Group: Member
Post: 8 (0 liked)
Join date: December 2018
Status:
|
|
on Mar 30, 2019 20:15:29 GMT
Posted: Mar 30, 2019 20:15:29 GMT
I picked up a Topcon Unireflex, I know it's not a Yashica but I'll ask anyway. Two things wrong with this camera. One, the prism is loose and you can hear it rattle around. So, after taking off the top I find that there is no clips or springs holding the prism in place, doesn't look like there ever was any. So, I'm thinking it was glued to its metal base There is some evidence of material along the edges were the prism sits. And by the way I found inside this camera a lot of old crumbled debris. It looks like bird feed stuck together. Of course, it can't be bird feed so it may have been spacer, like cork between the top cover and prism to hold it in place, I don’t know, just a wild ass guess. The second problem is that the shutter won’t load up when the advance lever is rotated. Pressing on the shutter release does nothing. The camera has a leaf shutter and from what little I can find it is notoriously hard to fix. Anybody have any experience with this camera? Any input?
|
|
Group: Administrator
Post: 1,371 (303 liked)
Join date: February 2017
Status: Failed treatment for L.B.A. and G.A.S,
|
|
on Mar 30, 2019 23:18:48 GMT
Posted: Mar 30, 2019 23:18:48 GMT
I don't know the camera, so can't help with the shutter issue... but it's likely that the debris you found is whatever is left of the material used to hold the prism in place. There were camera makers that didn't use anything like glue or clips to secure them. Glue was messy and slow drying and could wick or seep into places it shouldn't be, and clips could be an added expense, or just difficult to find a suitable anchor point for. Many times they'd use some type of pad to simply wedge the prism into position, and the top cover would press down to hold everything in place, where the wedging pads were placed between the prism and cover and thick enough to fill in the gap. Some early pads were cardboard or fiber - or - a cheap rubber that got brittle and crumbled. Later ones were chemically-mixed foams, and disintegrated into slabs of goo or piles of gritty particles. You may have experienced the gooey stuff when used as light shield stripping on rear film doors. Try using stable rubber sheeting you can cut (and stack if needed) to make pads of your own. I'd suggest not using tube/bottle glues of any kind, and stay away from 'throw-away' stuff like the rubber bands used on grocery produce, or the 'peanuts' used in packing as handy substitutes. They will degrade quickly and leave you with a rattling prism again. I've used 1mm thick neoprene or butyl sheeting on Bronica finders in the past, and that works very well to secure their prisms in place. I cut a piece of double-sided adhesive tape to attach the pad to the cover (and to stack sheeting), and not stick anything onto the prism. The butyl can be stiff when too thick to fit, but the neoprene will compress a little to allow it to mold itself into the air space. on ebay: 1/16th 3in x 5in neoprene sheet |
|
Group: Member
Post: 8 (0 liked)
Join date: December 2018
Status:
|
|
on Mar 31, 2019 15:36:38 GMT
Posted: Mar 31, 2019 15:36:38 GMT
Thanks very much this is a great help.
|
|
Group: Member
Post: 8 (0 liked)
Join date: December 2018
Status:
|
|
on Mar 31, 2019 19:18:21 GMT
Posted: Mar 31, 2019 19:18:21 GMT
I had some 1/16 inch rubber material and glued 2 layers to the top cover and this secured the prism, thanks again. As to the failed shutter after cleaning out the old gooey bits of gasket the shutter still didn't work. Just before I went crazy on the camera I remember reading some where online that one person claimed this camera required a battery to fire the shutter and another responded this was not the case but I installed a fresh battery in my Unirex and the shutter fires off every time. Except for light seals, I'm done.
|
|
Group: Administrator
Post: 1,371 (303 liked)
Join date: February 2017
Status: Failed treatment for L.B.A. and G.A.S,
|
|
on Apr 1, 2019 19:47:14 GMT
Posted: Apr 1, 2019 19:47:14 GMT
It's always nice to know that someone's been able to rescue vintage gear and get it working. I did another search on the model name and found out that I might actually have this camera - but - as a Beseler Topcon Auto 100 if it's the same as yours. It's in much worse shape, and anything that should move - well, it just doesn't. :) I can remove the lens if that counts as movement, but everything else is locked up tight. |
|
