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Parker
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 25, 2004 - 01:56 am: | 
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Hi,
I've just gotten a Yashica TL Electro X, and I think I'm in love.
This particular unit has a couple of issues, though. The first is with the stop-down lever. While it stops down fine, when you let it go, the arpeture doesn't always snap open quickly. Often it's quite slow, and sometimes pauses or stops before it's fully opened. I took the lens off and was looking at the mechanism. From what I can tell, the internal "plunger" that pushes the lens' index pin inwards doesn't spring back of it's own accord properly. It seems to rely on the index pin's own spring-loading to force it back. Is this normal in this camera, or is something wrong here?
The self timer is also temperemental. You're supposed to first cock the timer lever, and then hit the shutter release to set it in motion. Only, it usually doesn't - you have to give the lever a little nudge backwards after hitting the shutter release before it starts to move. Obviously this is only a minor issue, but if it's an easy fix, why settle for anything less?
I'm trying to track down an online service manual, but with no luck so far, does anyone know of, or have one?
Thanks. |
Jon Goodman
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 25, 2004 - 07:49 am: |
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Hi, Parker.
I don't know if you'll find a service manual, but I've had/worked on several of these over the years, and I still have a TL Super. They are neat cameras, and they'll take great pictures. Usually, I find they suffer from old and dead oil, complicated by having rested in somebody's closet unused for years. This is the problem with your self-timer almost for certain. The self-timer works somewhat like a mechanical clock or watch. There is a spring driven set of gears with an escape mechanism which "whirrs" as the mechanism unwinds itself after being cocked and set into motion. A cleaning will set it right again, but I don't believe you can get to it without removing the leatherette from the front panel. That becomes a little invasive. Often, problems like this can be improved by warming the camera up (leave it in a closed up parked car in the sun for a few hours) and then operating it. Here are a couple of questions for you: As for the aperture lever, do you notice it works better at faster shutter speeds (1/125 and up) and not so well at lower shutter speeds (like 1/15 and down)? Does the mirror also "hang" up sometimes? The only other thing you may need to do is replace the foam light seals...they're usually gummy and not good any longer. If you need to do that, I can send you a kit for as little as $6, shipping free in the USA. To see, please go to E-Bay, search "by seller" and enter my ID...Interslice.
Jon |
Parker
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 26, 2004 - 04:38 am: |
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Thanks for the advice, the timer does seem to work better when the camera is heated, so I'd say you're right.
As for the aperture lever, the set shutter speed doesn't seem to have any effect on whether it works properly or not. Usually, it is OK, but it's never really 'snappy' and like I said, the arpeture doesn't all ways open up all of the way, right away. I'm worderign if there's ment to be a spring or something that pushes the plunger thing back into the "aperture open" position which has gotten detached. |
alec
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 03, 2004 - 03:11 pm: |
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i just a yashica tl super on ebay, and it is amazing. however though, it does have a problem.
in a previous life, an owner dropped the body on the ground, and knocked the viewfinder off balance. so the pictures still come out fine, but the view through the finder is crooked. Any suggestions on how to fix it? also, it has a match needle meter, and since the finder is off balance, is the meter usless? |
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