arhphotographic

I’ve had this camera for a while. I like its plain simple appearance. However when I went to use it in my 365 camera project I found a problem. The leaf shutter would randomly stick. What to do?

Watching a couple of repair videos filled me with optimism that I could potentially solve the problem. It would require me to go a little further than I have gone before. I was excited by the enterprise🤭

First up, the top plate needed to come off. So I started by removing the film rewind crank…

then the light meter mechanism around the film rewind. I needn’t have removed this as there is one long screw that connects the top plate to the camera body😣

Then using a lens spanner I removed the film advance.

Finally I removed the only screw on the top plate.

The top plate removed, revealing the viewfinder prism. Ooooooo

Upwards and onwards. The base plate next. Simply needed to remove two screws.

For me to extract the shutter box, I would need to remove the securing washer on the long armature in the image below. You can see it in the middle of the image.

Now for the mirror box itself. It is held in by four screws hidden under the camera covering, which had to be carefully pealed back.

I was then able to lift the shutter box out of the camera chassis. Definitely Ooooooooooo

The mirror box is secured to the lens assembly by four screws. I took these off and this allowed me to see the condition of the whole assembly.

It clearly needed a cleanup with some surgical spirits. Indeed, the problem seemed to be solved afterwards as the shutter could be actuated freely. So I proceeded to reattach the lens assembly.

However, and there is always one of those, the problem of the sticking shutter returned. I would clearly have to go a little deeper into the leaf shutter.

I didn’t feel particularly confident about this.🙁 The lens and shutter assembly are attached to a frame by a circular screw/washer which with my lens spanner came off surprisingly easily.

I was now at my limit, maybe even out of my depth. I cleaned up things as best I could and reassembled.

Actuating the camera a few times at shutter speeds of 250th and 125th no more sticky shutter. Sadly at lower speeds the problem persists.

Strangely, when I hold the camera upside down the problem disappears, even at slow speeds. So for now I will use the camera in this way in the future.

What is the take away from this experience. My confidence has increased in making slightly more complicated repairs to my cameras.

Maybe more importantly, my appreciation for these mechanical marvels grows with each repair experience. Considering this camera is 60 years old and with a little attention continues to perform its task is, in my opinion remarkable. Will this be true of our modern digital marvels ???