| Author |
Message |
    
Aphototaker
Tinkerer
Username: Aphototaker
Post Number: 26
Registered: 12-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 31, 2009 - 03:02 pm: | 
|
Hi.
Continuing with the Canon FTbn camera that I mentioned in my previous thread, I have put in a new battery (hearing aid battery: Duracell #675) and I can see the meter needle mode.
I did a battery check and the needle moves above the index point in the viewfinder.
However, the aperture needle, the one with a ring I suppose, is nowhere to be found. It is just not visible anywhere. I also tried shining a flash light on to the mirror, I cannot see the aperture needle anywhere at all in the viewfinder.
I can move the aperture lever, just beside the mirror, up and down and it is spring loaded. The lens attached is a FD 50mm f/1.8 lens. I tried an FL lens and I can meter using the stop down switch (it changes the effective aperture).
Suggestions on what could be wrong with the aperture needle? And how to go about fixing it?
A few more clues:
1. The back was stuck shut, but I was able to open it by pressing the gray triangular plate inside the bottom of the camera, and I discovered a kodak BW film in it, all wound back in to the cartridge.
2. The film had three shots taken.
3. The camera still had battery in it, though it was weak.
4. Otherwise the camera is in good cosmetic shape, no scratched, dings or dents of any kind.
Thanks. |
Rick_oleson
Tinkerer
Username: Rick_oleson
Post Number: 1027
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 31, 2009 - 04:13 pm: |
|
that's not a good sign ... there is no position at which it should become invisible. |
Aphototaker
Tinkerer
Username: Aphototaker
Post Number: 27
Registered: 12-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 31, 2009 - 04:49 pm: |
|
If I take off the top of the camera, what should I be looking for for this particular potential problem?
On a related note, any URL which describes how to take the top off this camera? |
Aphototaker
Tinkerer
Username: Aphototaker
Post Number: 28
Registered: 12-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 31, 2009 - 09:05 pm: |
|
Okay, got the instructions in the archive here on how to take the top off. Also some hints on how to remove the meter.
However, I am not still not clear what to look for when I open the top cover to find out what is wrong with the aperture needle. How is the needle supposed to be accessible.
From the looks of it, it appears as though the camera has been sitting around for quite some while. Could this have affected the aperture needle in some adverse way?
Thanks. |
Rick_oleson
Tinkerer
Username: Rick_oleson
Post Number: 1029
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 31, 2009 - 09:36 pm: |
|
This will be located below the prism and above the focusing screen, and just below the bottom of the light meter movement, which will be near the rewind knob to the left of the prism. Beyond that I'm not sure how it's constructed, I don't think I've ever looked at it.
Just sitting around on a shelf should not have caused anything like this. A dodgy meter maybe, or sluggish show shutter speeds, but not needles disappearing. |
Aphototaker
Tinkerer
Username: Aphototaker
Post Number: 29
Registered: 12-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 01, 2010 - 06:18 am: |
|
Rick, thanks.
I am planning on opening the camera today or tomorrow to see if I can find what is the matter with it. I will give feedback here on what happens. |
Aphototaker
Tinkerer
Username: Aphototaker
Post Number: 30
Registered: 12-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, January 01, 2010 - 08:21 pm: |
|
Okay, got it.
I opened the top and while trying to remove the prism noticed that the ring (of the aperture needle, actually the needle itself) was lying just on top of the prism!
Now I have the prism out, and also the three screws from the rectangular metal frame that secures that prism. At this point, the string (on the left of the prism while looking from the top and back of the camera) is still attached to the shutter speed dial and the speed indicator dial on that metal frame. But I can still lift the other side of the metal frame up a bit to expose the meter needle and the small metal strip that is supposed have that aperture indicator needle ring stuck to it.
I am assuming the aperture needle got unstuck somehow and I plan to stick the salvaged needle back to its metal base (it is coupled to the aperture lever in the mirror box) with a super glue. Does the plan sound good? |
Aphototaker
Tinkerer
Username: Aphototaker
Post Number: 31
Registered: 12-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, January 02, 2010 - 09:40 am: |
|
Guys, with a lot of help from this forum, the problem is solved.
I just glued back the aperture needle, that I found in the camera body, to its metal base. It may not be glued back in the precise position, but as far as I can make out, it is where it is supposed to be.
Thanks everyone for their help! |
