Sticky shutter on Mamiya TLR lens. Who can help?

Bormental · Jun 30, 2020

I bought an extremely clean instance of Mamiya Sekor 105mm DS f/3.5 lens. The optics is in mint condition, but the shutter is sticky: sometimes it doesn't open at all, sometimes it's slower and sometimes it's perfect. The seller does not mind taking it back, but I want to CLA it instead.

Can you recommend a camera repair service that does a good job servicing Mamiya TLR lenses in the US? I'm in Northern California but I'll ship if needed.

Thanks!

grat · Jun 30, 2020

Haven't dealt with for service, but Bill Rogers of http://billrogers.com has a good stock of Mamiya C series parts, and was most helpful when I needed some minor parts for my C33. I'd start there.

AnselMortensen · Jul 1, 2020

You might check with Manfred of I.C.T. (International Camera Technicians) in Mountain View, if you're near the Bay Area.

Oren Grad · Jul 1, 2020

Bob Watkins...

https://www.precisioncameraworks.com/

...has done CLA on a Mamiya TLR lens for me, in addition to a number of other medium format and large format repair jobs. He has recently moved to California and isn't that far away from you now.

Grim Tuesday · Jul 1, 2020

Mamiya TLR lenses are extremely easy to service. There are two possibilities of what is wrong with yours: it could be grease on the shutter blades, or (and this is a very common problem in Mamiya TLR lenses for some reason), stickiness between the cocking lever and the speeds plate. You can diagnose it as the second one if faster speeds cause it to stick more. The second is a super easy fix, the first would require a full teardown. Neither of these require a specialized repair-person like a Rollei or a Hasselblad would, the shutters are quite generic and the lens elements just unscrew to access the shutter. I'd just take it to whoever operates a camera repair shop local to you if you still have one. If you don't then lots of good suggestions in this thread!

Dali · Jul 1, 2020

Grim Tuesday is right. High chance that the shutter retaining (slotted) ring is tight a bit too much. I saved my Sekor 4.5/135mm this way. The shutter was OK unmounted but nearly stopped working onced screwed on the lens mount. By adjusting this retaining ring, the shutter runs now consistently at all speeds. This retaining ring is stopped by a screw, so no risk to get it loose with time.

Grim Tuesday · Jul 1, 2020

Dali said:
Grim Tuesday is right. High chance that the shutter retaining (slotted) ring is tight a bit too much. I saved my Sekor 4.5/135mm this way. The shutter was OK unmounted but nearly stopped working onced screwed on the lens mount. By adjusting this retaining ring, the shutter runs now consistently at all speeds. This retaining ring is stopped by a screw, so no risk to get it loose with time.

I'm glad this worked! If it fails eventually, the next fix is to clean off whatever sticky gunk has formed between cocking lever and speed ring. I had to do a pretty intensive cleaning on my 80 2.8 to get it to stop sticking, but once I did it was right as rain! It's an old chrome shutter and the actual speeds were running great, so I suspect some repair person put some oil on there about 25 years ago when they should have put a dry lubricant like molybdenum disulfide. Luckily, totally recoverable!

Bormental · Jul 1, 2020

Yes, I found a couple of YouTube videos and that's well within my comfort level to DIY, but I got discouraged by difficulty of obtaining shutter oil (watch grade?) at a reasonable price. I only found one option on Amazon from an unknown small reseller for $50 and if I add other tools (spinner) required, I am approaching comparable $ amount to a proper CLA by a professional.

Grim Tuesday · Jul 1, 2020

You shouldn't need shutter oil for this repair. If it's the simple fix that Dali is suggesting, all you need to do is remove the front group (tool to use is most likely rubber cones aka 'buchner funnel flask adapters' ~$10 on Amazon), turn the retaining ring screw one half turn, loosen the retaining ring by a little bit and lock the screw back in. If it's still sticky what you actually need is not shutter oil but naptha, or some equivalent degreaser. Don't pour it into the shutter like some idiots will tell you to do, but remove the speed ring and put naptha on the q-tip and wipe carefully the surfaces of the speed ring and cocking lever to remove dried grease. If that doesn't fix it then you need the full CLA and I agree send it to a pro. And by the way, if you need shutter oil for something else, the thing to get is called nyoil shutter oil and goes for $25 on ebay/amazon.

Bormental · Jul 1, 2020

Thank you everyone, for your help!

shutterfinger · Jul 2, 2020

https://www.amazon.com/Tri-Flow-Squ...qid=1593677573&sprefix=triflow,aps,203&sr=8-2
I've been using it for years on shutters. A drop about the size of a straight pin point on shafts with rotating parts is all that is needed. Too much oil acts like glue, no oil makes a loud, ruff running shutter.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/CRC-11-oz-QD-Electronic-Cleaner-05103/205021975 or 90% Isopropyl Alcohol for cleaning.
I service Compur all types, Graphex/Rapax/ Wollensak, Ilex, Kodak shutters. The Seiko in your Mamiya will be a piece of cake for me although I have not had the opportunity to service one.
https://learncamerarepair.com/downloads/pdf/Mamiya-Seiko-Shutter-Repair.pdf

Bormental · Jul 2, 2020

This is gold, Jerry! Gold!!! (because I already have both of those in my garage!)

Dan Daniel · Jul 2, 2020

Question for shutter finger on using Tri-Flo: Do you shake it up well? Or do you use only the top oil layer? It has teflon particles (very fine) that fall out of suspension and form a whitish lower layer. Needs to be mixed up well to get the teflon back in suspension. Just curious if oyu go for the teflon or just the oil part.

(By the way, Tri-Flo is a very widely used lubricant for bicycle chains and other parts. Most bicycle shops will have it in dripper bottles. Spray cans are, well, a mess, but you can can spray into a bottle and let the lubricant collect in the bottom if that's the form you have it in)

shutterfinger · Jul 2, 2020

I shake it up like a rattle can of paint. I stick a round wood tooth pick into the drip tube hole, turn the bottle over so the tooth pick becomes saturated then swap the inside of gear bushings or drip a drop onto a shaft if necessary. I do full disassembly when doing a shutter CLA.

mgb74 · Jul 2, 2020

Dan Daniel said:
Question for shutter finger on using Tri-Flo: Do you shake it up well? Or do you use only the top oil layer? It has teflon particles (very fine) that fall out of suspension and form a whitish lower layer. Needs to be mixed up well to get the teflon back in suspension. Just curious if oyu go for the teflon or just the oil part.

(By the way, Tri-Flo is a very widely used lubricant for bicycle chains and other parts. Most bicycle shops will have it in dripper bottles. Spray cans are, well, a mess, but you can can spray into a bottle and let the lubricant collect in the bottom if that's the form you have it in)

Dan Daniel didn't toot his own horn but, based on work he has done for a friend, I'd consider him for repair.

jvo · Jul 4, 2020

mgb74 said:
Dan Daniel didn't toot his own horn but, based on work he has done for a friend, I'd consider him for repair.

+1

Sticky shutter on Mamiya TLR lens. Who can help?

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