Zorki C shutter hesitant

[Mr_Flibble]

Dangit! I had this thing apart twice already, but after a day or so it shows the same behaviour again:

I press the release button, but the shutter does nothing or the curtains move only a little. Not enough to expose the film.
I lift my finger slightly and the curtains do their regular thing.

During the first attempt I've adjusted the light baffles to reduce the possibility of drag, this eliminated the drag on the 2nd curtain. Possibly I need to move/bend them a little more.

I think I'll add a bit of tension to the curtain springs, unless somebody has better idea of what is going on.

Ideas? All answers and advice appreciated 😉

 

[pschauss]

I found that one of my Zorki C's would do that when the flash synchronizing dial was set to zero. Set to a higher value and the shutter freed right up.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Many thanks Peter,

The dial was indeed set to 0. I've set it to 25 and the shutter appears to be working fine on all speeds at this time. I'll check it again tomorrow to make sure.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

I tried the camera again this morning and just the 1/500th setting appears to be sticking as described in my first post.

Exercise loosens it up, but I suspect the same thing to happen tomorrow 🙁

 

[john neal]

Rick,

Does the Zorki have the same sort of release mechanism as the Fed (i.e. a "simplified" Leica type)?

If so, it could be the tension on the spring that sets the crescent release arm under the top plate - I had that on a Fed and have seen it on other cameras. The balance of inward & downward pressure has to be just right.

See if you can contact the member Wolves3012 on here - he's a wiz with these things, and helped me no end. Nice guy too.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

It should be a simplified Leica Type, but with a flash-synchro device added.

I'm not sure why it would only occur on the top shutter speed if the problem is with was the release-arm set spring.

I've seen a more severe case of this problem with leica-fied FEDs before.

 

[wolves3012]

It should be a simplified Leica Type, but with a flash-synchro device added.

I'm not sure why it would only occur on the top shutter speed if the problem is with was the release-arm set spring.

I've seen a more severe case of this problem with leica-fied FEDs before.

Tends to happen on the highest speeds because they have the shortest distance to build up speed before hitting the second curtain release arm. I think John may be right in his assessment but it's equally likely the camera is (over) due a CLA.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Ah, that sounds like it could be it. I'll see if I can get the top off sometime this week and check it out. .

 

[special.foto]

I had the same problem on my fed 5v, the 1/500th was stuck after a serious repairment because the 2nd curtain wasn't engaging between 1/60 si 1/500. Turns out it was the tension in one of the curtains. I'm sorry that i can't remember wich one was it, but it was fixed after tensioning so now i have all speeds 😀 . Hope it works for you that easy. Cheers!

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Well, I've been exercising the shutter daily now and it appears to have cured it for now.

Only thing left to do to keep it in this condition is to use it forever 😉