Flexaret (VII) and weird flash problem

<p>Hi,<br /><br />I bought recently my first Flexaret. It seems working okay, except that I have problems with PC-sync.<br /><br />At the first, the flash didn't fire. My guess was that the PC socket was too loose.<br /><br />But after a while, I got my flash firing every time when I recocked the camera by using the second, multiple exposure cocking lever.<br /><br />Then every time when I tried to took real picture, the flash didn't fire :o<br /><br />It took a long time until I found one connection to the problem: The <strong>flash fires only when the lens is focused to 2 meter or longer distance.</strong> Anything closer than that does not give signal to PC socket.<br /><br />Is this a builtin feature or is it a fault?<br /><br />Anyone else encountered similar problem?<br /><br />Needles to say that it's pretty annoying when trying to shoot any kind of portrait photographs with a flash...</p>

<p>If it's a fault, then where should I look for the cause?</p>

<p>The wire must be loose or is being damaged, that's the only explanation I can think off. The PC socket is connected to the shutter with a red wire that moves along when you change your focus, so my guess is that the wire is somewhat broken and loses contact when focused too far. The flash should only fire when you trip the shutter.</p>

<p>I would suggest NOT try to repair the VII on yourself, the Flexaret VI and VII are very complicated and I doubt you will ever get them working again if you try. I know this by experience, I got a Dead on Arrival Flexaret VII and I though "No problem, that Flexaret IV was a piece of cake so how hard can this one be??" Wrong thinking of my side, It lies in pieces now only good for spare parts. Contact Cupog on the Ebay, he has experience with all types of Flexarets and knows how to repair them, he's very reliable and speaks good enough English to understand him. I'm certain it's only the wire that causes the problem so he could give you a quote on how much it will cost (if too expensive then you can buy a good one from him too), the only decent working Flexarets I ever got were from Cupog. Great guy. He's located in Slovakia.</p>