Hey friends,
so yeah, I did something stupid.
I just purchased a used Minox 35 El from eBay. I looked fine, I put batteries in and the shutter and exposure seemed to work. It is my first Minox.
But I felt like the film winder was really hard to wind. Like, reeeaally hard. Once I put in a test film it was almost impossible to wind the film. I didn't think that was normal.
So I opened it (not much, only the top plate) to see if there is some obvious dust or sand in there. Well, I shouldn't have done that. While I was just blowing the dust out with a rocket blower, the shutter button fell off.
So I had the button, a little metal pen (?) and a small spring in my hand and I didn't know how to put it back in. I tried and tried and tried. And then the spring literally catapulted the metal pen and the button away and I can't find them anymore. Only the spring is still there.
Soooo is there any way to safe the camera? Or did something break when the shutter button came off? Is it possible to put the shutter back in should I find it (it HAS to be somewhere in my room - or I'll just get a broken Minox on eBay for spare parts)? I can't find many repair tutorials about the Minox 35 and I don't know much about camera repairs. I just wanted to clean it and didn't think it would just fall apart when opening up the top plate.
Thanks a lot,
Clary
p.s.: I know those are pretty cheap and I could just get another one on eBay, but I still want to at least try to rescue this one since it seemed like it worked.
so yeah, I did something stupid.
I just purchased a used Minox 35 El from eBay. I looked fine, I put batteries in and the shutter and exposure seemed to work. It is my first Minox.
But I felt like the film winder was really hard to wind. Like, reeeaally hard. Once I put in a test film it was almost impossible to wind the film. I didn't think that was normal.
So I opened it (not much, only the top plate) to see if there is some obvious dust or sand in there. Well, I shouldn't have done that. While I was just blowing the dust out with a rocket blower, the shutter button fell off.
So I had the button, a little metal pen (?) and a small spring in my hand and I didn't know how to put it back in. I tried and tried and tried. And then the spring literally catapulted the metal pen and the button away and I can't find them anymore. Only the spring is still there.
Soooo is there any way to safe the camera? Or did something break when the shutter button came off? Is it possible to put the shutter back in should I find it (it HAS to be somewhere in my room - or I'll just get a broken Minox on eBay for spare parts)? I can't find many repair tutorials about the Minox 35 and I don't know much about camera repairs. I just wanted to clean it and didn't think it would just fall apart when opening up the top plate.

Thanks a lot,
Clary
p.s.: I know those are pretty cheap and I could just get another one on eBay, but I still want to at least try to rescue this one since it seemed like it worked.