Bronica ETR-Si Lens Trouble

RedSun · Jan 23, 2020

I get an ETR-Si that is probably not working correctly. The battery is good. But the lens always fires at its mechanical 1/500 speed. I put the battery and lens with other bodies and they work just fine.

I'm not sure there is anything else I can try. Battery test is good, so the body does get battery power. The lens electronic contacts look good.

abruzzi · Jan 23, 2020

If your willing to dig deep, there is some info out there in S lenses, which I understand are pretty similar to E lenses:

http://www.buonaluce.com/

wiltw · Jan 23, 2020

The camera is behaving the same as if there is no battery at all installed.
Since the battery is good and the lens works on other bodies, perhaps

the contacts in the on-off switch are not connecting, so timing circuit is not energized
the rotary speed selection dial is not connecting, so no chosen speed is set and the lens defaults to 1/500
the electronic timing circuit is toast

Do you see the red shutter-closing indicator in the viewfinder at all? Any of the above can account for no indicator
When you press the battery check button, does the indicator light? If not, the on-off switch is not closing.

4season · Jan 23, 2020

Is the AE switching pin working correctly? If you don't have an AE finder installed, it should be popped up as shown. If the switch it's connected to isn't working correctly, you'll get a fixed 1/500th sec shutter speed.

RedSun · Jan 24, 2020

wiltw said:
The camera is behaving the same as if there is no battery at all installed.
Since the battery is good and the lens works on other bodies, perhaps

the contacts in the on-off switch are not connecting, so timing circuit is not energized

the rotary speed selection dial is not connecting, so no chosen speed is set and the lens defaults to 1/500

the electronic timing circuit is toast

Do you see the red shutter-closing indicator in the viewfinder at all? Any of the above can account for no indicator
When you press the battery check button, does the indicator light? If not, the on-off switch is not closing.

The battery indicator is on.

RedSun · Jan 24, 2020

4season said:
Is the AE switching pin working correctly? If you don't have an AE finder installed, it should be popped up as shown. If the switch it's connected to isn't working correctly, you'll get a fixed 1/500th sec shutter speed.

The pin is up. I do not have finder attached.

When the finder is attached, both AE II and AE III show appropriate speed readings. But the lens does not fire at the AE speed.

Update: I played with pin and this may be the cause. Sometimes the lens fires correctly and sometimes it does not. Nos sure how much is involved to fix this pin related switch.

cobbu2 · Jan 27, 2020

RedSun said:
The pin is up. I do not have finder attached.

When the finder is attached, both AE II and AE III show appropriate speed readings. But the lens does not fire at the AE speed.

Update: I played with pin and this may be the cause. Sometimes the lens fires correctly and sometimes it does not. Nos sure how much is involved to fix this pin related switch.

I had a similar problem with my ETR that worked fine with the AE prism installed, but a long time later when trying a waist level finder for the first time, all lenses would only work at 1/500. That pin turned out to be the problem; over the years with only the AE prism on it, some junk had collected around the pin effectively keeping it permanently depressed. I gently cleaned the area with an alcohol-soaked swab, cleaned out the debris so the pin would move freely, and the problem was solved.

RedSun · Jan 27, 2020

cobbu2 said:
I had a similar problem with my ETR that worked fine with the AE prism installed, but a long time later when trying a waist level finder for the first time, all lenses would only work at 1/500. That pin turned out to be the problem; over the years with only the AE prism on it, some junk had collected around the pin effectively keeping it permanently depressed. I gently cleaned the area with an alcohol-soaked swab, cleaned out the debris so the pin would move freely, and the problem was solved.

The pin freely moves. But there could be something wrong with the mechanism inside the camera.

4season · Jan 27, 2020

RedSun said:
The pin freely moves. But there could be something wrong with the mechanism inside the camera.

Service manual suggests bending the associated switch contacts if necessary to ensure they're making proper contact. When the pin is up, the switch is supposed to be closed.

Bronica ETR-Si Lens Trouble

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