Need help with a Bronica ETR ... same shutter speed firing

[Jean Poitiers]

Hi,

Could someone please give me some advice about a Bronica ETR that I recently pick up cheap at a yard sale? It seems to fire only at the default shutter speed of 1/500 (?) ... I have put in a good battery (test button light comes up "green") and a roll of "dead" 120 film in the back (since I scanned the manual on "Butkus" that the shutter will not cock without film in the back.) No matter what speed I set on the dial, I get the same shutter speed at the lens. Just for info, the lens is a Zenzanon 50/2.8 and there is a handle plus an AE viewfinder that reads quite weak light readings being shown. Thanks in advance for any input ... Cheers, J

 

[macfred]

The sound you do hear immediately after you press the shutter is just the mirror slap. The shutter is very quiet - a click barely audible.
Try to take the back off and set the multiple exposure lever - set a slow shutter speed and fire while looking through the back of your camera - what do you see ?

 

[hsandler]

Make sure you use an alkaline or silver oxide battery, not lithium. The internal resistance of lithium may be too high to operate the electromagnet that holds the shutter open, yet may still light the battery lamp.

 

[shutterfinger]

Battery check lights on cameras are almost worthless as they put no load on the battery and only tell you one is installed.
Put a piece of white paper on the film plane in front of the film then look into the lens when tripping the shutter. Select 1/30 second or slower to be able to see the paper clearly.

 

[Jean Poitiers]

Make sure you use an alkaline or silver oxide battery, not lithium. The internal resistance of lithium may be too high to operate the electromagnet that holds the shutter open, yet may still light the battery lamp.

Bonjour !

Thanks a lot! I had a Duracell lithium battery in place and changed it for an alkaline that I had in a Canon AE-1 ... the voltage tester showed it at 5.8 volts, but it worked AOK once installed. All speeds seem quite corrected and well staged from 8 sec. to 1/500. Best regards and have a great weekend! Salut, John (my real first name)

 

[Jean Poitiers]

Battery check lights on cameras are almost worthless as they put no load on the battery and only tell you one is installed.
Put a piece of white paper on the film plane in front of the film then look into the lens when tripping the shutter. Select 1/30 second or slower to be able to see the paper clearly.

Bonjour,

Thanks for your input ... it was a non-alkaline battery that caused the problem. Cheers, J

 

[Jean Poitiers]

The sound you do hear immediately after you press the shutter is just the mirror slap. The shutter is very quiet - a click barely audible.
Try to take the back off and set the multiple exposure lever - set a slow shutter speed and fire while looking through the back of your camera - what do you see ?

Bonjour,

Thanks for your insight ... it was a lithium battery which seemed to create this problem. Cheers, J