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kuchi
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 04, 2004 - 02:37 am: | 
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hello,
I just got a Olymous 35RD rangefinder, it is cute and I love it. but the problem is that, when shutter speed is set as 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, the shutter will stay open after release button pressed. It can be reset in half way of winding. this problem will not happen to higher speed or B.
is this a problem of shutter stick? I tried to open the front lens element to clean shutter blades, but not success. I have experience to open Konica AUTO S2 and Hi-matic 7s, but 35RD seems a little different. how can I open its front lens elements? or I need only more force to open it? |
Winfried
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 04, 2004 - 02:41 am: |
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In this case it is not a problem with gummed shutter blades but with gummed escapement gears.
The shutter of the 35RD is designed completely different from other shutters. To get to the escapement gears you have to remove the front assembly of the camera which is held with four screws (under the leatherette) to the body.
When pulling off the front assembly mind the galvanometer indicator on the bottom, it goes through a slot in a component which is linked to the front plate.
The escapement gears can be found on the left hand side (below the shutter release) behind the lens assembly. |
kuchi
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 06, 2004 - 12:05 am: |
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winfried, thank you very much. I will try what you instructed.
btw, how could I open the front lens element? even no need to clean shutter blades, I want to clean up some dusts in the lens.
thanks again |
kuchi
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 06, 2004 - 12:18 am: |
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hi, winfried, I have found your post about removing front lens element of two years ago, I think all I have to do is remove enough rings so I can unscrew lens element with more force :
To get access to the shutter blades of the 35RD, remove the first retainer ring and the nameplate ring with the meter cell. Set the shutter speed to an extreme position (B or 1/500). Below this ring you will find the shutter speed rack which links to a tiny pinion on the lower left. Mark the relative position of the rack and the pinion, and remove the shutter speed ring and the rack. If the front lens cell is not too tightened you may try to screw it off now. If it is tight, remove the next inner ring which is held by three tiny screws. On the bottom edge of the front lens cell there are two notches. Unscrew the front lens cell completely. |
Winfried
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 06, 2004 - 05:02 am: |
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Yes, it is quite straightforward except for the linkage between the speed ring and the tiny pinion which transfers this motion to the escapement behind the lens assembly. If you did not mark it you will have to try several times until you find the correct position when reassembling. |
kuchi
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 06, 2004 - 09:38 am: |
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hello, winfried,
I have successfully fixed the slow speed problem just now, I did not re-assemble the 35RD yet.
I used zippo lighter fluid to clean some gears after remove the front assembly, then it works. I guess the gears are of a timer determining how slow shutter will be, something like self-timer.
btw, I met a little problem when trying to pull front assembly off the body. there is one more screw one the top besides 4 screws in front..
I use my DC recorded what I did. but regret this site does not support pictures.
thanks again to your great help! |
Winfried
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 06, 2004 - 12:28 pm: |
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I am very pleased to hear that your fix was successful so far. Indeed, the speed escapement works very similar to a self timer gear, on shutters which are designed the usual way both look very similar.
I repaired the last 35RD several months ago, sorry I did not remember the 5th screw.
If you want to upload some pictures of disassembly of the 35RD, just write an e-mail to the webmistress or webmaster of this page. If you do not dare to write some accompanying notes I will gladly do this task, in this case you can send your pics to my e-mail address. |
kuchi
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 07, 2004 - 08:39 pm: |
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hello,
I opened front lens element and cleaned the shutter blades and lens glasses yesterday. it now works great!
the only issue is that the coating on rear element is obviously scratched, but seems no way to eliminate it. any idea?
I may post my pictures on another website and give a link here. |
Winfried
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 07, 2004 - 11:55 pm: |
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Minor coating defects usually have no visible effect on the resulting images. As long as there are no deep scratches just leave it like this.
You can swap the rear element from a junker camera but in most cases you will have to readjust the lens and the rangefinder - not a very difficult job. |
Peter Rosendahl
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 06:33 pm: |
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>>Winfried & Kuchi
I have a 35RD as well - and it had the same problem as your's Kuchi. My problem is that I took the lens apart from the front AND GOT DISTURBED! I did not make photos of the process nor make notes as I was alone, phone unplugged etc. So I would be very keen to see the photos so I can get this little beauty put back together and up and shooting! Thanks!
Peter |
maston
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 03:25 pm: |
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Yes please - photos..
The RD lacks visual (tech) documentation.
The RF is better documented though, and I think they are fairly similar?! apart from lens/shutter.
BTW - I have read somewhere to clean the shutter and GREASE some part(s) with silicone - apparently leading to an endlessly joyful shutter. Is that correct? |
kuchi
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 07:51 pm: |
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ok, I received a few emails recently asking for the pictures, I will update soon.
thanks. |
Simon
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 06, 2004 - 03:46 am: |
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Hi,
I'd like to echo the requests for photos or drawings of this camera's disassembly.
I have a 35RD with a sticky shutter and am daunted about going into it without visual guidance.
thanks |
Henry
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 09, 2004 - 10:29 am: |
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Ok...I've removed the front bezels and I've removed the very tight lens and the aperture and focus levers to uncover six screws. Do these six screws release the assembly or is everything going to fall out on the desk?
I've removed the four screws at 90 degrees to each other thinking the other two might hold the halves together but it is still secured tightly in the body. I chickened out on removing the last two until I get reassured things won't go...SPROING!
Henry |
Henry
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 07:51 pm: |
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Well, I finally took all six screws out. It did kind of go SPOING. That is it tried to. But the oil kept most everything in place. I do NOW know which three screws to leave in!
