Yashica Lynx 14E aperture blade repair

[CliveC]

I took a chance on a Yashica Lynx 14E on ebay and have found that it does not have the typical gummed shutter, but has an aperture blade completely out of place. The filter that was on the lens has a dent, but the lens filter does not. I suspect the camera took a hit at some point.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how difficult is this repair? I was anticipating a shutter cleaning with Rosonol, so I know how to remove the front element to get to the shutter, an aperture repair needs to be approached from the back of the lens, right?

Anybody have any resources which may be applicable?

Thanks

 

[mikemc_photo]

I suspect you have a sheared pin on the blade. You need to fully disassemble the shutter, removing the mech plate and shutter blades. Then a couple of screws will allow access to the diap blades. Blades however rarely break pins, but impact could cause enough bind to shear the pin from the blade. If the issue is grease related, the other blades will be stiff along with the shutter blades. For myself with many leaf shutters repaired this job is a 4 or 5, routine. For a someone without bench time in this will be a 10. I hope you don't have a bent housing as you can't really fix those properly, You can set the shutter on a bench plate and mic it for flatness.

Good luck!

 

[CliveC]

I suspect you have a sheared pin on the blade. You need to fully disassemble the shutter, removing the mech plate and shutter blades. Then a couple of screws will allow access to the diap blades. Blades however rarely break pins, but impact could cause enough bind to shear the pin from the blade. If the issue is grease related, the other blades will be stiff along with the shutter blades. For myself with many leaf shutters repaired this job is a 4 or 5, routine. For a someone without bench time in this will be a 10. I hope you don't have a bent housing as you can't really fix those properly, You can set the shutter on a bench plate and mic it for flatness.

Good luck!

Thanks for the insight. The other blades move smoothly, I suspect your theory about the sheared pin is correct. I was hoping it could simply be nudged back into place, at worst, laid back into a pattern. The other blades seem to be all in their correct places.

 

[CliveC]

Got half the purchase price refunded, so that was nice.
I guess I'll use it as a parts/practice camera.

 

[KoNickon]

This recently happened to mine as well. Was working fine when I got it but the aperture ring must have stiffened up from lack of use (no impact involved). The other blades seem to move fine. Definitely beyond my capabilities -- so who works on these?

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

b1bmsgt right here on RFF works on the big Yashicas. He cleaned up a 14E for me.

Mark Hama (google him) in Atlanta is the one for more serious repairs including electronics. He has parts.

In my experience, all these Yashicas need to have been worked on, afterwards they are terrific.

 

[KoNickon]

b1bmsgt right here on RFF works on the big Yashicas. He cleaned up a 14E for me.

Mark Hama (google him) in Atlanta is the one for more serious repairs including electronics. He has parts.

In my experience, all these Yashicas need to have been worked on, afterwards they are terrific.

Great suggestions -- I'll reach out to b1bmsgt. Mark Hama is certainly well known. I hear various things, though -- very responsive, not so responsive; I wasn't sure whether he had reduced his workload lately.