Electro 35 Exposure Control
Jan 11, 2024 18:50:07 GMT
on Jan 11, 2024 18:50:07 GMT
Posted: Jan 11, 2024 18:50:07 GMT
I recently purchased a GSN that was in non-working condition. It was advertised as "would not power on". I was able to trace the problem to the white wire (negative lead) going from the battery post to the circuit board under the top cover, next to the battery test button. The wire was completely shot from one end to the other, this was caused by battery leakage in the past. I replaced the wire with a new section and reassembled with a new battery.
The camera now powers up and seems to be working fine but on closer inspection I think I may have problems with exposure at the higher f-stop range. I say this because I was testing the shutter at the various f-stop settings and noticed that by the time I got to f16 the shutter was staying open for an amazingly long time. I should note that this test was done inside my office, not outside. According to my Sekonic exposure meter, at f16 I should have expected an exposure of 1/2 second. However the shutter on the camera was staying open in excess of 10 seconds. The shutter sounds fine at the lower end of the f-stop scale. I have not put a test roll of film through the camera yet.
After looking at the electrical diagram, my gut feeling is that the timing capacitor may have issues. With that in mind:
* Has anyone else had this problem, If so what was the fix?
* Is the timing capacitor (C1) an electrolytic capacitor? Electrolytic's do degrade over time.
* Does anyone know what the the value of C1 is? I didn't see listed it in the manual.
On one hand I, really don't want to disassemble to camera far enough to get to C1. On the other hand this camera is just too clean and nice looking to become a parts camera. Thanks in advance for any advise.
Tom G
The camera now powers up and seems to be working fine but on closer inspection I think I may have problems with exposure at the higher f-stop range. I say this because I was testing the shutter at the various f-stop settings and noticed that by the time I got to f16 the shutter was staying open for an amazingly long time. I should note that this test was done inside my office, not outside. According to my Sekonic exposure meter, at f16 I should have expected an exposure of 1/2 second. However the shutter on the camera was staying open in excess of 10 seconds. The shutter sounds fine at the lower end of the f-stop scale. I have not put a test roll of film through the camera yet.
After looking at the electrical diagram, my gut feeling is that the timing capacitor may have issues. With that in mind:
* Has anyone else had this problem, If so what was the fix?
* Is the timing capacitor (C1) an electrolytic capacitor? Electrolytic's do degrade over time.
* Does anyone know what the the value of C1 is? I didn't see listed it in the manual.
On one hand I, really don't want to disassemble to camera far enough to get to C1. On the other hand this camera is just too clean and nice looking to become a parts camera. Thanks in advance for any advise.
Tom G