Practica MTL3 query

VirtualAdept

VirtualAdept

Messages
2,137
Name
Mads
Edit My Images
Yes
Right then guys and girls,
I have an MTL3 that was gifted to me a while back, but haven't ever used it.
Everything seems to work, the timer, longer exposure times etc. However, when I'm trying to test the higher speed exposure times, the shutter stays open for as long as I hold the button down.
If its set for a longer exposure, it stays open for the whole time, but if its short, say 1/500, it stays open however long it takes me to press and release the shutter button.
The only reason I can come up with is that there's no battery (did I mention I know nothing about older cameras?).
Is that a plausible reason? The main reason I ask is I'm considering getting a battery for it, but they're not easy to get hold of down here without paying a fair chunk of money, which I dont fancy doing if its pointless.

Thanks in advance for any advice

Mads
 
Oh, I don't know if it affects owt but the above is without film. Don't know if having film in it makes it act differently.

Mads
 
As said above, the battery only powers the meter, you dont say what speed the shutter stops working at,I would find the highest speed the shutter works at and work it for a while, then try the next, you may find it will clear itself after a bit.

Dave.
 
I've had a little play and can confirm that the shutter works fine on all the orange numbers (i, 2, 4, 8 &15) but not on the white ones (30 up to 1000)
 
I know that some of the russian cameras (i'm thinking fed's here) had a sort of 2 stage shutter - the fast speeds operated by one mechanism, and the slower ones by a secoondary one which you could hear "winding up" when you changed to the slow speeds...

Couldn't say if this was the case on the MTL3, despite owning one for nearly 3 years back in my yooof! I do know that the shutter is generally considered to be the most solid thing about the camera, which in itself is a hugely solid thing. Not solid enough to survive a 500m+ fall from my Bivi ledge on the Aig. Du Midi, sadly. Went looking for the bits a few days later, didn't find 'em though :(
 
Most focal plane shutters use separate slow and a fast speed escapements, sounds as though the shutter release is not triping the second curtain, the mechanical shutters are fairly simple, and if your carefull you should be able to fix it yourself.

Dave.
 
Right then... I've had another tinker... if I hold the shutter release even with the longer exposure times, it stays open for as long as I hold the release + the time shown on the dial.
 
Put it in the bin, MTL's were rubbish when they were new , I sold plenty of them.

Sorry
 
^^^ Helpful...

The problem with pretty much all Zenit cameras is the tolerances used... they were/are huge. Officially, it's to make sure the cameras work in extremes of temperature (which is the same official reason for the single-casting body) and indeed, they do. However, that wide tolerance also means that there's a whole lot of room between components that is not being used - and sometimes other stuff can get in the space left for thermal expansion. As mentioned above, the shutter is a two-stage affair but despite the implied complexity it's not as bad as it sounds. To be fair, the cameras are not that expensive, to replace it will cost you less than a case of decent tinnies... which means you can afford to be a bit brutal with them. I take no responsibility for the following, but as a last resort and assuming you don't want to open it up... hold the camera by the end so that the right hand grip side is facing down, about 18 inches from a *carpeted* floor, and let go. Do this a few times and try the shutter, if no joy try again but the other side down first. Repeat until you get disillusioned, fed up or decide this approach will not work and the problem is *not* sticky stuff or something where it shouldn't be.

*do not* drop the camera on it's base or prism - the shutter mech moves in a direction that means sudden shocks in that direction (up/down) would not be good. Also - do not do this with the later (212, 312) bodies... or indeed any of the recent-ish models with linked metering.
 
The same excuse of making it work in extremes of temperature was used by Lada to explain how rattly their engine tolerances were. In fairness though, one of the lads at school's dad's had one, and in the handbook was a section on running the car at -20c or below for prolonged periods - basically amounting to running the car on 0w5 oil and heating the sump before use with a blowlamp :LOL:
 
TheBigYin said:
....and in the handbook was a section on running the car at -20c or below for prolonged periods - basically amounting to running the car on 0w5 oil and heating the sump before use with a blowlamp :LOL:
Click to expand...

I have seen this being done, but the heating was done by lighting a mass of newspaper under the engine of the car. How the car never exploded amazed me

The temp was -40C;

It seemed to work. The alternative was to wake up every hour and start the car ( or if you were rich, have a electronic timer which did it for you).
 
ujjwaldey8165 said:
I have seen this being done, but the heating was done by lighting a mass of newspaper under the engine of the car. How the car never exploded amazed me

The temp was -40C;

It seemed to work. The alternative was to wake up every hour and start the car ( or if you were rich, have a electronic timer which did it for you).
Click to expand...

Lorry drivers actually used to light small fires under their diesel tanks of their lorries years ago my dad told me once, due to the fact that the diesel didn't have any antifreeze in it so one cold enough night and it would be near impossible to start the engine.
 
ujjwaldey8165 said:
I have seen this being done, but the heating was done by lighting a mass of newspaper under the engine of the car. How the car never exploded amazed me

The temp was -40C;

It seemed to work. The alternative was to wake up every hour and start the car ( or if you were rich, have a electronic timer which did it for you).
Click to expand...

I've a mate in the wilds of Canada, works on the oil piplines, and all their trucks (big 4wd wagons that EVERYONE drives) have electrical sump heaters built in. When you go into town, there are designated parking bays with electrical points where you can jack into and keep the engine oil flowing - otherwise you have to leave the engine running. Even at home, you have the sump heater point in the garage - on a timer, comes on 2 hours before you need to drive in the morning. I don't mind the cold, but that's just silly - we're not made to live in those conditions :wacky:
 
Ok, I've had another play. I haven't tried dropping it yet though I have considered lobbing it up the garden.
On to the new discovery... If I set the exposure, press the shutter and then wind the film: whizz bang correct shutter time. Makes no sense to me.
 
s162216 said:
Lorry drivers actually used to light small fires under their diesel tanks of their lorries years ago my dad told me once, due to the fact that the diesel didn't have any antifreeze in it so one cold enough night and it would be near impossible to start the engine.
Click to expand...

They also used the 10% mix of petrol method which helps down to maybe -10C apparently.
 
cowasaki said:
They also used the 10% mix of petrol method which helps down to maybe -10C apparently.
Click to expand...

Done that one as well - back in my mis-spent youth working at civil engineering co. that used a lot of diesel powered plant - was a regular thing in cold snaps to put a splash of unleaded in the tank at night, to prevent the derv/gas oil "waxing"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top