[pure-silver] Re: old Leica and fast shutter speeds

  • From: "John Black" <jblack@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 14:33:18 -0400



> I have an old Leica rangefinder camera from the thirties.  The other
> day I took it to the beach and shot a roll of film at 1/1000 of a
> second, because there was so much light.  But, most of the frames are
> only partially exposed on one side.  Can I conclude that the shutter
> just doesn't work at that speed?  It seems to work fine at the more
> usual speeds of 1/60th, 1/100th, etc. I wonder if this is a common
> problem for old cameras.
>


A very common problem with older LTM cameras used at 1/1000 sec is the
curtain either closing too early in it's travel. Remember, the slit (delay
until the 2nd curtain releases) is VERY small at 1/1000 sec and it requires
a very well cleaned and adjusted shutter to work consistantly at this speed.

Has it had a CLA recently?  Might be time.

BTW, it is better to use a tighter aperture setting than count on the
highest shutter speed on these guys.  What film?

JB




=============================================================================================================
To unsubscribe from this list, go to www.freelists.org and logon to your 
account (the same e-mail address and password you set-up when you subscribed,) 
and unsubscribe from there.

Other related posts: