Yashica-D

[Drew B.]

ok, someone gave me a yashica D twin lens camera. I've figured out most of its controls...but after playing with it (without film) I've discovered that the shutter locks open at most speeds over 1/4 sec. Is there some safety mechanism or something that is made to do that (for some unknown reason...maybe film needs to be in there?) or is there a problem with the shutter? Its a fun camera with a very bright viewfinder.

On another note: this person also gave me an old meter that seems to work, although I have no idea how do use a non-digital meter! ....and need help if anyone has used this. Its a Director Products Corp unit. The company was out of Manchester, NH, NYC, and Rome. On the back, it says: Norwood Director Color-Matic Exposure Meter Model D. Anyone have any ideas? I guess some internet research is in order.

drew

 

[Ira Rush]

Drew,

One of the best sites for old out of print manuals is the following:

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/yashica/yashica_d/yashica_d.htm

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/flashe..._color-matic/norwood_director_color-matic.htm

You can find just about any make,model on his site.

Check it out for the manuals in question, (I tried to actually include the pdf manuals, but the files would not upload to this post) maybe you'll find the answers.

Hope this helps,
Ira

 

[John Koehrer]

Drew,
Do you mean it remains open with exposures longer than 1/4 sec?
If that's the situation it's in need of a CLA. The lube/dirt in the slow speed gear train needs to be removed/relubed.
Pretty common in leaf shutter cameras.
Regarding the meter it sounds like the predecessor to the Sekonic L-398?
Operation pretty simple though.
Set the ASA
press button in middle of dial
release button, needle locks in position
adjust calculator dial to agree with reading
dial gives combinations of proper exposure
set camera, take pitcher.

 

[Richard Kelham]

The Norwood Director was the movie version of what is still available as the Sekonic 398 studio meter – and a damn nice little meter it is. Being based around a selenium cell it doesn't requie a battery. It should be a lot easier to use than one of those confounded digital things...

 

[DBP]

However, selenium cells do age and die, so check it against something known. I usually just verify a meter against the "Sunny 16" rule.

 

[Drew B.]

If that's the situation it's in need of a CLA.

Well, I guess I will give it back to him with your suggestions. If I kept it, it wouldn't get used much anyway....and not enough for me to repair it's problems.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[nworth]

I have a Yashicmat with a Copal MXV shutter, which is pretty similar to your Yashica D. I haven't used it in years, but I hauled it out and tried the slow shutter speeds. The shutter opens and closes after the appropriate time, just like you'd expect. A cleaning is probably in order for your camera. But operating the shutter many, many times at low speed often clears up these problems, too.

 

[Roger Hicks]

But operating the shutter many, many times at low speed often clears up these problems, too.

I'll second this. Work it repeatedly at 1/8; then, when that's steady, at 1/4; then 1/2... You may well effect an effective 'repair' provided you don't leave it to gum up again.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Nick Merritt]

I did the same with a Yashica D I bought, which had very erratic to nonexistent speeds below 1/15th. Repeatedly working the shutter brought the slow speeds back. (I've found it helps sometimes to exercise the faster speeds several times in a row and then resume working the slow speeds -- maybe varying the shutter speeds helps with the process.) In my experience, the Copal shutters seem to work better without regular use than the equivalent Compurs. Maybe it's because they're newer than the Compurs, or Copal made some improvements to the Compur design.

 

[reellis67]

I find that if you put the camera in the sun (lens cap on) for a few hours to get nice and warm you can get much more reliable results from working the shutter repeatedly. I've gotten a few stuck shutters to work this way.

- Randy