| Author |
Message |
    
Jan Dvorak
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 10:48 am: | 
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Hello all,
I have just acquired a nice Canonet GIII QL17; all I thought it needed was a good shutter cleaning and RF cleaning to bring it back to first class condition.
Unfortunately, the shutter is stuck and will not fire. The self timer is half wound and its cocking lever will not move at all. Sometimes by gently helping the ST lever along its way, these Canonets can be revived after thoroughly cleaning the ST and shutter.
On this camera however, the ST is stuck, camera will wind to the next shot, but shutter will only move its blades slightly after shutter release is pressed. It almost looks like something is physically preventing the shutter from firing.
Any ideas how deep I have to go in and what to expect when I get there?
Many thanks,
Jan |
charlie
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 03:05 pm: |
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Just a thought. Are you firing it on manual or shutter priority? If the latter there may be corrosion in the circuitry or a dead battery. |
Jan Dvorak
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 03:50 pm: |
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Unfortunately, this is not a case of me not knowing how the camera operates. This really is an issue of an inoperative shutter. I have brought many of these back to life, but this one stumps me and that was the reason for my post.
Many thanks for the input,
Jan |
Mike Kovacs
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 05:51 am: |
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Are the shutter blades fouled? Sounds like a candidate requiring the full shutter treatment. Remove the shutter, completely disassemble, clean the blades individually, reassembly. Not easy. |
Jan Dvorak
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 08:12 am: |
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Mike,
Thanks for your input. No, the blades are clean and straight. As I mentioned, I believe the culprit is the stuck selftimer which is preventing the shutter to fully fire.
The blades move about 1 - 2mm after firing the shutter and do so very quickly, so there is nothing on their surface that would be preventing them from operating correctly.
The problem must lie with the selftimer and before I venture into areas unknown to me I would like to get some pointers.
Kind regards,
Jan |
L.Camilleri
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 10:20 am: |
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Jan,
The Canonet I am working on had the same problem. The shutter would only move a few mm after repeated flushings. I was able to move the self-timer after repeated flushings and the shutter worked. If someone applies too much force to the self-timer, gear teeth may become bent. If this has happened the timer will have to be removed. Once removed it can be placed in the released position and replaced into the camera. The camera will work but you will have to remember never to use the timer or it will jam again. |
Jan Dvorak
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 11:00 am: |
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This seems to be the problem I am having. I never had to go further than removing the front and rear element groups and flushing the shutter mechanism, so this will be a more complicated exercise .
Any hints so that no surprises jump out at me as I am burrowing into the shutter?
Many thanks,
Jan |
L Camilleri
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 07:54 pm: |
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Jan,
I never had to remove a self timer in a canonet but I found the diagram images listed in the service manuals of this site to be helpful. The hardest part is removing the front lens cell. If it comes off with the front element you got lucky. I had to make a tool to reach down into the lens and remove the cell. Once this is out the shutter speed dial and aperture ring come off. I took the decorative ring off the lens. this is the sheet metal that goes around the self-timer. You will be able to look into the self-timer. I did not disassemble the lens further. |
