Meter in Yashica TL Electro with Helios 44-2

[henrik_lauridsen]

<p>When I started scanning negatives (instead of looking at prints from the lab), I noticed that the 50 mm f/1.9 on my Yashica TL-Electro had a lot of dust in it. Therefore, I decided to retire it, and fit the body with my Helios 44-2 instead. Fantastic lens, but I noticed something funny. I have been using the same set of batteries (2 SR44's) for more than a year. A couple of weeks ago they were spent. That did not seem unreasonably fast, so I just loaded it up with two new batteries. About a week later, the meter was almost dead again. That was a bit fast, so I started wondering if something could have short circuited the batteries. Then I thought about the Helios 44-2. The threaded mount (m42) is a bit longer than for my other lenses (all Yashica). <br /> <br /> Is it possible that the Helios is touching something in the body, thereby draining power from the batteries?</p>

[User_4525289]

<p>Is that Helius 44-2 automatic or it has a stop-down preset diaphragm ring? In any case I cannot imagine that it would short circuit anything.</p>

[Mike Gammill]

<p>The meter coupling is mechanical so the lens shouldn't make a difference. The only M42 SLR, AFAIK, was the Praktica with the electric aperture.</p>

[henrik_lauridsen]

<p>The lens is with a preset diaphram ring.</p>

[h._p.]

<p>Stupid question time: have you checked that the meter is switching off when the shutter is fired? With a preset lens, it wouldn't be obvious if the switch is sticking, because it doesn't control the diaphragm.</p>

[henrik_lauridsen]

<p>Thank you for the suggestion H.P. I checked, and it turns out that the meter is switched of when the shutter is fired, regardless of which lens is on it, or for that matter if a lens is attached at all.<br>

I guess the conclusion is that my TL-Electro is getting tired. It also have problems with shutter times faster than 1/250, so it not for use with fast films (eg 400 ISO) outdoors anymore.</p>