167MT repair

[tbc]

I have a Contax 167MT. Exposures are showing some frames totally blank and some partially cut off. Always at the top of the photo (bottom of the frame, as picture is inverted). This tells me it is not likely the mirror timing. I suspect the electronic control of the closing(?) curtain. Which way does the shutter travel-up or down? Anyone have any ideas as to this problem?
Second question. What experiences have you had with various shops repairing Contax? I am not too concerned with a rush repair, only competence and workmanship.

 

[jgban]

All I can say is I was very happy with Kyocera service. They repaired my 167Mt for US $130. They sent me their estimate by email and shipped the camera by UPS.

Juan

 

[wolfgang]

Hi Tom!

Sounds like a big shutter problem, I would recommend sending it to Kyocera not to a local dealer or service station. I love my 167MT which works for many years w/o any poroblems. Your camera is it worth sending it to the original service.

regards
Wolfgang

 

[bachmann]

Hi Tom,

if I interpret your posting correctly ("blank" means "black", not "white"? "cut off" means "cut off by darmkness", not "cut off by light"?), I had the same problem two years ago. Contax service repaired it by "fixing the shutter and mirror mechanics" for about €170,-. Since my 167 was still rather unused (maybe 200 rolls of film), I wasn't very happy about that, but what can I do.

Best regards,
-- Harald

 

[tbc]

> Posted by Harald Aust on Friday, September 05, 2003 - 1:00 pm: Hi Harald, blank frame as in not exposed. Cut off as in that part of the frame is also not exposed. >>>>>>>>>>> Contax service repaired it by "fixing the shutter and mirror mechanics" for about > €170,-. If the mirror is slow going up, it would cut off the bottom of the negative (the top of the picture). I imagine that if the mirror goes up very slowly, it could blank out the frame completely. I have never noticed anything unusual in sounds, etc. while taking the photos. I have never been able to see the problem by releasing the shutter and looking through the lens mount with no film in the camera. But there is a real problem. I will check with Contax service. Thanks to all for taking the time to reply with this information. I expect that with things that are more complex mechanically and electronically, repairs totalling more $$$ are to be expected. Regards, Tom C

 

[ou1954]

>Posted by Tom C on Saturday, September 06, 2003 - 3:48 am: > > > Posted by Harald Aust on Friday, September 05, 2003 - 1:00 pm: Hi >Harald, blank frame as in not exposed. Cut off as in that part of the >frame is also not exposed. >>>>>>>>>>> Contax service repaired it by >"fixing the shutter and mirror mechanics" for about > =80170,-. If the >mirror is slow going up, it would cut off the bottom of the negative >(the top of the picture). I imagine that if the mirror goes up very >slowly, it could blank out the frame completely. I have never noticed >anything unusual in sounds, etc. while taking the photos. I have never >been able to see the problem by releasing the shutter and looking >through the lens mount with no film in the camera. But there is a real >problem. I will check with Contax service. Thanks to all for taking >the time to reply with this information. I expect that with things >that are more complex mechanically and electronically, repairs >totalling more $$$ are to be expected. Regards, Tom C

If you have a strobe with a cable connection, you can open the back (and=20 front) of the camera, and shoot without film in a darkened room. The image= =20 which shows when the strobe fires will remain for a short time and you can= =20 probably diagnose what is going on.

I've done this for camera sync design, looking at how coins bounce in a=20 coin acceptor, and for some scientific work. It will do the job for you.

Just as an ex&le, my very first "real" camera was an Argus C-4. I bought= =20 one of the very first strobes in Panama in 1949. When I used it with my=20 C-4 the pictures were under exposed. I kept using larger and larger lens=20 openings but the exposure didn't change. (The C-4 has a behind-the-lens=20 shutter, by the way). Anyhow, I ran that test and found that with the=20 fastest sync available (F I think) the shutter was only partially open,=20 thus acting as a fixed f-stop. I then took the camera apart, added a set=20 of contacts, re-ground a new cam on the shutter drive mechanism, and=20 validated it with the strobe test.

Worked like a charm. I re-wired the F wire to the new contacts and it=20 became an X setting, triggering the strobe when the shutter was fully open.