Yashica MF problems

[farlymac]

Okay, I'm not getting anywhere on the Repair forum, so I'll put this out to you all. I have an MF that I was hoping would be a decent user camera until I get some others repaired. I lucked into a supply of 675 batteries down at Radio Shack, and bought a bunch since they were on clearance.

When I installed the battery, I had a reading in the viewfinder of around f8 with the lens cap on. I took the cap off, and it went on up to f16, but after pointing the camera towards a darker space in the apartment, it would not go below f8, even with the ASA set at 100.

The reading has steadily gone down, after four days settling at f4 with the cap on. When I take the cap off, and point the camera at a light source, the needle reacts fine, but then I put the cap on, and it takes it's dear sweet time returning to f4. The battery reads 1.34vdc now, but was at 1.38vdc when it was installed. There is nothing in the manual that says anything about the proper function of the meter.

I am just not confident in the operation of this camera as it now stands. If any of you have experience with the MF, please let my know if the meter needle should drop to f2.8 or below with the cap on. I would think so. Is there any kind of adjustment that can be made to the metering system? Or is this indicative of a component failure?

PF

 

[farlymac]

One-hundred and eleven views of this posting later, and nobody has an idea what the problem is? Or doesn't anyone use the MF? It's got to be similar to an ME, only with a built-in flash. After all this time, it is still reading just below f/4 with the cap over the lens. I figured the battery would be dead by now.

Come on, take a crack at it. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

PF

 

[Frontman]

This camera is still currently sold in Japan for under 6000 yen in the Holga sections of camera stores. Have you run any film through the camera to see if it works? I don't pay too much attention to the meter readings some of these cameras give, what it tells you may not be what it tells the shutter. It could be mechanical interference not related to the battery or meter, there is no way to know without looking at it closely.

 

[farlymac]

Well the thing is Frontman, I didn't want to waste a roll of film in a camera that seems to want to seriously under expose all the shots. You can't get 20 exp rolls around here anymore, and I am on a limited budget, so that type of testing is not an option.

What really gets me is the thing acts like it doesn't even shut off when you put on the lens cap, like my ME does. Could this be a short in the meter system? I read a post somewhere of a person getting his first CC, and having to clean the crap out from around the CdS cell, and wondered if this could be a common problem. Not having a repair manual, and not knowing the meter system all that well makes me a bit leary of just tearing into the camera hoping I'll stumble over something. It is a very good looking camera, and I don't want to mess it up. Since I got the ME fixed, maybe I should just quit worrying about the MF, but I do like having the built in flash. Decisions, decisions, decisions....

PF

 

[Frontman]

You can try a simple test by listening to the shutter at different aperture settings or light levels. Indoors the shutter should stay open longer than one second at f/16, and perhaps 1/4 a second at f/2.8. Or you can compare the shutter sounds to your ME. Set both cameras to the same settings and dry fire them in the same light conditions, if the shutter speeds sound the same, then the camera is probably okay.

 

[jan normandale]

One-hundred and eleven views of this posting later, and nobody has an idea what the problem is? Or doesn't anyone use the MF? It's got to be similar to an ME, only with a built-in flash. After all this time, it is still reading just below f/4 with the cap over the lens. I figured the battery would be dead by now.

Come on, take a crack at it. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

PF

I think you have no responses because no one knows which Yashica MF camera you're talking about....

 

[farlymac]

Oh, that would be the 35 MF. Not the MF-1, or MF-2, or even the MF-3 (of which I have seen a yellow one for sale).

That's a good idea Frontman about using the ME to test the MF. I had listened to (and looked at) the MF shutter before, but wasn't sure if the changes it was making were appropriate to the correct setting for the available light. I'll give it a go.

PF

 

[jan normandale]

All I can think of is the batteries might have been mercury and the 675 replacement is alkaline. This can cause the initial 'jump' in power out put.

Try this flickr thread there may be some people in it who can give you first hand experience.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/basicframework/722067642/

 

[farlymac]

Nope, it's a Zinc Oxide I got from Radio Shack. It was at 1.38vdc when installed, and has dropped since then.

The one I put in the ME was no problem, so I think it's the circuit at fault on the MF. It just will not go to zero. Now if someone had adjusted it to take alkalines, I would expect it to read low all the time.

And I can't do the comparative test because I forgot the ME is now loaded with film, so I have to wait till that gets used up. But then what is time to the retired, but a gift for busting it for many a long year.

PF

 

[farlymac]

Okay, we can retire this thread. I checked the 35 MF last night for operational correctness, and found none. It doesn't change shutter speed or aperture when the light does, and it also makes an occasional weird screeching noise when dry firing the camera, either while winding or while firing the shutter. Sometimes both. The meter does not react like it should. It is slow moving, and does not go to the bottom of the scale when the cap is put on, so I figure the CdS cell has gone bad.

Since I finished fixing the ME (took it out for a test drive yesterday), I don't feel like messing with the MF anymore. The built in flash would have been nice, but I have a CS-10 to mount up, so the MF just became redundant. It will look good in the collection though. I might find a good working model further down the road, but I'm glad I didn't pay very much for what I got.

PF