Seagull TLR-mysterious shutter failure :-)

[Bobby Ironsights]

Why is it so many people have mysterious shutter failures with seagull TLR's???

I have a crazy idea, it's because people aren't reading the Chenglish instruction manual that clearly states that you cannot change the shutter speed after cocking the shutter.

If you cock the shutter then change the film speed,

the first time there is alot of resistance and a crunk noise.

The second to tenth times, there is just a little catch, and a tiny sound.

After that there is no sound.

Soon after that the shutter is non-functional.

It's in the manual, and the symptoms have been reported on a number of online forums......

It's a quirk of the camera, but if you understand it, you can get many, many years of excellent service and there are several hundred thousand little communist chinese who have. Seemingly it's only us gwai-lo who can't respect a camera that's not stupid-proof.:rolleyes:

I'm not particularly fond of sending money over to the communists, but the camera is good and delivers good service within it's performance envelope. I'd rather have a shutter that requires respect, than a craptastic lens any day. The seagull does deliver a very good lens for the price (at least if you get the four element tessar found on the 200 dollar 104, as opposed to the three element on the 95 dollar 103)

 

[David H. Bebbington]

Why is it so many people have mysterious shutter failures with seagull TLR's???

I have a crazy idea, it's because people aren't reading the Chenglish instruction manual that clearly states that you cannot change the shutter speed after cocking the shutter.

If you cock the shutter then change the film speed,

the first time there is alot of resistance and a crunk noise.

The second to tenth times, there is just a little catch, and a tiny sound.

After that there is no sound.

Soon after that the shutter is non-functional.

It's in the manual, and the symptoms have been reported on a number of online forums......

It's a quirk of the camera, but if you understand it, you can get many, many years of excellent service and there are several hundred thousand little communist chinese who have. Seemingly it's only us gwai-lo who can't respect a camera that's not stupid-proof.:rolleyes:

I'm not particularly fond of sending money over to the communists, but the camera is good and delivers good service within it's performance envelope. I'd rather have a shutter that requires respect, than a craptastic lens any day. The seagull does deliver a very good lens for the price (at least if you get the four element tessar found on the 200 dollar 104, as opposed to the three element on the 95 dollar 103)

Your idea is most probably not crazy but accurate - however, the reason people change speeds after winding the shutter is that they expect to be able to from their experience with other leaf shutters, and that not being able to is a sign of considerable mechanical weakness!

Regards,

David

 

[zenrhino]

I was very, VERY careful to properly change speed before winding on my Seagull. I also have a Kiev and a FED that have to be done the same way and I learned through hard, painful experience with a Zorki to follow the instructions.

There just isn't much you can expect in quality control from a camera made by prison labor. Out of the box, my Seagull had horrid fit/finish (I know now that I own a Rolleicord and Yashicamat), the mirror box was dusty and the fresnel/split prism was off. If I bought it today, I'd return it in a heartbeat, but back then I didnt know any better and was just stoked to get to use 120 film.

If you got one of the rare good ones, bless your heart and keep shooting with it. When it dies, find yourself a nice Rolleicord for $150 and get it CLA'd and a brightscreen added. You'll wonder why you never noticed how awful your Seagull was. Trust me.