Using a camera with incorrect shutter speeds before CLA

Hi all,

My first post here. I am more of a lurker/reader

I snagged an Agfa Silette Pronto with 'Color-Agnar' lens for next to nothing at an opp shop.

I have tested it and it seems to be working fine: the shutter fires at all speeds, the aperture closes down when the ring is rotated, the wind on and counting mechanism works (all these were observed with the film back opened).

However, I can't be sure if the shutter is firing at the correct speed as there seems to be no difference between the fastest speed (1/250) and the slowest (1/30).

I was wondering if it would be safe to use the camera before I get it CLA or would I risk further damage to the camera?



Thank you!

Jeremy Ng

No, you are not going to damage it. Pronto shutters are usually very reliable and are designed to work dry so there is no lubricant in there to dry up or harden. I would not bother having such a cheap model camera CLAd as it will cost a lot more than the camera is worth.

Thank you for your reply, Peltigera!

You can test for consistency by making a series of equivalent exposures.
For example f/4 @ 250, f/5.6 @ 125, f/8 @ 60, and so on. Ideally the negatives should be very similar, the ones that are very light or dark will indicate speeds which are off.
Pick lighting conditions that let you use the slower speeds for whatever film you use for the test. Slower films will probably be easier.

About the only thing you risk is wasting film and money, unless you can get most of your shots to meter properly at the 1/30 speed.

Jeremy. Welcome to APUG.

Before you throw the camera away, try some quick and simple work-arounds to get some pictures from it. The other posters are correct in that a real CLA (the only way to get this shutter right) would be more expensive than the camera, and most likely much more than you want to spend. That doesn't mean you have to give up on it yet if you want to play around a bit. You might try just exercising the shutter. While you are doing something else, like watching a TV show (because this is really boring), fire the shutter 50 to 100 times on each speed. If that does nothing, try a little heat from a hair dryer focused on the shutter for about 30 seconds to a minute and then exercise it again for a shorter try. If these don't do anything, you can try putting solvent and/or graphite into the shutter itself, but this is messy (shutter must be off the camera with lens cells removed) and does not really "fix" anything...and it's a lot of work.

I have, as momus suggested, occasionally resorted to shooting whole rolls at 1/25 or 1/30 and had the film come out fine, but that is certainly not the most convenient way to shoot. I guess it all comes down to two things: how important it is to you to have this camera work, and how much you care about the reliability of your camera. You might try these things if the first is more important than the second. If that is not the case, get another camera.

Yes, I have found dry firing the shutter a few dozen times on each speed to work well on a stubborn shutter.

I own a Calumet shutter speed tester for checking shutters.

If you own an iphone you might be interested in this: :http://www.largeformatphotography.i...hp?104402-Shutter-Speed-Tester-for-the-iPhone

Welcome to APUG

Back in the day slide film was the standard way to check out a shutter, since its latitude is small compared with B/W. Somewhere I recall seeing a way to use a turntable - remember them? - set to 78 rpm. A narrow white strip of paper was attached radially to the 'table and under bright light with the table running you photographed the table at various shutter speeds. With a little math and a protractor the shutter speed could be measured. I've never tried this, so who knows?

http://photo.net/large-format-photography-forum/0044cW gives a high tech method.