|
|
Post by kiev4a on Jul 3, 2006 9:34:51 GMT -5
A bout a year ago I acquired a Petri Flex VI. Camera was in beautiful condition but anytime I set the shutter slower than 1/125 it would hang up.
So, I started "exercising the shutter. Firing it at different speeds. It started working (sometimes) at some of the slow speeds--but then would hang at some higher speeds. Several times a week I ran through the exercise drill. Filnall, I set the camera aside and designated it a "looker" rather than a shooter.
About a month ago I happened to pick up the Petri again. Snapped the shutter. Seemed to work fine. I kept lowering the speeds and it continued to operate as it should. It's still working at all speeds. Guess it just needed some time for all the old lubricant to flow back into the right places.
Just goes to show exercise is good for humans and mechanical cameras.
|
|
|
|
Post by doubs43 on Jul 3, 2006 11:20:29 GMT -5
That's good advice, Wayne. I have a Pentax H1a that wasn't correct at 1/500th or the unmarked 1/1000th speeds. Exercising the shutter has both of them working now.
Cameras that sit for long periods without being used will often balk initially. It's always a good idea to put them through their paces periodically. That's especially true for cloth focal-plane shutters and leaf shutters. In my experience, Copal-Square type metal shutters seem to endure idle periods better than other shutters but even they benefit from exercise.
Walker
|
|
|
|
Post by Rachel on Jul 4, 2006 16:17:16 GMT -5
Found that was true of a Rolleicord Vb that I bought some years ago.
Slow speeds on leaf shutters always seem to be the ones that stick although I've had less trouble with leaf shutters than cloth focal plane shutters.
I'd agree, Walker, about the Copal type shutters. They seem to be the most reliable.
|
|
|
|
Post by kiev4a on Jul 5, 2006 11:10:14 GMT -5
The Copal shutter observation is a good one that hadn't occured to me. I don't think I have ever encountered a camera with that shutter that didn't work (unless something was physically broken).
|
|
|
|
Post by kamera on Jul 5, 2006 14:16:48 GMT -5
Actually this symptom is true of a lot of our collection cameras, IF we do not periodically excercise them!!
Now that can be hard to do when you have a large collection...like several hundred...or in my case even at 100.
Ron Head
Kalamazoo, MI
|
|
|
|
Post by Just Plain Curt on Jul 5, 2006 20:30:37 GMT -5
I hear you Ron, oh boy do I hear you. Anyone volunteer their fingers to exercise a few dozen shutters? It's a never ending battle and then you always forget that one or two so out comes the Ronsonol lighter fluid (naptha in the UK I believe but please don't assume I'm right) and the Qtip swabs.
|
|
|
|
Post by kiev4a on Jul 6, 2006 9:40:26 GMT -5
You have to be careful with Ronsonol. The firse FED 2 I ever got had a sluggish shutter. Knowing nothing at that time obout the mechanics of a Leica-type shutter, I put a few drops of Ronsonol on the pins visible on the bottom of the shutter crate (the ends of the shafts on the shutter drums). The stuff migrated on inside, dissolved the shellac holding the curtains and tapes and the next time I tripped the shutter there was a huge train wreck!
|
|
|
|
Post by herron on Jul 17, 2006 10:59:02 GMT -5
Wayne: I just came upon this thread, and boy! am I glad! One of my FEDs has a sluggish shutter, and I had it out last night, thinking that NEXT weekend would be the one I tried to use the old "Ronsonol-fix" on it! I hate to think of "train wrecks" on my camera shutters!  |
|
