it wouldn't have needed focussing helicoid so I'm not sure.