Question about Yashica Mat 124G, shutter, and blank rolls

[skinnylatte]

Hi all,

I've had a Yashica Mat 124G for a while and I've shot hundreds of beautiful rolls of photos on it. I really like this camera.

It started acting up recently and I'm wondering if folks can advise:

1. In September, I was not able to wind the crank, it felt 'stuck'. It took it to someone, they fixed that and told me there was a problem with the shutter as well. Camera was fine, I was taking photos again with it.

2. Now, my last 2 rolls of film have been completely blank and it doesn't seem like there is an issue with the crank. I developed the film myself and know that I did it fine (as the film stock text shows up on the side of the film, but there's just no image at all).

Before I send it off to someone, does any of this sound familiar?

 

[Dan Daniel]

What do you see at the lens/shutter when you do practice shots with no film in the camera? Is the shutter firing?

Sounds as if the shutter cocking is not completing.

 

[skinnylatte]

Yeah the shutter has been iffy. Sometimes I can fully depress it to take the shot, the rest of the time it feels 'stuck'. That's probably what's happening. Thank you!

 

[Dan Daniel]

Well, if the shutter does fire sometimes when you jiggle the shutter button the right way, the problem could be in the shutter release levers.

When you fire a camera like the YashicaMat, you are activating two separate mechanical systems. One releases the shutter and one releases the wind system. These two should be in sync so that the shutter releases at the same time as the wind. But they can get out of sync. So it could be that you are hearing a click of the wind system releasing and yet the shutter hasn't released. Maybe the person who worked on it before was picking up this problem and wasn't sure what to do?

If you put a spool in the top chamber, you can make the camera act as if it has film. Maybe wrap masking tape on the left of the spool to reduce the clatter of that thin gear over the spool. Then do some more testing. Try a cable release. Try continuing pushing the shutter release to the very limit, even if you hear a click.

 

[ic-racer]

Good video of a similar repair here:

.

 

[dxqcanada]

Your camera needs servicing ... possibly bent charging arm that was not repaired when you first had issues.

 

[chuckroast]

Mark Hama is THE Yashica repair guy. He worked on my 124G but it was being grumpy and had to go back twice. There was no issue. He just handled it both times and paid for my round trip shipping times.

 

[skinnylatte]

Mark Hama is THE Yashica repair guy. He worked on my 124G but it was being grumpy and had to go back twice. There was no issue. He just handled it both times and paid for my round trip shipping times.

Thank you! Mark Hama just replied to my email, so I will be sending it to him.