What did you fix today? (part 2)

Mark Crabtree

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I'm messing with Zorki cameras right now as a learning tool. I picked up a couple jammed Zorki 4s for cheap on eBay and have one working nicely. The second one I got working but I think would need a complete tear down to work well, if then. I decided to part that one out for some bits I need to complete a Zorki 1, so today swapped the nice rangefinder on this one over to the better working one. It is turning into a pretty decent camera now, though that slow speed mechanism is diabolical. Of course that is why there are so many jammed Zorki 4's going cheap.

The rangefinder was even still in adjustment after the swap, though I'll touch up the vertical alignment the next time I have the top off.

I want to make a working Zorki 1 and hope I can pull enough parts from the extra Zorki 4 to make up my missing and broken bits. Either way, it will be a good learning experience and I sure don't need a second Zorki 4. I think the basic shutter mechanism is similar through the range.
 

Wolfram Malukker

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I fixed a "It doesn't work at all" Chinon CE-2, badged as a Sears 2000ES. After cleaning contacts for the ASA dial and exercising the shutter, the light meter came back to life first, then the shutter started working, and then the aperture measurement and autoaperture started working again.

I am waiting on some light seal foam, and I'll finish this one up.
 

Mr Flibble

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An acquaintance with access to some CNC equipment helped me out, and created this bracket for the copy lights that goes inside my Portable US Army dark room kit.



I'm in the process of wiring them up.



It'll get a coat of black paint once done.
Still need a vintage household plug for the other end. In the meantime it'll get a temporary modern one ....until I get round to raiding ebay.
 

Helios 1984

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I’ve been trying to fix the exposure meter of my Minolta 16MG, for the past few days, and had to concede. At first, I thought I’d find an adjustment screw but there were none. Then I tested the resistor but the value matched the color code (2.2k ohm) which led me to the conclusion that the selenium cell was just too weak. In a last ditch effort, I cleaned the cell but it changed nothing. It needs to be pointed directly at the sun or else the needle barely moves. Oh well, at least the camera is mechanically sound and can be used even without the exposure meter. I put tiny pieces of tape on the dial to indicate the approximative position of 1/60 & 1/125, cleaned the closeup lens and replaced a seal. Oh, and I found a use for my remaining pennies

Note: You have to appreciate the built quality of these little critters, Minolta did a beautiful job.



 
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MattKing

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For those that don't recognize it, that is a $1 CDN coin that @Helios 1984 has re-purposed.
Don't worry - I won't report the apparent breach of our legislation protecting the integrity of Canadian currency!
 

Helios 1984

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MattKing said:
For those that don't recognize it, that is a $1 CDN coin that @Helios 1984 has re-purposed.
Don't worry - I won't report the apparent breach of our legislation protecting the integrity of Canadian currency!
Click to expand...

I took care not to damage Her Majesty's portrait
 

kl122002

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I fixed few things recently:

1. A Praktica MTL 5B with a shutter that keep open but the mirror is down. It turns our the kick-linkage between the release-mirror- shutter is off. Putting them back and now it is an excellent camera

2. Fixed my cousin who always complained "why my film is blank?"
Taught him how to properly load the film: manually wind and shoot blank 5 times to see & confirm the negatives is pulled and goes into the take up wheel.
He further questioned me why he could only do 32-33 pictures while other do 37/38

3.Fixed my neighbor's kid's friend's darkroom
Taken off all his bright LED decoration bulbs.

4.Fixing myself
Reviewed my credit card bills and believing it is almost time to stop looking for new M42 bodies and spend too much on lenses I didn't use. But its hard .
 

Kino

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kl122002 said:
4.Fixing myself
Reviewed my credit card bills and believing it is almost time to stop looking for new M42 bodies and spend too much on lenses I didn't use. But its hard .
Click to expand...

Yes, a hard problem to cure!
 

Dustin McAmera

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Don't know if this counts as a fix; it feels like a cheat. My Canon A-1 has had a variable fault with one of the electromagnets for the shutter; it held on too tight, so it didn't release the shutter straight away. When I pressed the release, the mirror would flip, then there would be a short, variable delay of maybe one to five seconds before the shutter finally released. When it did release, the exposure time would be correct though.

