Rolleiflex SL66 shutter jam - Any suggestions

[Wishy]

Hi,

I've managed to jam my SL66. Don't think i did anything wrong, the last wind was complete, but none the less the mirror has locked up, the shutter release doesn't do anything and the winding mechanism is locked as if the shutter was wound.

Second time its happened, last time it went to Brian Mickleboro who got it back running nicely, but he's off on holiday at for the next few weeks, so willing to give things a go myself. Has anybody got any suggestions to get it back operational?

Leaves a bit of a bitter taste it happening a second time, i bought this to replace a Zenith 80 for German reliability, but never mind - its done now. A second body isn't going to be cheap.

 

[benjiboy]

If you have any sense leave it alone, and give it a professional to service is my best advice.

 

[Wishy]

I generally draw the line at anything that requires I take a cover off, however as its a bit of a regular occurrence at the moment I just through I'd ask the around here to see if anybody had any experience and knew how complex the job might be.

 

[jmcd]

I would e-mail Jürgen Kuschnik, who is an expert on this camera. jurgenkus at yahoo dot com

 

[noumin]

I don´t know what your qualifications are, but I trying to repair an SL66 by oneself is a job I wouldn´t dare doing.

As your in Europe, you might want to send it to Juergen Kuschnik (Dead Link Removed) here in Germany. He took care of my SL66 which locked up completely and gave it a new life. You say that it happened for the second time, then I would tell him to give camera a close inspection.

 

[Wishy]

Jurgen is very good with these I know, but Brian is UK based and has been doing rollei repairs for a good while. Seems a bit daft not to try doing it under warranty if its a complex job.
If it carries on doing it I'll send it over to Juergen

 

[Sirius Glass]

Leaves a bit of a bitter taste it happening a second time, ...

Even the best cameras jam at sometime. They are complex pieces of machinery.

Steve

 

[Shangheye]

The SL66 is like a vintage clock, so I would not mess with it. Sounds like if it's under warranty, that's another good reason not to mess with it and send it to Brian when he returns. Have you tried to see whether engaging mirror lock up switch then trying firing the shutter works?

 

[jmcd]

I did have one jam up one time and it was a spring that needed to be replaced, which Jürgen did. While several people in the US are willing to work on this camera and are at least somewhat familiar with it, very few have a stock of proper replacement parts. Really though, what a superb camera.

 

[jmcd]

Also, while you are waiting for your repair person to return from vacation for warranty repair, you could still e-mail Jürgen in case there might be a simple sequence of moves you could try. If there is a non-invasive trick to freeing up a minor jam, I am sure he would be happy to tell you about it.

 

[Merg Ross]

Fortunately, I have never had a shutter jam with either of my 30+ year-old SL66's. However, I did send both of them to Jurgen shortly before he returned to Germany from the US, and was very impressed with his work and honesty. He worked on Brett Weston's 66's also.

If you find a simple solution, hope you will post it.

Regards,

Merg Ross

mergross.com

 

[Ulrich Drolshagen]

Hi Wishy,

I am pretty sure that I can tell you what happened to your cam. The SL66 backs have on their right side (or left depending which way you look at them obviously ) a little gear which engage into another on the body to make sure, the film can be transported. This must be in a certain position when the back is put onto the body. If not, it will jam the shutter. So the basic rule of using a SL66 is: Never do anything without the shutter being cocked!
You will have to get the back from the camera. Unfortunately (or fortunately, it's not a bug but a sophisticated feature) this can only be done with the darkslide in. In the jammed state you will probably not get it all the way in. For this situation the repairsmen have a special darkslide with a recess area on the right side where the gear is. Sometimes these show up on ebay but I think you can build one for yourself if you manage to find some steel similar to the original darkslide. IIRC the recess is about 5mm and nearly half the way up on the right side (the side where the gear is). No warranty from my side though. If you screw it up, you are on your own. Once you have the back off there is a little drawing beneath the gear indicating which way the gear has to be turned manually to get it into the correct position. Cock the shutter, put the back on and enjoy shooting again.

Ulrich

PS: There's a certain kind of squeegees made of very thin steel which in German are called for some reason China Spachtel. I just had a look it is 0.35mm thick. The Darkslide is 0.45mm. You may need to get to a professional supplier. These squeegees you can get from your home improvement store are made from plastic nowadays and are too thick. If I would be desperate enough I would try to cautiously push this squeegee in on the side of the gear just about 4 to 5 mm from the edge just enough that it gets clear from the little lever. It helps if you have a second back to look and test how it works. If you manage to get it in you will be able to push the release button of the back all the way in. Otherwise it will be blocked half way.

 

[JRJacobs]

Suggestions?

Get a Hasselblad!

 

[Ulrich Drolshagen]

Suggestions?

Get a Hasselblad!

And you'll have one more opportunity to jam the shutter

Ulrich

 

[Wishy]

Ulrich - Didn't see your first reply.

You can actually get a standard darkslide in if you've got to locked part way through, there is a lot of resistance but i think its designed so you know your doing something wrong but can continue to do it anyway.

The back was on properly and fully wound, the trouble is during a normal firing the mirror is stuck in the up position and the system won't wind.

JRJacobs - As far as I'm aware a hassie of this age would have similar serviceability vs the rolleiflex. You swap problems with the shutter on the body for problems with the shutter on the lens, but the mirror system is equally complex.
Lets face it, any medium format SLR has large and complex moving parts.

If i wanted something that i could guarantee wouldn't give me any trouble I'd use my F3. But i want the image rendition and general feel you get from medium format, and i want square format.

 

[noumin]

From what I´ve heard - the earlier models i.e. serial number up to 291xxxx were having problems with the mirror not returning, from serial number 291xxxx onwards they were upgraded internally - but again, hearsay.

 

[Wishy]

Mines 2900895, a very early one. I probably wouldn't have bought it knowing it was such an early model

 

[Shangheye]

I also heard that a hard thump to the bottom (holding the camera rightways) can make the mirror come down....ofcourse at your own risk

 

[Wishy]

Have given it a tap onto my mousemat, thats as much as i dare do!

 

[Shangheye]

Have given it a tap onto my mousemat, thats as much as i dare do!

wise call

 

[elekm]

I agree with the others. If it jams under normal use, it's an indication that it should be serviced.