Adjusting shutter curtains on Zenit-E

[Mike Kennedy]

Drooped into my local Sally Ann yesterday morning at opening time.
"I've got something for you Mike"..........pulse quickens,heart beat increases.Knew it was a camera or photo related.
Leica? Maybe a Graflex or Contex.Nikon RF? No.Just a Zenit-E & case.Nice of them to think of me.
Camera is minty.Case great.Problem is that the shutter curtains don't close completely after tripping the shutter release.I'm sure there's an adjustment gear under the bottom plate.
Does anyone have a diagram detailing this procedure?

Thanks

 

[Steve Smith]

I have one that does this too..... I don't know why so I will be watching this thread with interest.

With mine, if you put slight sideways pressure on the shutter speed dial, it sometimes closes.




Steve.

 

[John Koehrer]

So, you "drooped" in? That sounds embarrassing.
Does the second curtain seem to work better at higher speeds or the is the gap larger at slower speeds?
This happens on many cameras because they lose tension on the second curtain spring. The adjustment can be a simple ratchet wheel with a spring or a worm drive with a set screw. The tensioning adjustment is right under the bottom cover. There should be two dealies that look alike. The one closest to the front of the camera is the one you want to fiddle with. CW=more tension/faster & that's what you're looking for. A little bit at a time, please!

 

[BlueWind]

Have a look at the Tiger's Lair,
http://www.tomtiger.com/
look in the left side column until you find the Zenit Repair Project. Click it and look for Zenit E repairs.
Everything is there with very informative pictures
Regards
Joao

 

[sun of sand]

Dont want to mess up your free camera -tensioning from bottom is how it should be done- but if its like the zorki shutters at all and you can reach the rollers inside lens mount
I cock shutter
then roll the foremost roller
then trip release keeping presure on roller
and then let go

I do it for some reason at 1/20 -slow speeds

Worked on two zorkis out of two zorkis


this when the curtain hangs stopping midway through the frame

 

[Dali]

Tigers Lair's explanations are correct and well documented.

The job is rather easy to do but be careful, screws are tiny. Apart from a very little screwdriver, you need a spanner wrench to turn the curtains screws.

I had a similar trouble with a ZENIT 3M camera; I gave an additional half turn tension to the second curtain of the shutter and since, no complain!

A tip: when releasing the curtains tension, count the number of turns; it might help you to decide if extra tension is possible or if the shutter needs first to be cleaned and lubricate (another story...). Here again, Tigers Lair is correct when he warns against over-tensioning.

Good luck!

 

[EASmithV]

I had this problem, but it seemed to free up with use.