bronica s and rolleiflex sl66 in zero-subzero conditions.

[el wacho]

hello everyone and all,

i was photographing the other day here in Niğde, Turkey and my bronica s would lockup ( during mirror lockup "up" ) and then eventually return with much prayer and cursing . i changed over to my s2a and it worked fine so i suspected that the s was giving up the ghost. about a day after i got back and the camera was at room temp, the s was working fine again. i suspected that the cold affected the what must be fairly old grease ( it was about 3degC that day ) ...

so is there something i can do to improve photographing in these conditions. it'll drop to about -20degC around these parts and i definitely want to photograph the snow! any suggestions will help. thanks.

 

[Q.G.]

Fresh grease, i guess.

If used for a long time in such conditions, a lighter (i.e. less thick) grease would be better. Dry lubrication (graphite, molybdenum disulfide) even more.
Wear will be worse, and relubrication with the proper grease/oil when returning to warmer conditions is a must.

Else, keeping the camera warm(ish) will help.

 

[ricksplace]

At one time, you could specify cold weather lubrication when a CLA was performed. That's probably a lost skill now. Anyone know of a repair shop that will use special low-temp lubricants? At -30C, not many of my cameras will work. I can always count on Pentax (spottie, kx, MEsuper) and the recently cla'd lenses on my century graphic and 4x5 speed. The more complex MF cameras, (Pentacon Six, Rolleiflex, Yashica) usually seize up after about 2-3 min in that temp, and return to normal when thawed.
Remember too that anything run by batteries is going to fail rapidly when exposed to extreme cold.
Exposed flesh freezes pretty fast too. To keep fingers from freezing, try to find "hunter's mitts". They have a slit in the palm of the mit so you can stick a finger out to squeeze the trigger.

 

[MattKing]

At one time, you could specify cold weather lubrication when a CLA was performed. That's probably a lost skill now. Anyone know of a repair shop that will use special low-temp lubricants? At -30C, not many of my cameras will work. I can always count on Pentax (spottie, kx, MEsuper) and the recently cla'd lenses on my century graphic and 4x5 speed. The more complex MF cameras, (Pentacon Six, Rolleiflex, Yashica) usually seize up after about 2-3 min in that temp, and return to normal when thawed.
Remember too that anything run by batteries is going to fail rapidly when exposed to extreme cold.
Exposed flesh freezes pretty fast too. To keep fingers from freezing, try to find "hunter's mitts". They have a slit in the palm of the mit so you can stick a finger out to squeeze the trigger.

To the OP:

If you are looking for advice about working in cold weather, you can't go far wrong listening to someone like Rick from Thunder Bay .

Matt

 

[Brook Hill]

Does your Bronica use batteries to activate the shutter? I had this trouble with my SQAi which uses 4 LR44 and it was the low temperature, below freezing, which was killing the battery; it worked fine back at room temperature.
Tony

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

No the S and S2a are 100% mechanical.

 

[KWhitmore]

Does your Bronica use batteries to activate the shutter? I had this trouble with my SQAi which uses 4 LR44 and it was the low temperature, below freezing, which was killing the battery; it worked fine back at room temperature.
Tony[/QUOTE

My ETRS didn't work at -25 either. I know 'cause I tried it here in Montreal last winter. Only 4 out of 16 shots appeared on the roll. Those 4 had cracks in them. (I'd imagine due to the cold)

Kathy

 

[fatboy22]

At one time, you could specify cold weather lubrication when a CLA was performed.

I had this cold problem with my Norita cameras and my Keiv K60 except it did not cause a mirror to stick up it caused my shutters to slow down (way slow).
I had explained the problem of the cold temps (live in Iowa -12F today as we speak) to my service guy Ross Yerkes in LA. I think he used a light oil instead of grease I believe when I had cameras CLA'd and cold temps have not be a problem since.


Jamie

 

[Uncle Goose]

Does your Bronica use batteries to activate the shutter? I had this trouble with my SQAi which uses 4 LR44 and it was the low temperature, below freezing, which was killing the battery; it worked fine back at room temperature.
Tony

What I found out from the newer Bronica's is that it's not the batteries that dye but the cold shrinks the contacts that connects the lens to the body. When it freezes I can't use my ETRSi any more due this problem. When I take a photograph all goes well at first glance but the shutter does not close, only if I wiggle a little on the lens it snaps back leaving me with the impression that the contacts have lost each other due metal shrinkage from the cold.