h_s1

Replying to myself. Turns out the camera is fine, only I don't know it well enough!

The f-stop scale shifts vertically based on the FD lens that is mounted on the camera. With FL lenses, there is no linkage to move that scale and it stays with f/4 just near the bottom red mark.

I tried with FD lenses 50mm f/1.4, 28mm f/2.8 and 35-105mm f/3.5, and the scale adjusted to the minimum lens f-number at the bottom of the scale.

With FL lenses, the scale stays at its lowest position, with 4 at the bottom.

Incidentally, I got back my second EF body back from a CLA with the meter adjusted to use 1.5V and was able to compare both side by side.

TIL!

I have a Canon EF SLR that I bought off ebay several years ago. I have shot a few rolls of film through it in the past and took it out today to shoot another one.

However, I noticed that the aperture number scale on the right hand side of the view finder has apparently shifted down! The lowest number I see is 4 (just near the red strip at the bottom of the vertical scale). However, as shown in its instructions manual it should be 1.2.

Anybody else experience similar thing?

Other than that, the winder is creamy smooth and the camera seems to be working fine.

I suppose, but note that photographers have this wrong since forever.

 

Shutter "speeds" are commonly indicated as time, though the dial normally

has reciprocal time which is closer to a speed.

 

(Speed should, at least, increase when something gets faster.)

 

In any case about (1/60)s, or maybe better 60/s, is usual for horizontal travel

focal plane shutters.

 

The vertical travel Nikon FM is 125/s, and the FM2 200/s or 250/s.

 

The Mercury II, with a rotating metal disk, is likely slower.

That is good to know. I wasn't aware of this nomenclature of stating time while describing speed. This was helpful.

Thanks.

Unless I missed it; I don't think you have mentioned how you are assessing the accuracy of the times. It's not possible to determine the accuracy of the high speeds by eye with any precision.

 

The fastest speed of a focal plane shutter will nearly always be the one most likely to first play up. It runs the tightest slit and is always most sensitive to variations in curtain performance due to age and need for servicing. The scenario you've presented is therefore not unusual.

 

In order to rectify the problem fully, you need a means of measuring the exposure across the film gate.

 

<snipped>

 

If the factory set timing calibration is intact, it's true that correcting the running speeds would then see the exposure fall into spec. But curtain adjustment will be right when the travel times are to spec, not necessarily when exposure is accurate, because it is possible the second curtain release delay may also need adjustment. The take away is that curtains, curtain running speed, and curtain timing, must all be good, to achieve accurate and consistent exposure.

Thank you for explaining this! Learned a lot from your message.

Currently I am doing a ball park check. 1 sec with a clock. 1/1000 by comparing the brightness I perceive, by pointing the camera with no lens to a bright light source or the sky, to the one I perceive using my FT that works reasonably well (based on films I shot with it).

The 1 sec was easy to guess that it is fairly good, but the 1/1000 showed no light at all and a partial blink sometimes. So I knew it was wrong.

From your message I understand that once the FTb passes the above two approximate tests, I will eventually need a way to verify the shutter curtain travels more accurately.

Also, I opened the camera again and cleaned the shutter spindles again but that didn't help. What eventually helped was adjusting the curtain spring tensions. The 1/1000 is markedly improved! I still see brightness shading from start of travel to end of travel of curtains (looks like either first is faster, or the second is slower), so now the challenge is to set the tension to be equal in both the curtains.

FTb curtain speed is between 14.0-15.5 millisecond.

 

No idea for A-1.

Did you mean travel time instead of speed?

With 36 mm being traveled in 14 ms, it gives the faster end of the curtain travel speed as 2.57 m/s. Did I interpret that correctly?

Thanks.

It's sold by art & craft suppliers, an A4 sheet lasts for ages. I just Google something like "Sticky back black felt" or "self adhesive felt sheet". Perhaps terminology in other parts of the World is different. Here's one UK result --- LINK --- Black Self-Adhesive Felt Sheet A4 | Hobbycraft

 

(I have no interest in this seller).

