What is wrong with this beauty?

[p.giannakis]

Hi guys,

A colleague at work brought me his father's old camera. He told me to make an offer and take it, so i got it cheap.

Everything seemed to be working well and the lens is clean.
When i brought it home, i set it to 1/30 and pressed the shutter button. The mirror got stuck in the up position and the wind level winds on and on without any effect.
Any ideas what is happening?

Regards,
Pan

 

[Livesteamer]

It's old and needs a service. The only instant return mirrors on Exaktas were the VX 1000, VX 500 and RTL 1000, I think. Further, it is likely that the shutter curtains have pinholes. I like Exaktas and I once had a photography teacher who did wonderful work with his but time has not been kind to them. Poor quality lubricants and poor shutter blind material has left many of them in need of an expensive service. It's still a fascinating system. Joe

 

[p.giannakis]

Thanks Joe, I was just wondering if there is anything i could do before sending it off for service.

 

[madNbad]

It could be the film advance and shutter cocking are done separately. I was at a local camera store the other day and one of the sales staff had his personal Exacta. He wound the shutter by using the speed dial and told me a story of how they were good for multiple exposures on a single frame because the mechanisms were separate. I have never owned one but thought to pass this along.

 

[rick oleson]

The film wind and shutter cocking should both be done by winding the advance lever.

This looks like a VX1000, so it should have an instant return mirror ... I've only worked on the earlier models that lacked that feature.

The symptoms you describe sound as if the shutter has not quite traveled to the end of its course, and stopped short of tripping the lever that returns the mirror to the down position. One thing that you might try is to open the back, remove the lens, and reaching in from both front and rear, gently tug the curtains toward the camera's right-hand end. I expect that they will move slightly, and they may trip the mirror and allow it to come down again. At that point the mechanism should be reset and the wind lever should work normally.

Of course, this is not a usable camera in this condition. I would guess that the most likely cause of the problem is the shutter curtains having become stiff with age, so that the springs can't pull them all the way through their travel. They would probably also have pinholes if they have stiffened to this extent. The repair for this would be replacement of the shutter curtains, which is not a terribly hard job in an Exakta (at least in the earlier models that I've worked on).

In any case, the camera needs a service, and there is not likely to be any satisfactory temporary fix that you would be able to perform to make it usable in the meantime.

 

[Jamie Pillers]

These cameras make great 'shelf queens' or paper weights these days. Repair, especially replacement of the shutter curtains, is extremely expensive. At least the last time I checked, which was three years ago.

 

[Steve M.]

The mirror is supposed to stay up. It's an Exakta. That's how it works. Make sure you are advancing the film advance ALL the way. It is designed to pull the mirror down, and has an unusually long travel, maybe 300 degrees. My guess is there is nothing wrong w/ the camera.

 

[p.giannakis]

Thanks everyone.
Rick Oleson was right, it is a VX1000 with an instant returning mirror. Once i did what he advised above, the mirror returned. It seems to be working well now.

 

[Vince Lupo]

These cameras make great 'shelf queens' or paper weights these days. Repair, especially replacement of the shutter curtains, is extremely expensive. At least the last time I checked, which was three years ago.

I had Frank Marshman replace some shutter curtains in a couple of VX's and VXIIa's a while back and they weren't really that bad. The cameras are so cheap that you could just buy a few non-working bodies with good shutters and transfer the curtains from one camera to another. The other alternative is to get the raw material from Aki-Asahi. Think it would be about $100 to do + materials (but of course you may want to check with Frank on that - in general the cameras are relatively easy to work on). Easy to check if you have pinholes (usually the 2nd curtain for the non-return mirror bodies) -- just trip the shutter, open up the back, hold it up to a bright light and see if you see any pinholes.

More importantly -- does that Examat meter work???

 

[Livesteamer]

I'm glad to hear it's working! If it looks good enough you ought to put a roll of film thru it. Partly to check function and partly to see if you can get along with an older, left handed German camera. I like Exakta's but with my eyesight I'm better off with rangefinders. Good Luck. Joe

 

[p.giannakis]

More importantly -- does that Examat meter work???

I have to buy a battery to test it. It looks clean though, no signs of corrosion.

 

[sevo]

These cameras make great 'shelf queens' or paper weights these days. Repair, especially replacement of the shutter curtains, is extremely expensive. At least the last time I checked, which was three years ago.

Repair in Germany is moderately affordable - whether you want to invest anything into a Exakta that brings its price up to a working Nikon F2 is another question, but that is more a matter of general affordability of film SLRs these days.

And it is actually within the scope of advanced DIY - the Exakta had a open crate-type design where the shutter blinds are quite accessible compared to later SLRs.

 

[rick oleson]

I have notes for replacing shutter curtains in the VXIIa / VXIIb ... not sure how applicable they are to the VX1000, as I've never worked on one of those. I'm happy to share what I do have, if you drop an email to rick.oleson@gmail.com

For curtain material, I have a bunch of old darkroom fabric that works well in Exaktas, Praktinas, & Pentacons. For cameras that need something thinner, cut up an old film changing bag.

 

[p.giannakis]

Actually, i cannot see any pinholes in mine. After exercising the shutter a few times, it seems to be working well now. Only delayed action with speeds below 1sec seem to be sticky. But it does not seem to stick when i select 1 sec without self-timer.
Ergonomics can drive you mad thought - you need to get the sequence of certain functions right in order for it to work (i.e. self timer with speeds under 1/30).
Anyway, i will need to put a film in it to check how it is performing.