I fancy undertaking a new hobby, camera restoration so have acquired some of the necessary bits and bought both a Pentax 75-150 zoom and an S1A non-working body. A few YouTube vids later and I have managed to get the camera working; it just needed cleaning and a bit of lubrication.
What amazes and intrigues me, and more so when I watch some of the videos on dismantling the more sophisticated 35mm manual cameras, is the ingenuity of the engineers and designers to fit all the parts to make everything work in the correct order; springs, latches, levers, gears, etc. And sometimes, how simple things are.
On the S1A, the flash sync seems to be happen when the rising mirror hits a protruding lever that in turn makes completes the circuit. So simple.
Watching some videos on dismantling a Nikon F, I always thought that hitting the shutter button caused the shutter to fire. But it seems not. The button releases the mirror which when it is fully raised, releases the shutter. When the second curtain has completed its travel, that in turn releases the mirror return lock. Probably logical but hardly simple. Guess it is that way with every mechanical SLR
Now I am even more enthusiastic to understand how it all works.
The biggest downside of getting the S11A working is that it was bought as a very inexpensive way to start the 'learning experience' by fully dismantling. Now it is working, seems a shame to dismantle. Oh well!!!
What amazes and intrigues me, and more so when I watch some of the videos on dismantling the more sophisticated 35mm manual cameras, is the ingenuity of the engineers and designers to fit all the parts to make everything work in the correct order; springs, latches, levers, gears, etc. And sometimes, how simple things are.
On the S1A, the flash sync seems to be happen when the rising mirror hits a protruding lever that in turn makes completes the circuit. So simple.
Watching some videos on dismantling a Nikon F, I always thought that hitting the shutter button caused the shutter to fire. But it seems not. The button releases the mirror which when it is fully raised, releases the shutter. When the second curtain has completed its travel, that in turn releases the mirror return lock. Probably logical but hardly simple. Guess it is that way with every mechanical SLR
Now I am even more enthusiastic to understand how it all works.
The biggest downside of getting the S11A working is that it was bought as a very inexpensive way to start the 'learning experience' by fully dismantling. Now it is working, seems a shame to dismantle. Oh well!!!
