| Author |
Message |
    
Jim Brokaw
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 04, 2005 - 12:56 am: | 
|
I just picked up a very clean Minolta X-370 camera, with the fault that the second curtain is not completing its travel when the shutter is released. The second curtain stops about 2/3 way across the film opening. If I gently move it over, when the metal edge band gets into the left-side (viewed from back) niche the mirror returns with a 'click' and the shutter can be wound on. This seems to happen at any set shutter speed... and the curtain doesn't seem to have any tension as it stops. It looks a little loose to my eye, too. Any ideas what needs to be adjusted to set the curtain traveling all the way across? |
Henry
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 04, 2005 - 11:37 am: |
|
Couple possibilities come to mind: First, if the camera looks very clean, I'd suspect a previous tinkerer has maybe screwed up the tension. You have another X-series Minolta? Catch the curtains between finger and thumb to compare tension. The tensioning device is a simple ratchet mechanism. Inappropriate probing may have let a few teeth jump. It has to have SOME tension or it wouldn't move at all after cocking so I doubt the catch has broken.
Is the metal edge perfectly vertical as it stops? If not, maybe one strap has come unglued (or more likely just slipped a little) letting the curtain cock enough to hang.
I've had that last problem but where both straps were still fastened securely but one strap had somehow gotten twisted, in effect getting shorter and letting the curtain wedge.
And even a film chip wound in the curtain can do something similar, though I've never had that problem on a Minolta.
Remove the tripod mount plate to see the tensioning mechanism.
Henry |
Jim Brokaw
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 05, 2005 - 12:18 am: |
|
Thanks Henry, I'll check your suggestions. |
|
