Bronica shutter problem, ETRS, PE 75mm

[Orange555]

Here we go again. This was a bad buy.
Bronica ETRS, PE 75mm

The shutter does not seem to work correctly.
I've noticed, being out in the cold will sometimes "jam" the shutter, never opening, before I advance to the next frame. Lost around 10 pictures on my last roll because of this.

Cold being 10 degrees Celcius/ 50 degrees Fahrenheit.


I tried sticking the whole camera in the fridge for 30min. It would provoke the issue.

Then I tried only the lens, keeping the body at normal room temperature.
This would provoke it again, the lens was stuck closed for the first 10-20 shots then it started being random durations, before finally defaulting to seemingly a fast speed.


I tried only the body in the fridge with the lens at room temperature.
This would also provoke it, but much more randomly. The shutter would sometimes stick and sometimes just be way too slow, sometimes too fast.

This morning I tried tripping the shutter again. The camera had been at room temperature. Again randomly too slow and sticking.

I took out the (fresh, SR44) battery and tried again. Same issue. The camera should default to 1/500th, but it seemed to vary randomly between 1/30th to 1/500th.

I found this post
https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/sluggish-etrs-shutter.59424/#post-853452

I followed the instructions to fire the lens off the camera. The speeds seem to be random durations between 1/30th to 1/500th.

Moving the A/T switch to T, sometimes the lens will never close down the leaf shutter just prior to firing, only the aperture.

Is it safe to say the lens is the culprit here?

 

[Orange555]

Just kept the lens in the fridge for an hour.

Firing it off the camera, it will fire no faster than around 1/30th for 10mins before it warms back up.

 

[wiltw]

The PE lens is about 20 years old, so it is not too surprising to learn of the shutter mechanism sticking.
The Bronica shutter action is a somewhat complex interaction between mechanical linkages in the lens plus the Seiko shutter itself, and the lens linkages interact with the body mechanical linkages, and these also interact with the film back mechanical linkages!

You stated, "I tried only the body in the fridge with the lens at room temperature. This would also provoke it, but much more randomly. The shutter would sometimes stick and sometimes just be way too slow, sometimes too fast."...

...Do you have access to any other lenses that you can try to use with your ETRS body, especially since you noticed some sluggish behavior when you refrigerated only the body?!

 

[MattKing]

How can you try the shutter in the body only, when there is no shutter in the body only?
The shutter is in the lens.
Are you referring instead to the dark mask in the body that closes to permit changing of the lens?

 

[macfred]

I had a PE 50mm f/2.8 with a sluggish shutter for my ETRSi - 75mm and 150mm working exactly. I asked for service and an estimate at a local camera repair and ended up buying another 50mm for 120,-- EURO
(for me a more favorable solution). It's not so easy to find someone servicing Bronica stuff these days - most of them play coy ...

 

[Orange555]

You stated, "I tried only the body in the fridge with the lens at room temperature. This would also provoke it, but much more randomly. The shutter would sometimes stick and sometimes just be way too slow, sometimes too fast."...

...Do you have access to any other lenses that you can try to use with your ETRS body, especially since you noticed some sluggish behavior when you refrigerated only the body?!

Unfortunately I don't have any other lenses.

How can you try the shutter in the body only, when there is no shutter in the body only?
The shutter is in the lens.
Are you referring instead to the dark mask in the body that closes to permit changing of the lens?

I attached the warm lens, to the cold body