Shutter issue with Yashica 12

[silvertab]

Hi there,

I recently bought a Yashica 12 (very similar to the 124/124g) "as is" on ebay and it's in beautiful condition, but considering the price, I suspected something was wrong with it. Sure enough, when I received it and tried it, the shutter wouldn't move at all. I removed the taking lens and put a tiny drop of lighter fluid on the shutter and it immediately got unstuck. I thought I had successfully resurrected it but unfortunately my troubles didn't end there. The shutter did get unstuck and fires now, but it looks like there's only 2 speed on it: Bulb (which works fine), but every other speed, from 1/500 to 1s all seem to fire at a very fast shutter speed (I would guess at least 1/125).

I was wondering if there was any hope of saving it, considering that it is in otherwise perfect condition (the lenses are VERY clean, and even the lightmeter works!)

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Dan Daniel]

Sounds as if the shutter needs a thorough cleaning. Basic matter for cameras this age, and nothing esoteric about the Yashica shutters.

As to what you can do at home, hard to say since this is based on your comfort in taking things apart and getting them back together.

At the least you need to remove the lens shroud and open up the shutter. Also remove rear lens group. Then do a lot of swabbing and wiping with naphtha, cleaning blades, etc. This might brings things back to life eventually (and yes, many people here will tell you that this will not work or that you are a hack for doing this, and both comments may be right but then again it might work and even if you are a hack you have a working camera and can get on with shooting, not writing to forums so who is the real hack, eh? )

Lots more could be said beyond this, but this is getting into disassembly issues. Search on the 'net, and realize that 90% or more of what is said about 124s and 124Gs is applicable to your shutter.

 

[grat]

There is absolutely hope of saving it.

In 2020, I purchased a very cosmetically clean Yashica 12. Shutter fired at one, very fast, speed. There was a bit of a grinding noise from the film wind mechanism, and the light meter didn't work. I contacted Mark Hama, sent it to him, and for a flat fee in the neighborhood of $200 USD, he did a full CLA, along with repairing and modifying the light meter to accept modern batteries. The camera works like new, and is an absolute blast to use.

I also know that barring abuse, it should be good for another decade or two of use.

 

[silvertab]

Thank you both! Something else I noticed (not sure if relevant); but it seems like the shutter might be firing slightly slower if I set the flash sync to "M"... if I set it to "X", then it's firing insanely fast... in both case though, changing the shutter speed knob doesn't seem to have any effect

 

[Kino]

It's just old lubrication that needs to be removed. There is probably nothing else wrong with the camera. It needs service and if it's in as good condition as you suggest, it would be well worth the investment.

 

[Dan Daniel]

Thank you both! Something else I noticed (not sure if relevant); but it seems like the shutter might be firing slightly slower if I set the flash sync to "M"... if I set it to "X", then it's firing insanely fast... in both case though, changing the shutter speed knob doesn't seem to have any effect

There is an escapement engaged to cause the M sync delay. Since everytrhing is gummed up, this escapement will be gummed up and moving slow. This could cause either a delayin firing wihich you perceive as an overall slowness, or could slow down the actual shutter speed because the overall mechanism is under different forces.

For X, this secondary escapement is bypassed so no extra gum in the works

 

[cobbu2]

Another repair option is Bob Sara, CLA Studios; my Mat 124G is in his capable hands now.

https://m.facebook.com/yashicarepaircenter/

 

[grat]

Oh-- Don't try the self-timer while the flash-sync is in M. Mr. Hama will put a small brass pin in the front of the camera to make sure you don't use the "M" setting (has a slight delay for old flashbulbs).

M + self-timer can result in a seriously jammed shutter. Not hard to fix, but does require disassembly.

 

[gone]

Don't try the self timer on any old camera, that's the mantra, I've seen too many lock up. Usually, I would take the lighter fluid and flood the shutter w/ it, then fire it about 50 times. You may have to get to those shutter blades directly though by unscrewing the front and rear elements. If they're the slightest bit oily they will stick, or cause the shutter to run very slowly.

 

[silvertab]

Don't try the self timer on any old camera, that's the mantra, I've seen too many lock up. Usually, I would take the lighter fluid and flood the shutter w/ it, then fire it about 50 times. You may have to get to those shutter blades directly though by unscrewing the front and rear elements. If they're the slightest bit oily they will stick, or cause the shutter to run very slowly.

Thanks for the tip! that's the weird thing though; if it'd be gummed up I assume it would run slow, however, mine only runs VERY fast (possibly even 1/500, its fastest setting); basically it only has 2 speeds: Bulb (works fine) and Super-Fast™... no matter where I place the shutter speed knob... it looks like the knob doesn't do anything to the shutter speed; other than when I place it on "B".

 

[Dan Daniel]

Thanks for the tip! that's the weird thing though; if it'd be gummed up I assume it would run slow, however, mine only runs VERY fast (possibly even 1/500, its fastest setting); basically it only has 2 speeds: Bulb (works fine) and Super-Fast™... no matter where I place the shutter speed knob... it looks like the knob doesn't do anything to the shutter speed; other than when I place it on "B".

This is because the escapement is not being engaged. The default for this shutter is to operate at high speed. For slower speeds, an escapement mechanism slows down the time between opening and closing of the blades. But if the escapement is gummed up, the pin that determines the delay never moves into position for slower speeds.

The self timer mechanism is separate from the speed escapement mechanism. Best to leave the flash sync set to X and to simply never activate the self timer.

Get the shutter cleaned and all will fall into place.