Kowa Six, slow mirror movement

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Oblidor

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Jun 27, 2023
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North Europe
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Hi

I noticed that my first Kowa Six is quite a bit slower to move the mirror away when pressing the shutter compared to the one I have fixed recently. I guess some CLA would fix that, but then I was thinking, does it matter? Is the lens triggered before the mirror is out of the way? It is a leaf shutter lens, so if it is triggered after the mirror has finished its journey, then it should not matter? Or isn't it so?


Thanks in advance!
 

OAPOli

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Sep 26, 2022
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Toronto
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I think you are correct; the sequence remains synchronized even when the mirror is sluggish. My mirror was intermittently slow but the pictures were fine.

The issue is from the air piston that dampens the mirror. Maybe it is slightly contaminated. It is on the top left side of the camera.
 

Kino

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Probably.

I would think if there were not some sort of interlock to only allow the leaf shutter to fire after the mirror is up, then in cold weather the higher shutter speeds could be missed by a sluggish mirror.

However, I assume you live in a colder region of Europe, so colder temperatures COULD cause a sluggish mirror to simply not have enough energy to finish the cycle.
 
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Oblidor

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Joined
Jun 27, 2023
Messages
43
Location
North Europe
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Medium Format
Probably.

I would think if there were not some sort of interlock to only allow the leaf shutter to fire after the mirror is up, then in cold weather the higher shutter speeds could be missed by a sluggish mirror.

However, I assume you live in a colder region of Europe, so colder temperatures COULD cause a sluggish mirror to simply not have enough energy to finish the cycle.

That is true, but I have not had it outside for half a year so it has been toasty in 21C indoors. I'll have a look at the camera. I also need to replace the lightseals around where the mirror ends up getting debris from the old seals.
 
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