 

I think the springiness is just about OK to use it for the mirror bumper, often the foam replacement bumpers are too hard in my experience. The only problem is that the fibres of the felt can be a little untidy and visible in the finder. It's not really a problem as when the mirror flips up, it pushes any possible stray fibres out of the way of the light path and the image can't be affected. Again I've used it loads of times with no problems encountered.

Thank you. This is wonderful information to me.

Does somebody know how fast do the curtains travel in Canon FTb and in the A-1? Note that is not regarding the shutter speed for the camera, it is regarding the speed of each curtain as it moves from one side to another. Can't find this from the basic google search I did.

Thanks.

John,

Where do you get the black sticky felt from? And what specific one do you use? I have read about this in many online resources and would like to try it out.

Does the felt have good spring action to function as a damper for the mirror slap?

Thanks.

I have a set of light seals for a friend's A-1. The online instructions warn that all residue must be removed from the channels or the new seals won't adhere to them. What sort of cleaning solution works best for this?

I have done what others have suggested above (but used Naphtha, not alcohol).

For light seals, I use black wool yarn, both in the channels and also along the door hinge. Never had a light leak.

Good luck.

Here is the photo I was referring to in my original post. The magenta arrow points to the location at the bottom of the slow speed link (?) and whether it needs some bushing to be present? I guess maybe not, since slow speeds seem to work fine.

The stop arm and the aperture needle sticking problem is solved. Opened up the mirror box and noticed the linkages on this side needed cleaning and oil.

Now I am left with the 1/1000 shutter showing extreme capping, or the shutter are stuck together.

TL;DR: Cleaned slow speed governor, shutter spindles, speed linkages with naphtha, put extra tiny droplets on SSG, on ends of shutter spindles, but get severe capping at 1/1000. 1/500 seems fine. Did I not oil enough? Where do I apply lube, oil or grease, or what adjustment should I make to get 1/1000 working on my FTb?

Long version:

I have an FTb that I bought off ebay for cheap a while ago. Someone seems to have struggled with the speed selector pin screw and also with the winding crank. Having opened the top and bottom of Canon old SLRs in the past, I decided to take a look inside.

Using various online helpful posts and resources, I ended up removing the meter rack assembly, shutter speed plate (not really needed to be removed, could have just disconnected the speed display string), the prism assembly, the CdS cell behind the focusing screen and under the eye piece, the leatherette, the stop down arm, unsoldered the green wires near the galvanometer and finally got the mirror box out.

I used some naphtha for the slow speed governor assembly at the bottom, on shutter speed links, on curtain spindles, on the timer mechanism and also around the sides of the mirror box.

I was very very sparing while applying oil on the slow speed governor and on the shutter speed links. Used a needle on a syringe dipped in oil. I could barely even see the droplet on the needle tip, it was that sparing.

Anyhow, so far so good.

Couple of things I noticed:

1. There apparently was no ND filter in front of the CdS cell. Is there supposed to be one?

2. The slow speed link (which I could post the photo I took here!!), was resting on the base at the bottom, no special bushing or housing or anything. Slow speeds work fine, 1 second is almost dead on, 1/2 as well, can't tell with 1/4 and 1/8. Is this correct that the link will just rest at the bottom without any busing to support it?

3. The following needle link seems to be not fully responsive to the stop down arm (?) on the side of the box.

Put everything back together. All went well. The speed dial string was a bit fiddly and tricky.

Good things: The timer that was sluggish to begin with is prompt and responsive. 1 sec speed is good. So is 1/2.

However, some issues and questions:

The 1/1000 shows severe capping: the curtains travel, but I do not see any light when viewing from behind with no lens attached. Maybe a blink once or twice, but usually nothing. How do I fix the capping? Do I need to apply more oil after the naphtha cleaning?

The following needle needs "coaxing" to follow the stop down arm. Almost like it is getting some friction or the spring lacks tension. How do fix this? Lacking grease on the side of the mirror box?

Thanks!

