Electronic camera circuits: Course by Larry Lyells in The Camera Craftsman

Anyone interested in electronic camera circuitry and its fundamentals will find a course by Larry Lyells in recent issues of The Camera Craftsman.

You don't need to read and understand everything, although it's written in a format that's easy to understand for camera repairers.

The information is from the late 1970s, but this information isn't outdated; it certainly covers cameras like the Canon AE-1 or the Minolta XD11.

LCR has extensive information on both SLRs; I'm aware of a detailed, multi-part article about the XD11 by Larry, which can also be found in these recent issues.

The five-part series "Basic Photographic Circuits" begins with the July - August 1978 issue of The Camera Craftsman.




It explains the function of an automatic aperture control system with a motor, voltage divider, and CdS cell.

Larry Lyells presents it clearly, and it's easy to follow even without any special knowledge of electronics.

It's the only series of articles I know of that specifically addresses camera electronics. I highly recommend it to anyone interested.

If you think of electronics as a system with rules that enable circuits and their calculations, things become more understandable.

The mathematics required for practice was already learned in school and is only necessary if you want to build circuits yourself or want to understand more. For repairs, you can do without it.

It's not about understanding "everything," but "more." Then, with the cameras, some things become understandable that might have previously seemed mysterious.

In any case, it's an exciting journey, and there's plenty of literature on electronics in general in English.