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David G.
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - 04:41 pm: | 
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Today I found a Graflex Century 35 in a thrift shop for $3. However, the shutter is stuck open, and the advance will just wind and wind and wind, without ever stopping. Stranger still, if you focus the camera to infinity, and then try to wind, the advance binds up and get stuck!
The camera looks like it was very well taken care of, so I'm sad that it doesn't work. If anybody knows what's going on, it'd be greatly appreciated. |
Jon Goodman
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 08:18 am: |
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Hi, David. If this is the Kowa-made camera, I have been into it. It sounds like somebody has reassembled yours incorrectly or the cocking sleeve is broken. The cocking linkage is...well, different. There are two things you must pay attention to: a sliding "sleeve" that cocks the shutter and the vertical shutter release linkage (which can only be aligned one way if it is to work more than once). If this sleeve is broken or assembled wrong, it will never find what it is trying to cock, and will work endlessly with no result. As for the cocking sleeve...picture this: As you wind the cocking lever, a series of gears work to pull the cocking sleeve (square metal bar) horizontally through a channel--travel of about 1/2 inch. One end of the sleeve has a metal "saddle" over it, forming a U shape. Into this U must fit the cocking lever of the shutter. The sleeve (which makes a straight motion) cocks the shutter lever (which wants to make a circular motion). So, you can appreciate in the best of situations, the two paths of travel are a little at odds with each other, but there is enough slop where the two parts join that it will work. Also, the shutter on this one...at least the shutter on mine...would not run dry. I had to get a light film of oil on the internals of mine to make it work, and getting the right balance was not too easy. I used a watchmaker's trick. A little light oil mixed with naphtha and used as a wash. Don't know what else to add...oh, yes I do. There is an extra blade on the shutter assembly. A ballast blade which fits on the back side of the other blades. If you disassemble the shutter, discard this blade. I will say I grew to really like mine once all the misery was past, however. Good luck with it.
Jon |
David G.
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 10:16 am: |
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Thank you. It seems like it's got pretty decent features for a Japanese camera of the late 1950s. I hope I can get it working again. |
David G.
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 10:24 am: |
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Thank you. It seems like it's got pretty decent features for a Japanese camera of the late 1950s, though Kowa unlike most Japanese companies isn't noted for high quality. I hope I can get it working again. |
Jon Goodman
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 12:29 pm: |
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Well, I suppose the good news is you got it for the right price. That should make experimenting a little less painful. I don't think Kowa was as bad as some people say. They were not at the top of the heap, by any means. Some of their designs were just unconventional. When it is working well, this camera will take very nice pictures.
As I recall, the shutter can be removed by unscrewing the retaining collar in the back. Under the leatherette on the front (small strips on each side of the shutter/lens assy, you'll find screws that fasten the shutter mount. Under this you can see the weird shutter release setup, and you can see the cocking mechanism under the top plate.
Jon |
Riley V Burch
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 18, 2004 - 01:14 pm: |
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I have a minolta 101 and the shutter is stuck closed. It will no longer wind and I can not get it to release.
I have had this camera for 30 years and love it yet I can find no one around here who can fix it, that leaves me to fix it.
Any suggestions?.
R Burch New Smyrna Beach, Florida |
Jon Goodman
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 18, 2004 - 03:20 pm: |
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Hello, Riley.
Please help us a little...what did it do right before the shutter quit working? You don't have film in the camera, do you?
Jon |
Doug Fennell
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 29, 2005 - 08:09 am: |
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I have a Kowa H, the worlds first EE SLR dating from 1963. It was working fine then just as the last frame was taken, the shutter will not cock when the film is adsvanced. I have removed top and bottom but the shutter is behind the lens which is fixed. Does anybody have knowledge of these cameras and how to remove the lens and repair the shutter? It would be a shame if such an historical camera was left unrepaired. |
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