Brooks Veriwide 100, stuck shutter

[Roseha]

Hi, I have just bought the Brooks Veriwide 100 from an overseas shop, and while it looks really clean and loaded just fine, it turns out that the shutter is somehow stuck. I went to Nippon Photo Clinic in NYC to be sure of it and while they don't repair these they kindly looked it over and confirmed that there is something sticky on the shutter which is keeping it from opening. I'm very disappointed needless to say, I've emailed the merchant who sold it to me and while I think I can ship it back for a refund I am wondering if anyone in the US currently fixes these? It's too bad because I was really looking forward to using a hand-holdable 6x10. Thanks

 

[shutterfinger]

Is this the one with a Synchro Compur MXV shutter?
Where is the MXV lever, M position, X position or V position?

 

[Roseha]

Yes, it has the MXV shutter. I wasn't able to move the lever much but it's currently at the X position (I can't move it to M), I can move it to the V which I read is for the timer, but either way the shutter doesn't open to show the aperture at all.
The person at Nippon thought he saw some substance on the blades that were keeping them from working properly (he didn't open it up, we were just looking at it). I took it there to be sure I wasn't doing anything wrong, though I have used a large format lens on a Fotoman before.

 

[shutterfinger]

Will the cocking lever move? Hold the release lever to the release position and try pushing the cocking lever toward the released position and the MXV lever toward the M position.

 

[Dan0001]

I have the Plaubel Veriwide 100 version. I acquired it in an estate sale and I thought the shutter was jammed too. It sat for many months before I played with it and I discovered it must have film to allow the shutter to set itself. You can with manipulate the camera without film by opening the back and pushing a lever(not sure how exactly but it can be done...that's my memory anyway).

For reasons not clear to me my camera came with a Brooks Veriwide viewfinder(made by Mamiya) instead of the highly desirable Leitz viewfinder. Here is a sample of a street corner in Farmington MI. The large size was hard to scan on my Epson 2450 so sharpness was affected.

 

[shutterfinger]

Sticky shutter blades will not prevent the MXV lever from moving to the M position (post 3). A film lockout might prevent the cocking lever from operating and the film having not advanced from the previous exposure may prevent the shutter from being tripped AKA accidental double exposure prevention. If the camera was listed as operating and received non operating then there was some shipping damage. It likely came air freight and if the plane hit some pot holes the radar did not detect the fall of 25 feet to 100 feet would have created enough of a jar to dislodge a part or two internal of the shutter itself or levers attached to it for operation or lockout purposes even if well packed.

 

[Roseha]

Okay thanks everyone, I have sent it back to the merchant and will see what they say.

 

[Sgore]

I bought one for a song once because the shutter wouldn't fire. I discovered that all it needed was to be wound on. The back had to be opened to reset the counter, and then you just acted like there was film in it. Cock the shutter, fire it, wind the take-up knob, repeat

 

[Roseha]

Okay thanks very much everyone for your thoughts on this, I sent it back to the merchant for repair - fortunately they have a 6 month warranty - and they fixed everything, the camera is working fine. I did worry when taking my first exposure when I pushed the MXV to V and it wouldn't move - I googled and found out the V stands for the German term for "Timer" so I just wasted the first exposure on timer and after that things were fine. Here is an image I took, thanks again all.

 

[Huss]

Glad you got it fixed. Who was the seller who fixed it? I ask because I just bought a Veriwide 100, and it would be good to know in case I need it serviced.

 

[wolfmanwide]

If you open the back and undo the rear element housing, which is black, you will see where the shutter activater reaches the lens trip lever. The shutter trip lever has been known to have slippedd out of position; just reposition it.... do NOT try to bend it as it is a 'white' metal, I believe, and it will snap! Had this problem with my VW and that was definately the problem although it still did it occasionally. There might be a better fix than just repositioning it. I eventually got rid of the camera as it had other issues as well and bought another. No problems so far.

 

[inglis]

Found a Brooks also with shutter problem.
Camera Meister Hamburg fixed it and I am now using the camera in Berlin.
It works fine in 39c weather, better than I do.

 

[Roseha]

Glad you got it fixed. Who was the seller who fixed it? I ask because I just bought a Veriwide 100, and it would be good to know in case I need it serviced.

Sorry that I never saw this reply!

The company is
Leica Shop
Peter Coeln GmbH
Westbahnstraße 40
1070 Wien - AUSTRIA

I don’t know if they are also a repair shop but its worth a try. I did email Zack’s camera repair, who quoted a price for repair, but Leica Shop fixed it under warranty.

 

[Huss]

Sorry that I never saw this reply!

The company is
Leica Shop
Peter Coeln GmbH
Westbahnstraße 40
1070 Wien - AUSTRIA

I don’t know if they are also a repair shop but its worth a try. I did email Zack’s camera repair, who quoted a price for repair, but Leica Shop fixed it under warranty.

Thank you!