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Old 24th July 2020, 03:08 PM
alexmuir alexmuir is offline
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Default Zorki 4K shutter repair

I bought a Zorki 4K in January. It was described as ‘working’, but when it arrived, the truth became clear. The shutter would open, then eventually close. I negotiated a settlement with the seller as I wanted the case that came with it. The camera was put in a cupboard, and forgotten, until yesterday.
I decided to try to fix it. The usual routine of repeated firing of the shutter made no difference, so I decided to open it up. I didn’t try one solution I found on the internet where the author had run lighter fluid into the tracks for the shutter blinds. Apart from the fact that the blinds are cloth, there is a flocked material which acts as a light seal in these tracks. The fix was said to work for that person, but seemed like a risky approach.
Anyway, I suspected that the roller for the second blind was somehow defective. Having tried to get in at it, it became obvious that a lot of time, and patience would be required. I had, however, removed the bottom plate inside the body. This revealed the securing points at the bottom of the two rollers. I removed the small screws that lock the star-shaped nuts, then wound up and re-secured the two rollers. That resulted in the shutter running, apparently, as it should. I timed the slow speeds, which appear to be accurate. My concern is that the random tensioning of the rollers may have affected the accuracy of the faster speeds. They look, and sound ok, with progressively faster movement. I have one of the plug-in shutter testers that accompanies an iPhone app. So far, I have had no success with that, and would describe it as a waste of €25.
I wondered if anyone knew if the rollers simply needed tensioned, or if they have to be adjusted to a certain position to control the speeds?
Any advice would be most welcome.
Thanks,
Alex.


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Old 24th July 2020, 03:50 PM
John King John King is offline
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The simplest way would be to run a short length of film through the camera and check the negatives. Start off with a speed of around 1/60th with a measured exposure and go up to 1/1000th. The negatives will get progressively lighter. Then go back from 1/30th to about 1/4 or even 1/2 of a second and they negs should get progressively darker.

I know it is not a scientific way of measuring the speeds, but it will give you a reasonable indication. Plus with the slower speeds you could be able to see if the shutter curtains are travelling evenly and not 'stuttering'.

By washing away the detritus to get the shutter to close will have also cleaned out any lubrication so in the long run it will probably be best to have it professionally checked over and serviced.

Last edited by John King; 24th July 2020 at 03:54 PM.
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Old 24th July 2020, 04:45 PM
alexmuir alexmuir is offline
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Thanks John. I will be putting a film through it to see how it performs. I didn’t wash it out as suggested by the person online. It sounded like a recipe for disaster. I simply tightened the two screws in the base to put some tension in the roller springs. I just wondered if that could be done without affecting the faster speeds. I didn’t use any method to apply a particular tension, but simply wound them up a bit to get the second blind to complete its travel. The camera itself was inexpensive, and would have cost far less than a professional service.
Alex.


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Old 24th July 2020, 05:36 PM
John King John King is offline
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Still try the test film though. It sounds like an easy solution you have done.

I had a problem with a Kiev4 where the shutter speed dial started to wander around the dial base. I adjusted it manually then tightened the grub screws and did the same test and was pleased to see that it was not far off - infact well within acceptable limits.
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Old 24th July 2020, 07:30 PM
alexmuir alexmuir is offline
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The dial on this one was off by about 90 degrees. I set it to the B setting, and adjusted the dial to the correct position against the index.
Alex


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