<p>Thanks for the info, folks.</p>

<p>Paul, thanks for the link. I think I am going to lurk there in search of some additional lenses for my RB67 ProS :)</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Greetings.</p>

<p>Just received a 220 back for my Rb67 ProS. However, upon close examination I noticed that of the two steel springy strips, that make a see-saw in the middle of the back, one is missing the steel pin.</p>

<p>Here is an image I found on the net that shows them:<br>

http://f295.f295.org/uploads/rb67_back__seals_1590.jpg (from http://www.f295.org/Pinholeforum/forum/Blah.pl?m-1295593196/, which seals replacement as a DIY technique).</p>

<p>So, I have one of the roller pins at the end of the see-saw missing. Seems like either it was pulled out by mistake or somebody removed it. Is this back still usable? Would that pin-less spring scratch of damage my film?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>That number that Soo gave above appears to be a wrong number. I called that and asked for Mr. Oikawa. Apparently there is no one of that name available on that number.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>If the light seals are deteriorating, take a look at my recent post how I replaced on my RB67 ProS using wool and other materials easily available. It is quite straighforward and would cost merely a fraction of what a repair shop will charge.</p>

<p>Thanks, I give him a try.</p>

<p>Have you tried opening it up?</p>

<p>Recently I got a used winder, A-2 (?). I just wouldn't run. I opened it up, cleaned off the corrosion from its battery chamber (baking soda solution, ear buds, some tooth pics and small screw driver to scrape stuff off worked wonders). It solved the problem partially, the motor was sort of being clogged some place. Turns out its contacts were wet with the battery leakage fluid. Dipped that end of the winder in baking soda solution for several minutes while shaking it a bit, followed by several dips in distilled water for cleaning away the soda particles and left to dry for a couple of days. I avoided dipping the end of the motor in the fluids though, for fear of letting baking soda particles seep inside which would be difficult to get out. Works like a charm now. I can get between 19 to 20 frames in 10 seconds. I think it is rated as 2 frames per second in continuous shooting mode.</p>

<p>I would give disassembling it a try and see if there some obvious loose connection problem.</p>

<p>I have two of these beauties (Canon FD 35-105 f/3.5 zoom lens). One of them doesn't really reach infinity focus at its infinity mark, otherwise looks to be okay. It is usable to a large extent, but would love to get it fixed.. The second one focuses alright (though there might be a tiny bit error, but I can't tell for sure), but I see that its front element cleaned up of some dusty stuff in it to avoid any potential fungus problem in the future.</p>

<p>In any case, I am looking to see whether I can have these lenses CLA'ed someplace reliable. Buying a new one is always a choice, however. It all depends on the cost. So any reputable places in North America I can try?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Yes, I have the 90 mm.</p>

<p>Yes, I have noticed that 65 costs more. I have been keeping an eye on the prices for the last some weeks. 180 seems to be more affordable at present.</p>

<p>I did check Keh a few days ago. I am waiting to receive a 220 back I bought on e-bay. I am looking to buy an additional 120 as well.<br>

At the moment though, I am sort of leaning towards buying another lens, but I am not sure which one will be a better investment at this point. I am torn between 180 mm and 65 mm (hope I got those right).</p>

<p> </p>

<p>After doing these DIY repairs, I shot a roll of FujiChrome Provia slide film and was happy to see that the new seals were working very very well. No light leaks at all.</p>

<p>And here is the result. Processed the film at home (yeah, I just started to learn E-6 processing as well :) ).</p>

<div></div>

<p>The camera has seals in every nook and corner! The ones on the rounded edges of the film holder were also gone, as shown below. There were replaced with small strips of black felt.</p>

<p>All the materials for replacement were obtained from a fabric store. The naphtha that I used for the removal of the sticky stuff was bought from Home Depot (VM&P Naphtha).</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>Next, I use pure wool yarn and installed that in place of the older seals. I used spots of glue to secure the yarn to the back. The photo below shows the installation in progress. The white spots are the glue.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>