Had a run-in with a sticky shutter blade at a trade show in Chicago last month

I was showing a client a clean CLA on a Pentax Spotmatic and the first curtain just... stuck halfway. Ever since then I've been double-checking every single blade edge before reassembly. Anybody else have a specific failure that changed their workflow?

3 comments

3 Comments

mary7764d ago

Yeah had the same thing with a Yashica at a flea market. Heat’s a nightmare for those old lubes.

derekward4d ago

Gonna disagree a little here. Sticky blades happen sometimes even with perfect cleaning, especially with old lubes that move around in heat. That Chicago show had some crazy humidity too, which can mess with fabric shutters. Maybe the real fix is checking the curtain tension more than just the blade edges.

uma6854d ago

yeah "curtain tension" is a good point actually. my buddy from the local camera club had a similar issue with his old mamiya rb67 back in july at this outdoor market thing. it was like 90 degrees and sticky out. he cleaned the shutter blades three times and still got a couple of sticky shots. finally he just took the whole shutter assembly apart and tightened the curtain springs a tiny bit and bam no more grabbing. @derekward is right about old lubes too, the stuff they used in the 70s gets like tar in warm weather. i warned him about doing that spring adjustment too much though, easy to mess up the timing.