Praktica BCA Electronic mirror and winding lever stuck

hujooooooo

hujooooooo

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Name
Hugo
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Hello !
I acquired a Praktica BCA Electronic two days ago, and it worked fine
I was able to take a couple of pictures
Yesterday I tried to take a pic, and the shutter closed itself but didn't open again
I couldn't see anything but black in the viewfinder
The shutter release button is pressable, but it doesn't trigger anything
I cannot move the winding lever
I changed the battery, thinking it might be that, but apparently it's not.
I removed the lens and I could see that the mirror is stuck up. I tried to move it using the lever on the left of the entry, but it just springs back up.
Do you have any idea what it could be ???

Kind regards, any help will be very useful
 
I cannot do it as the shutter is not cocked, and the viewfinder being obstrued by the mirror I cannot see the leds..
But I just changed the battery for a new one so it should be OK at least
 
Well IMO Practikas are not Nikon quality as my MT3 occasionally jammed and same for my BC1..wind on jammed. I solved the BC1 by fitting the autowind I had lying around and that unjammed it. For you, take the lens off and see if that makes any difference and if not.... just unscrew the bottom plate off and carefully prod around with a needle.
I'm not a camera mechanic but it always works for me.
 
excalibur2 said:
Well IMO Practikas are not Nikon quality as my MT3 occasionally jammed and same for my BC1..wind on jammed. I solved the BC1 by fitting the autowind I had lying around and that unjammed it. For you, take the lens off and see if that makes any difference and if not.... just unscrew the bottom plate off and carefully prod around with a needle.
I'm not a camera mechanic but it always works for me.
Click to expand...
okay I tried taking the lens off and it didn't make any difference, so I'll try the second option
thanks!
 
I had an Olympus slr that used to do similar.
Changing battery was the solution however before the camera worked correctly the mirror had to reset.

This was done iirc by setting the shutter to a M speed ( M250 ?) or B
 
Asha said:
I had an Olympus slr that used to do similar.
Changing battery was the solution however before the camera worked correctly the mirror had to reset.

This was done iirc by setting the shutter to a M speed ( M250 ?) or B
Click to expand...

yes I tried to set the shutter to B and press the button however it doesn't trigger anything..
 
Is the mirror buffer degraded? They can sometimes become sticky with age and effectively glue itself to the mirror !
 
Asha said:
Is the mirror buffer degraded? They can sometimes become sticky with age and effectively glue itself to the mirror !
Click to expand...
are you referring to the small rectangles above the mirror on the top of the internal case?
sorry english is not my primary language so I try to be as specific as possible
They are brown and do look a bit degraded
 
Sounds like a possible gear jam …….Before risking prodding around with needles/ screwdrivers and getting too heavy handed, I would at the risk of losing exposed images, try rewind the film, open the back and see if you can then get the cmera to dry fire ( ie with a film loaded)
 
hujooooooo said:
okay I tried taking the lens off and it didn't make any difference, so I'll try the second option
thanks!
Click to expand...

When you try to wind on you will see where the movement is so carefully prod around there....it's like when you've over wound a clock and it's jammed and all you would do is to release the escape mechanism.
 
hujooooooo said:
are you referring to the small rectangles above the mirror on the top of the internal case?
sorry english is not my primary language so I try to be as specific as possible
They are brown and do look a bit degraded
Click to expand...

Yes I don't know the actual camera model but when the mirror lifts, it "hits" foam buffers. ….From your explanation, you have found them ;)

Your English is very good …..If you are struggling to explain certain details then I can understand / speak French if that is of any help although please remember that this is not a french forum so the offer to communicate in french is only if you have a real need!!
 
Okay thank you for all these tips !
excalibur2 said:
When you try to wind on you will see where the movement is so carefully prod around there....it's like when you've over wound a clock and it's jammed and all you would do is to release the escape mechanism.
Click to expand...

I've been in contact with the seller who thoroughly examined it and came to the conclusion that everything was fine (before sending it to me)
He thinks the problem comes from the battery, and that the power from the battery is not being transmitted to the camera
Have you ever experienced something like that?
 
Asha said:
Yes I don't know the actual camera model but when the mirror lifts, it "hits" foam buffers. ….From your explanation, you have found them ;)

Your English is very good …..If you are struggling to explain certain details then I can understand / speak French if that is of any help although please remember that this is not a french forum so the offer to communicate in french is only if you have a real need!!
Click to expand...

thank you ! if I have some difficulties with some particular words or if I struggle with explaining some part of the camera it might be very useful
 
hujooooooo said:
Okay thank you for all these tips !


I've been in contact with the seller who thoroughly examined it and came to the conclusion that everything was fine (before sending it to me)
He thinks the problem comes from the battery, and that the power from the battery is not being transmitted to the camera
Have you ever experienced something like that?
Click to expand...

Only Olympus cameras, but without checking my BC1 and not knowing about the BCA would think the battery just operates the meter and auto and everything else is mechanical?????

edit: Just taken the battery out of my BC1 and it will fire.
 
Last edited:
excalibur2 said:
Only Olympus cameras, but without checking my BC1 and not knowing about the BCA would think the battery just operates the meter and everything else is mechanical?????

edit: Just taken the battery out of my BC1 and it will fire.
Click to expand...

hmm okay so it's not a problem of battery
thank you for trying it!
 
Well thanks a lot for the help guys! I will try this out tomorrow and let you know how it goes
 
A common problem with old 35mm focal plane SLR cameras is fragments of film percolating down and jamming the mechanism. Worth taking the base off and smartly rapping the camera on a solid surface to see if a piece comes out.
 
...and when I take the bottom plate off a camera put a tiny drop of sewing m\c oil on moving parts...mind you to get my Pentax spotmatic wind on lever to work properly put quite a bit of oil on that particular part in the bottom plate and on the lever on the top plate, well it worked and it was either that extreme or £60 for a TLC. :eek:
 
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