And more Yashica Mat shutter problems!

[Rhythm Thief]

Well, very much to my surprise, I seem to have fixed it. This morning it was in many pieces on my workbench with little prospect of ever taking another photograph ... now, it's back in one piece, everything (even the self timer, which was reduced to a collection of small gear wheels a few days ago) works as it should, including the flash sync which took me three or four goes to get back together. I haven't timed the shutter speeds but they're about right. The leatherette is glued back on the front, the lenses are cleaned and I've only got one tiny set screw left over. How important can that be?
I've yet to put a film through it, but so far all the indications are that this should be a nice usable camera and a reasonably cheap entry into medium format. Thanks for all the advice and help!

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I think I know where it's from ... there's an empty hole on the front casing. The metal around it is bent and I can't get the screw back in, but there are four other screws holding it on. Anyway, it works better than it did yesterday and that's all I'm bothered about at the moment!

 

[Xmas]

I think I know where it's from ... there's an empty hole on the front casing. The metal around it is bent and I can't get the screw back in, but there are four other screws holding it on. Anyway, it works better than it did yesterday and that's all I'm bothered about at the moment!

Stop mix up the ID11 hypo and HCA... shoot film, soup etc., ... be happy.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I'm going out with it tonight, when dusk falls. The only film I have is Ilford Delta 3200, which is probably an unwise choice for making sure it all works, but never mind. It should highlight any light leaks, anyway!

In other news, I found three tiny brass shims (from between the lens mounting plate and the body) which I also forgot to reinstall, like an idiot. I'll see how it performs and maybe open it up again and put them back in, once the film is out of it.

 

[shutterfinger]

I found three tiny brass shims (from between the lens mounting plate and the body) which I also forgot to reinstall, like an idiot.

Focus error or color fringing are the most likely consequences.

 

[shutterfinger]

and that's another reason to get a p&s electronic image recording medium camera that has a macro function. take lots of pictures as you disassemble so you can verify where they go during reassembly.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

It won't take me long to put them back in, it's just a bit of a nuisance having to strip the leatherette off the front again. And now that film is loaded into the camera, I might as well fire off 12 shots and see how they look, rather than just wasting the film. I'm just amazed that the thing works at all. I made the occasional rough diagram, by the way, but I usually rely on my memory and how things look ... in my experience with nearly everything I've pulled apart and rebuilt over the years, it's usually obvious where things go when you come to put stuff back together. You just need not to forget things like tiny brass shims in the final stages of reassembly.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

... I can generally take apart something and throw it in a bag and shake it up and put it back together. But it sure makes things harder.

Yes, true enough. I suppose if I'd been following detailed instructions which I'd written along the way, I wouldn't have forgotten the tiny shims. Still, never mind.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Right, with any luck this is the last time I'll be posting on this topic. Finally got the shims in, only dropping them into the bowels of the camera body two or perhaps three times. I found a home for the extra set screw, too. Now (hopefully), all I need to do with this camera is take it out and use it.

 

[shutterfinger]

You should post some of the resulting images so that we know our time was well spent.
To test a shutters accuracy I oft times set the camera up on a tripod, focus on a multi toned scene that includes both white objects and near black shadows, load ISO400 B&W film, and shoot the scene at equivalent exposures to the limit of the shutter and lens aperture. A dry erase board with the shutter speed and aperture in each frame or an accurate record of each exposure will tell you everything you want to know about the shutter. Scan them at the same manual setting or contact print them at paper black. A 1/3 stop or greater variance will be obvious with either.

 

[r.reeder]

So my elderly Yashica Mat, bought during an ebay session after a few beers, is still not working. When it arrived, the shutter wouldn't open at all: after I'd removed the front element of the lens and given the shutter blades a drop or two of lighter fluid, the shutter would open and close at all speeds, but as soon as the lighter fluid dried, it'd stick shut again. It would only work in the "x" position, too, and the self timer didn't work at all.
I removed the lens mounting plate and exposed the guts of the shutter mechanism. Soaking the whole thing overnight in lighter fluid helped, resulting in lots of tiny metal particles floating in the lighter fluid. I thought I'd cracked it then, as the shutter worked perfectly on "m" and "x" sync mode at all speeds, with only the self timer still not functioning. However, all of a sudden the shutter has started sticking open when it's fired. It'll cock ok, but won't shut after firing, until the shutter is cocked again. The local repair place I've just phoned up have told me they can't do anything with it and parts are impossible to get hold of.The only other thing I can think is that I've washed all the oil out of the mechanism, but I'm a bit wary of putting the wrong sort of oil in, or too much of the right sort ... any advice on that front would be welcome. Anyone got any other ideas? Anything else I can try? Anyone I could send it off to? I'd like to try and fix the thing, but at the moment this one is looking like a spares camera.

I'm not sure how similar they are, but before George Mrus died, I had a Kodak Retina IIc that had a sticking shutter. I emailed him & his reply was that he used just a little Talcum Powder, just a little, on the shutter leaves, & then fired the shutter several times while blowing the Talcum out of the shutter assembly, repeated several times, to get some sticky shutters working. I tried his solution, & sure enough, it worked. I had sent it to a repair shop to no avail, but after the Talcum Powder, I haven't had any problems, & it's been at least 15 years. Just my 2-bits worth.