Yashica Mat aperture dial disconnected?

[Chadinko]

I got a Yashica Mat EM recently and it looks to be in very good condition, except that the aperture iris doesn't seem to be opening and closing when I move the little dial. Is this common with these, and can it be easily repaired or is it even worth it to repair it? Shutter speeds seem accurate and the meter even seems to work, which I understand is kind of unusual.

Or maybe I'm doing something wrong? I don't see any warnings or other odd information in the manual.

 

[Kevin Harding]

It might be hard to see - the iris opens and closes on the bottom (taking) lens, and the shutter on that lens is generally closed until triggered, so you might not be able to immediately see the difference between the iris and the leaf shutter. I think.

 

[Chadinko]

Yes, I know that.

The iris is behind the shutter; it seems to be stuck at about f/16 or 22 or so, regardless of what I put the dial at. I should be able to see it opening and closing when operating the dial with the camera open, and also when setting the shutter to bulb or time and opening the shutter, and the iris neither opens nor closes when the dial is turned.

 

[Kevin Harding]

Yes, I know that.

The iris is behind the shutter; it seems to be stuck at about f/16 or 22 or so, regardless of what I put the dial at. I should be able to see it opening and closing when operating the dial with the camera open, and also when setting the shutter to bulb or time and opening the shutter, and the iris neither opens nor closes when the dial is turned.

Sorry, didn't mean to imply that you didn't know that - just wasn't sure!

The iris on mine is visible through an open back when I move the dial. The linkage (which is super simple) may have become disconnected through a drop. Opening up the faceplate is easy on a Yashica Mat, and it's just a Copal shutter underneath with a little gripper arm that may need to be repositioned.

 

[paul ron]

its prbably the dial to iris conection has slipped off. not hard to fix, but you'll have to peel the leathete n remove the front shutter cover to get to it.