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Eric
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 20, 2004 - 09:58 pm: | 
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I just got this camera the other day and I put a new battery in it. The shutter works perfect, Ive tested it in B mode it stays open as long as I hold it down and in Auto it works perfect. The problem is the meter lights dont work right. The yellow light comes on in B mode, But when its in Auto mode the only time the yellow light comes on is when its set on f16. Its doesent matter how dark are bright the room is the yellow will only come at f16 and the red light wont come on at all Not even when pointed at the sun at f1.7
Does anyone know what this problem is. Thanks. |
Winfried
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 20, 2004 - 11:59 pm: |
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First you should check whether the lights go out just before the shutter is clicking. If they are still on when pushing the shutter button beyond the release point there might be a problem with the notorious plastic pad.
Otherwise I would suggest cleaning the slide contacts inside the camera. If you don't want to remove the front assembly you can reach them with a thin nozzle of a electronic contact cleaner spray can after removal of the bottom plate. When peeking into the cavity below the shutter release you should be able to see the slide contacts. |
Eric
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - 12:51 am: |
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The yellow light does go out right before the shutter clicks. I will try cleaning the slide contacts and see what happens .Thanks for your help. |
Eric
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - 02:09 am: |
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I took it all apart and the first thing I saw right off the bat was a broken dark green wire so I soderd it back down. I put the battery back in and tested it and now the yellow light works the way its supposed to, but the red light still dont work. Could the bulb under the red meter be dead. |
Winfried
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - 02:04 pm: |
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You can check the lamps with an ohmmeter (i.e. any handheld digital multimeter). It should show a resistance of 10 ohms or so.
When replacing it you should try to find a miniature bulb with a rating of 4 to 5 volts and 20 milli-amps approx. I found some in a model craft shop, they are used for model train lighting. You can also try to replace them by a LED plus a matching series resistor. |
Eric
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - 05:52 pm: |
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I will test it. Thanks so much for your help! |
Jackson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 11:31 pm: |
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I just purchased one of these and am also having a problem with the lamps. In my case, the lamps don't light at the same setting of the plunger. The position that lights the yellow lamp (with the plunger only slightly depressed) won't light the red. The position that lights the red (plunger further depressed, near the shutter release position) won't light the yellow. Other than that the lights operate as they're supposed to, as does everything else on the camera. Is this likely to be the contacts on the slide switch?
Thanks! |
Winfried
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 24, 2004 - 11:18 am: |
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It is normal that both lamps do not switch off at the same position of the shutter button. If I remember it correctly the red light switches off much earlier. The yellow light should go off just before the shutter is released. |
Jackson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 24, 2004 - 10:08 pm: |
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I'll take your word for it, but that sure seems lilke an odd way to design an exposure indicator. As a user, I would want both lights to work at the same plunger height. Under and over exposure should both be visible without having to fiddle with the plunger. Are you sure there aren't just a bunch of these cameras floating around with bad switches?  |
Winfried
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 01:54 am: |
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I don't think so. For some time I had half a dozen of these and they all worked this way.
This 'design flaw' was not changed on later Electro models like the 35GX and 35CC. They all have similar indicators. |
Howard
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 02:43 am: |
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Also the under and over indicators on these cameras are not like a normal system where a slight change of an F stop will light one or the other. You must remember that the Red is simply saying that at even 1/500 the shot will be overexposed and the Yellow is telling you that the speed will be 1/30th or less. Between the two extremes it simply selects the appropriate speed without the lights showing at all. |
Jackson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 08:52 am: |
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Thanks for all the info! After exercising this more, I can tell that the switch contacts responsible for lighting the red lamp need to be cleaned. I removed the base as described above, but can't see much of anything. The switch is apparently located under the lower advance mechanism. There's a lot of stuff in the way, and I can't even see the switch. Is it really possible to spray it (using a thin straw) from the bottom??
Also, this camera doesn't have the arrows in the viewfinder, only red and yellow circles. I don't care much whether the arrows show up, but does this mean there's a piece of plastic floating around in the upper compartment? |
Jackson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 10:03 am: |
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Well, I'm still not able to see where the switch is located in order to spray it, but I did remove the top cover to take a look at everything.
Here's a picture of the lamp assembly. It looks as though something was glued over the red and yellow lenses at one time, although I didn't find anything wandering around in the upper area. Can anyone confirm that something is, in fact, missing in this picture?
Thanks! |
Winfried
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 27, 2004 - 12:03 am: |
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I don't see anything missing in your pic. Some of the Electro35 have poor workmanship, and it's not amazing to see a lot of glue spread almost everywhere.
To see the contacts, use a small flashlight and peek into the camera from the bottom. By moving the shutter button you should at least get an idea where the slide contacts are. |
Jackson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 27, 2004 - 12:59 pm: |
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If nothing's missing, then I need to ask where the arrow-forming bezel is located. The viewfinder only shows two round blobs from the red and yellow lamps.
I tried everything I could think of to see into the camera from the bottom. My workbench has a bright goosneck fluorescent that I can place within inches of the work. I also have a large handheld magnifier. There really is a lot of stuff in the way (again, this is a GSN, for whatever that's worth). I tried moving wires out of the way, pushing the shutter release, etc., but nothing allowed me to actually see the switch. I have Deoxit contact cleaner that works really well for this type work, but I don't want to spray it in the camera willy-nilly. It leaves a lubricating film behind that might not be appropriate in other areas.
Anything more you can tell me about these two issues would be very much appreciated. Incidentally, I shot a few test frames yesterday (color negs), and the results were mostly good. Just wish this camera had a backlight switch; that should be mandatory on every camera, particularly those without manual controls. What has been your experience with these cameras regarding lens haze? I noticed on one of my indoor shots that light from a nearby fluorescent seems to spill (flare) into the frame to an unusual extent. I'm wondering if the lens should be disassembled and cleaned.
Thanks again! |
