| Author |
Message |
    
Goblin
Tinkerer
Username: Goblin
Post Number: 1
Registered: 08-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 03, 2009 - 02:49 pm: | 
|
Hello All 
Great forum. I was looking for some info about my new broken toy, and found some interesting info, but not all I needed. So here I am, already with the questions
To make a long story short - I just purchased a not working Contax RTS ii. So far it makes a great paperweight, but the fit and finish of this thing is so amazing that I'd really love to hear it click and clack. But for now, it's stuck. Here's what I figured out so far:
- Mirror seems to work fine. It's not stuck, it's not sticky, it goes up and down manually just fine. The mirror lock lever works fine, it brings the mirror up and down just as it should.
- Metering seems to be fine, the lcd numbers in the viewfinder show the aperture and the speed, the speed dial changes speeds fine, the ASA dial has an effect on the metering when changing position, so I guess all is ok there.
- The shutter is closed (well, I mean, it's not stuck open. I don't know if its cranked or not, I don't know if it's stuck halfway or not).
- The shutter button has no effect. No effect whatsoever, no noises, no attempts to do anything. Dead as a dodo.
- The manual shutter release button (the one which also serves as a depth of field preview button), when put in the "manual shutter release" position, does not release the shutter as well. Nothing happens.
So I think the camera is simply not winded (so obviously the shutter does nothing).
Here's where the problem is. The wind lever is stuck. It has the usual free play, but when it reaches the point where it should actually engage the gears to wind the film - it's hopelessly stuck, and I don't dare forcing it.
I don't know if it's the windage mechanism which is stuck, or the shutter.
- The camera has a "bump" on the top cover, just where the pentaprism is. It obviously took a shock there. I heard that that's where the shutter release magnet is, and I wonder if the camera being locked is related to that bump.
I would think that something in the windage mechanism is jammed, and that I simply can't go to the point where the shutter would be "cranked" and ready to release.
How do you think I should proceed ? Should I take the top cover to access the windage mechanism, or is it more complex than that ? If it's only a top cover story - what should be the disassembly sequence ? Are there any bouncy cranked little springs waiting for their freedom since 1982, ready to jump at my face ?
I tried to find a repair manual, but I only found one on ebay, and as much as I would love purchasing a manual from a legitimate site, 35 bucks is a bit of a rip off for me. No matter how long it took the guy to scan it or to download it from another site.
Any advice would be welcome.
Thanks in advance |
Glenn
Tinkerer
Username: Glenn
Post Number: 635
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 04, 2009 - 02:36 pm: |
|
The camera will not 'explode' when you remove the top, apart from that I cannot give you any more useful help - never pulled one of these apart.
On the purchasing of a manual - I do not agree with you. If you cannot find a download or a copy on disc, $35 does not seem extortionate for a hard copy of the official repair manual. Over the years I have certainly paid more for an urgently needed official manual, after all the object of the exercise is a working camera - which inevitably will be worth more than the cost of the said puchase. |
Monopix
Tinkerer
Username: Monopix
Post Number: 32
Registered: 11-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 05, 2009 - 12:58 am: |
|
Worth unlocking the wind lock manually first and then recocking to see what happens. Don't know for sure on this camera but the wind lock is almost certainly under the base plate. Remove the base plate and look at the area under the wind on side of the camera. Should be a lock in place somewhere. It's usually a lever engaged into a notch on a gear or cam located on the bottom end of the wind shaft. Pull the lever out to disengage it and then crank the wind on lever. Let us know what happens. |
Billmartins
Tinkerer
Username: Billmartins
Post Number: 16
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 05, 2009 - 08:14 pm: |
|
Found this on Mir.com
Main Switch: This switch provides a master control over the entire electronic operation of the RTS II Quartz, activating the exposure metering system and electro-magnetic release, and preventing accidental exposure or battery drain by the LED Data Display when the camera is not in use.
Mechanical Shutter Switch Lever: By turning this lever to the horizontal position, the photographer activates the manual, mechanical release 1/50 sec. shutter capability of the RTS 11 Quartz,.requiring no battery power. The shutter is operated by the Mechanical Shutter Release Button (Depth-of-Field Preview Button) in this mode of operation
http://mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/contax/contaxrts2/htmls/map. htm
If you get into disasembly, there might be a few things here you might find helpful.
http://www.mlanger.cz/equipment/Repair%20of%20Contax%20RTS%20II.html
All the best,
Bill Martins |
Goblin
Tinkerer
Username: Goblin
Post Number: 2
Registered: 08-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 06, 2009 - 12:32 pm: |
|
Thanks Everyone
I narrowed down the problem (which is no consolation).
It's definitely the shutter. I applied more force (not to the wind lever, but to the coupling for the motor drive, and the whole thing started moving reluctantly.
The shutter cocked halfway, after which it wouldn't go further. A little more effort and stupidity later, it made a nice snapping noise, and the right (looking from the back of the camera) curtain went to the end as it should, while to bottom stood stuck halfway.
Here's the situation now.
Looking at the curtain from behind the camera, back plate removed:
- Right curtain moves ok. When winding, it fully disappears in the camera (camera armed)
- Left curtain goes halfway following the right, and stops.
- Left curtain can be moved to the right freely if needed. Its movement to the right is not stuck, nothing jams it.
- Once armed, the camera stays with a half opened shutter.
- Manual release of the shutter (I didn't have the battery cover to close the battery with the bottom plate removed) works. It will either release the shutter, or nothing will happen and then the slightest shock on the camera will release it.
- During the release, the left curtain will go to the left as it should, but will remain stuck without retrieving all the way to the left. I would say - 3-4mm out (0.15 inch) stays out.
- Pushing the left curtain all the way to the left is impossible. I have not insisted, of course.
- When winding, the camera makes a nice grinding gears noise.
Sounds like I stripped some gear teeth somewhere. |
|