I tried to clean the mating surfaces of the electromagnet and its metal block. That didn't help, but one of the ways I tried was using the glue on a thin strip of tape; trapping that between the magnet and the block when I cock the shutter. I discovered that with the tape in place, the delay doesn't happen (but it comes back as soon as the tape's removed; so my 'cleaning' didn't help). So I have cut a little patch of tape and stuck it on the little metal block, and just shot a roll and a half of film with no problem. I'll have to check it now and then, to see that the tape and its glue aren't wandering about; but I'm fairly happy with my solution.

I guess the problem isn't dirty surfaces anyhow, but maybe the electromagnet core, or maybe the metal block, has become weakly permanently magnetised. Maybe this is my come-uppance for leaving my shutter cocked for too long?
 

bernard_L

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Dustin McAmera said:
I guess the problem isn't dirty surfaces anyhow, but maybe the electromagnet core, or maybe the metal block, has become weakly permanently magnetised. Maybe this is my come-uppance for leaving my shutter cocked for too long?
Click to expand...
Not 100% sure for the A-1. But for the AE-1 the Canon engineers had a more sophisticated design. The magnet is permanently magnetized. And the action to release it is to send a current in the winding that cancels momentarily the permanent magnetization. This avoids current drain when the camera is just waiting.
 

forest bagger

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bernard_L said:
The magnet is permanently magnetized. And the action to release it is to send a current in the winding that cancels momentarily the permanent magnetization.
Click to expand...
That's mostly correct. The two magnet coils on the U-shaped magnet generate a stronger magnetic power with reverse polarity than the permanent magnet, so that the anchor is released and goes off, the shutter starts.
This anchor is made of soft iron and should'nt remain magnetized - sometimes it does, then the anchor remains unreleased.
 

bernard_L

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kl122002 said:
Taught him how to properly load the film: manually wind and shoot blank 5 times to see & confirm the negatives is pulled and goes into the take up wheel.
Click to expand...
5 times ?? Once the cartridge is seated, the space between the lips and the film window is (generally) less than one frame. So one needs to advance and blank-fire once before being in business. If I load the cartridge in a darkroom, I lose zero frame. Unless the cartridge felt lips are defective, as occurred to me recently --manufacturer made good for the loss. Say, you advance not one but two frames for peace of mind... but 5 frames!

To confirm take-up spool is properly engaged: after advancing one (or two) frames, rewind gently until you feel a moderate resistance.

kl122002 said:
He further questioned me why he could only do 32-33 pictures while other do 37/38
Click to expand...
The answer is just above.
 

kl122002

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Yes, 5 blank frames.

I don't know why, and how. Just what I can see is he has been too carelessly to install the film, even that is a Canon FTb with QL system, Praktica quick load, Olympus P&S camera, or Rollei 35
He always complaining why his film is blank after developing.
 

Dustin McAmera

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bernard_L said:
The magnet is permanently magnetized. And the action to release it is to send a current in the winding that cancels momentarily the permanent magnetization. This avoids current drain when the camera is just waiting.
Click to expand...
forest bagger said:
The two magnet coils on the U-shaped magnet generate a stronger magnetic power with reverse polarity than the permanent magnet, so that the anchor is released and goes off, the shutter starts.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, both! Clever Canon. I must say I was already impressed that even with an obvious fault, my A-1 was still exposing correctly.
So maybe now I should worry that the problem is with the electromagnet's coils; maybe they have lost some of their oomph (how? don't ask me! micro-electronic mice have chewed the insulation and left a partial short-circuit?)
I guess whether the problem is a weak coil or over-magnetised metal, there is a possibility that it could get worse and my fix may stop working. I'm happy to have an apparently perfect camera again for the time being.
Thanks again!
 

forest bagger

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Just remove the anchor and hold a demagnetizer (electromagnetic coil, feeded with AC) on it.
Maybe that is enough to solve the problem.
 
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