| Author | Message | ||
     Paolo Amedeo Rating: N/A |
Today I went taking some pictures with my "battlefield" Contax RTS II and, when I was in the middle of the woods, I had a bad surprise: with exposure times longer than 1/60 the camera would leave the shutter open for times absurdly long. It doesn't seem being a problem of light metering: while the shutter is open (sometimes, setting the speed to 1/15th, it would stay open several seconds!!), pushing the light-metering button on the front of the camera, in the viewfinder would appear the correct settings. Back home I have checked the speeds: 1/2000 -> slow, 1/1000 - 1/250 more or less correct; 1/125 -> 1/90 - 1/30; 1/60 -> 1/40 - 1/15. The mechanical shutter release is amazingly precise and reproducible (1/50), therefore I can guarantee that, for the mechanical side, the shutter has no problems. This camera, aesthetically, is ugly but, functionally, has always been great and the shutter very precise (I shoot only slides...). I have quite some experience in repairing mechanical cameras, I also have some basic knowledge of electronics and tons of broken cameras for parts.. I have invested a lot in focusing screens for this camera plus I really enjoy several of its features (good mechanical construction, fantastic release button, viewfinder, etc). Although, technically, I would be able to put together a couple of reliable FR/FR-I, I would really like to be able to fix this RTS II My hypothesis is that a capacitor connected to the quartz of the shutter is out of order. Is there anybody that could confirm / correct my diagnosis? Tonight I have opened only the bottom of the camera and I have seen a blue drop-shaped capacitor that reminds me of Contax 139 (before 1980?) and/or Yashica FX-D: would it be that the "culprit"? Otherwise, where the "right" is / are located? I have the impression that, with cold weather, the camera would misbehave more (or probably it is going more and more downhill...): if this is true, would be helpful conducting tests like warming up / cooling down a single component of the circuit at the time, in order to find the culprit or the physical interaction would itself bias the bahavior? Thanks for your help! Paolo |