GS-1 Issue

[Juan Tuyub]

Hello, first time posting here. Today I received a GS-1 i recently bought. It all seemed to be working perfectly until I loaded my first roll and attempted to take my first shot. After winding the back manually and connecting it to the body, the mirror would go up but not fire? I wound it to the second frame according to the frame counter but it still wouldn’t fire. I noticed there was a red dot on when pressing on the shutter release button. I made sure the lense was connected properly as well as the back, dark slide removed and on switch on. Still no luck firing. I changed batteries and still no luck. I flipped the double exposure switch on and the camera cocked and fired. I wound it once more with the double exposure switch on and before firing checked if the red light was still there, it was no longer on. Since it was no longer on, I switched the double exposure switch off and again the red dot came on and it wouldn’t fire. I have been in communications with the seller and still no luck. Would love some advice from anybody here. Thank you!

 

[btaylor]

Sorry, I don’t have anything specific for you, but the red dot of course means that the camera is not ready to fire. The GS1 like many other cameras of that type has lots of interlocks. Before you get too worried go to the Butkus camera manual site and download the manual for the GS1 and read it carefully. When I don’t use mine for awhile I forget details and have faced the red dot before. So far referring to the manual sorts it out for me. Also, check the batteries with a voltmeter to be sure they are within spec. I have had plenty of issues with discharged new batteries. There are alkaline (for dog collars) and silver celled batteries- use the silver ones. Good luck!

 

[Juan Tuyub]

I read the manual a couple times double and triple checking that I had done everything correctly. No luck. Are there any batteries that you recommend? Going to give that a try. Main issue really is that the camera shutter isn’t cocking so the winding lever will just turn until it has spooked the entire roll of film. I’ve gone through three rolls trying to figure out what’s wrong.

 

[MattKing]

I don't have any specific help for you, but in general it might help to know that you can re-roll films by hand back on to the original spool. Be sure to clearly label the resulting roll as your camera test roll.
Sometimes you will end up with a tape "bump" as part of the process. For camera testing that usually doesn't create a problem.
You can even use rolls of just the backing paper for testing most cameras.

 

[itsdoable]

The mirror hang-up is typically the first sign that the body or back may need a CLA (note, my GS1 has had the mirror hang once, but it resolved and I did not service it). The spring forces are minimized on this camera to produce a smooth light wind feel, and the use of a quality components and lube have allowed a long service life (pretty much the professional life of the product with minimal service).

First:
Does it hang when the back is off?
Does it hang with another back?
Does it hang when there is no film?
Does it hang with the double exposure lever enabled (both with the back on and off)?
Does it hang with the mechanical (battery-less) shutter release? (Back on? Back off?)

You have answered some of these, but getting the exact behavior is important to getting a reasonable diagnosis (other than guessing).

The back reset pin has a pretty light force (unlike the Hassleblad!) and if it gets jammed (prevented from extending from the body side) the shutter will not fire - thus the mirror goes up and appears to hang. That pin may not fully extend if the lube inside the body is sticky (or something is jamming it), of if the mating pin in the back is stiff.

If the mirror hangs half way up, then it's usually in the body. If the mirror rises fully, but the shutter does not trigger, it's often something to do with the Back reset trigger pin. If the problem is in the back, taking the back off will allow the shutter to trigger.

 

[Carlini Fotograf]

Had similar issue... Mine just started with this issue a week ago. I read a post on another forum, about a
guy with a Bronica ETRS that had the same issue too and he said it was the interlocking pins.

If you take a paper clip and press the reset pin in the camera.. Try to cock the shutter and fire it.. If it fires then
there is nothing wrong with the camera. On mine it seemed to be the film back. The film back has 2 pins, one on
the film insert and then one on the outer film back (in the little metal cylinder). There is a lever on the side of the
film insert, when its depressed, it extends the pin in the Film insert, which then extends the pin in the outer film back,
which then pushes in the pin on the camera and unlocks the shutter release and film advance. Mine was not pushing
the camera pin in far enough, I took a small piece of metal and wedged it against the lever, to keep the Film insert pin
extended, I then took the pin out of the outer Film back. Inside the outer film back, where the pin is, the little cylinder
has a screw on cover, if you remove this, you can remove the pin. On mine the pin didn't seem long enough. Not sure
if it was wore down from use, or what? So I fashioned a new pin from a tiny finishing nail. I cut it to be slightly longer
then the original pin. I put the new pin in and now the camera fires on single exposure mode, even with no film in it.

The simple fix would be to just get another film back. But I didn't want to waste this film back as they are not that cheap
to replace...Only ones out there are from Japanese camera dealers on eBay and they are around $140 plus $40 shipping
to the US. Hope this helps you....

Hello, first time posting here. Today I received a GS-1 i recently bought. It all seemed to be working perfectly until I loaded my first roll and attempted to take my first shot. After winding the back manually and connecting it to the body, the mirror would go up but not fire? I wound it to the second frame according to the frame counter but it still wouldn’t fire. I noticed there was a red dot on when pressing on the shutter release button. I made sure the lense was connected properly as well as the back, dark slide removed and on switch on. Still no luck firing. I changed batteries and still no luck. I flipped the double exposure switch on and the camera cocked and fired. I wound it once more with the double exposure switch on and before firing checked if the red light was still there, it was no longer on. Since it was no longer on, I switched the double exposure switch off and again the red dot came on and it wouldn’t fire. I have been in communications with the seller and still no luck. Would love some advice from anybody here. Thank you!