I took digi-pics of the reassembly. It isn't completely together. Got down to the resoldering of the photoresistor wires and the hands weren't none too steady so I stopped.
If there is any interest I could be convinced to post the pics and write a few words on it. There hasn't been any new articles in quite a while.
Henry |
Göran Bergqvist
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 12, 2004 - 12:12 am: |
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Hallo all,
I have been following this thread for a while with great interest. I have done C(L)A and cleaned the somewhat stuck shutterblades on my three RD:s following Winfried´s instructions. Two of them give fairly good exposure values in Auto but the third one is 2 stops underexposing. The galvanometer is turned to the end to compensate this. Is there any other way to adjust the camera for this? Setting the Asa to 400 for 100 film works all right but I would like to have the camera correctly adjusted. Or else I can not use 400 film.
And YES, I would very much appreciate pictures of the RD assembly/reassembly.
Thanks!
Göran |
Andrew Yue
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 12, 2004 - 05:24 am: |
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Just a suggestion from Austin, Texas. - If you are attempting to clean helicoid lubricant from the aperture and shutter blades by using the method of only removing the first two elements to gain access, ONE CLEANING MAY NOT BE ENOUGH TO GET THE JOB DONE. It may require more than one cleaning session.
By this I mean leave the camera open for about a month and come back it to each week to check the shutter blade operation. You may find that more helicoid lubricant is still migrating in from areas not visible when looking throught the front of the lens barrel.
In regards to removing the entire front assembly from the body of the camera, any photo documentation would be of great service to current and future owners of the 35RD! |
Henry
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 12, 2004 - 06:24 pm: |
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Got home and finished putting the 35RD together. Meter works but will have to check accuracy this weekend.
Andrew, I tried the "only from the front" method unsuccessfully every day for a week. The insides of this lens was REALLY oily! My photos show the entire aperture/shutter housing removed. Cool thing is I NEVER removed either the top or bottom covers. Everything was removed and reassembled totally from the front of the lens.
13 photos---4.1 meg total unshrunk
Henry |
Henry
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 15, 2004 - 06:21 pm: |
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Alright, just finished the article. As always, the photos were cropped and shrunk to conserve server space. But the original 1280x960 digipics can be sent to anyone needing them.
Soon as I finish here, I'll send the article to Kar Yan for proofreading and then it'll be posted. Probably tonight or tomorrow...
Henry |
Andrew in Austin, TX
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - 06:25 am: |
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Henry, Very nice work. Just a note, you mention how tight the front lens group is.
Since the assembly will later be cleaned up, go ahead and add a few drops of Tri-flow with a hypodermic needle to the base of this lens assembly and leave the camera facing up under a 60w light for a bit. You want the lens group to be warm, not hot.
It may need to sit under the lamp over night, but eventually the Tri-Flow will seep into the threads.
Also, I had to grind down one my lens spanners to fit into slotted ring at the base of the lens group. This is truly a confined space and you don't want the tool to slip.
I even go so far as to take the precaution of covering the lens with some gaffer's tape at the moment of removal of the front lens group. |
Henry
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - 07:14 am: |
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Never used Tri-Flow, or even hear of it for that matter. I tried acetone to no avail. Didn't try a penetrating oil though. I've had bad experience of penetrating oil getting up into the assembled element groups. Is Tri-Flow a penetrating oil?
The heat might have helped. Didn't think of that.
I made a special ring-like tool with two nubs sticking up. When the strain in the brass around the lens reached the plastic range the tool suddenly cocked sideways bending the front element shroud. I still feel bad about that.
Henry |
Andrew in Austin, TX
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - 07:59 am: |
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Again, I must say - A nice tutorial.
I only disassembled the lens assembly down to point of removing the front element and then flooded the shutter/aperture assembly with Rosinol, while at the same time keeping the camera tilted forward a bit for proper drainage. Without removing the apertue/shutter blades, there is a lot of repeated flooding, wiping, drying time and going at it again. I remember that I had to do a daily cleaning for about a week before all traces of helical lubrication was removed.
So far, the repair has lasted approximately three years, but I'll assume that it is a temporary measure.
In my opinion, taking the shutter/aperture assembly apart is much more thorough and permanent approach.
Tri-Flow is a synthetic lubricant, which also contains Teflon. It's very slippery stuff. In fact it stays liquid and slippery for years when used as a cable lubricant on bicycles. So, keep the number of droplets to maximum of three or four.
You raise a good point regarding oil getting in between the groups. Which is why I recommended using a hypodermic needle get access to the base of the ring for the front lens group.
I have to admit to having left two slight crunch marks on the sides of the aluminum / not brass / ring surrounding the front element. They're not visible when the front fascia is installed, but they are there. The front ring is very thin aluminum and easily damaged. I got my crunch marks simply from tightnening the lens spanner to hold it in place when removing the slotted brass collar/ring at the base of the front lens group.
If I ever have to do another one, I'm going to remove the entire front assembly from the camera. |
kuchi
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 18, 2005 - 10:26 am: |
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hi, friends,
sorry that I did not update soon as I promised. but finally I posted my pictures in:
http://www.xitek.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=276083
note that the posts in that forum is of reverse order, eg, first post in bottom. you need go to last page for strat.
hope this help. good luck! |
henry
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 18, 2005 - 06:51 pm: |
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Excellent work Kuchi. I saved the entire page in my Olympus RD folder...that one's a keeper!
Thanks
Henry |
