Looks like this is the season for having my tools break. Not only
are my Mac, my Win95 box, and the Sparc2 I was using as an X
terminal down (and the disk from my file server transplanted into a
different box), I've got camera problems as well. Clues and advice
welcome...
Yesterday I picked up my Takumar Bayonet 135/2.8, which had been
absolutely perfect that last time I'd touched it (the night before
that), and the focus ring spins freely without doing any focussing
(and wobbles forward and backward a bit as well). If I _squeeze_
the focus ring, I can focus the lens, but as you might guess this
has me a bit perturbed. I've got no idea why/how it would fail
suddenly like this. Anyone have advice on repairing it, before I
just start unscrewing things?
Next up is my ME, which took a fall from a camera strap (of a design
I've stopped using because this type of strap let go more than
once). It appears to be perfectly fine except for one little
detail: the film advance lever does not spring back after I've
cocked the shutter. I have to push it back by hand before I can
shoot. If anyone who has taken apart an ME can comment on what I'm
likely to find and whether it's likely to be a DIY repair, I'd
appreciate it. Most importantly, give me a clue as to how likely I
am to [expletive] it up even worse by opening it up -- for now I'm
living with the problem for fear of rendering the camera inoperable
while trying to fix it.
Finally, I recently had the amazing good fortune to stumble across a
K2 within my reach, which is beautiful, makes a great complement to
my KX, feels nice in my hands, and has, you guessed it, one slight
problem -- a smaller problem than the ME. When I press the shutter
button halfway the meter activates just as it should, but I can't
get it to _stay_ activated. The manual says that the meter should
remain active if the film advance lever was in the "stand off"
position when I turned the meter on, but it shuts off as soon as I
let go of the shutter button. Have other K2 owners seen this
problem? Am I doing something wrong (is there some really subtle
difference between how this works on the K2 and how it works on the
KX and ME?)? My guess is that there's a dirty contact in the switch
that detects the position of the film advance lever, but again, I
don't want to go in blind and risk creating a more severe problem.
I've thought about trying to squirt contact cleaner in there, but am
not sure whether there are parts such a chemical might harm.
All clues, hints, etc. appreciated. Thanks.
(Yes, my stuff does break a lot. That's 'cause I get most of my
stuff as hand-me-downs, from pawn shops and garage sales,
occasionally trash-picked (a couple of lamps, some furniture, one of
my monitors...), things I've had for decades, and so on. Even the
car that ate its engine in August was a hand-me-down gift from
band-mates, and the car I'm about to get to replace it is a donation
from an aquaintance with the parts & labour to fix it up to pass
inspection being donated by a friend. Rather than complaining about
not being able to afford new stuff (well, I try not to complain
often, anyhow), I'm thankful for the gifts and hand-me-downs and the
stuff I manage to find cheaply. I don't _think_ I'm especially
_hard_ on my gear, but some of it comes to me already fragile (like
an automobile with more than 200,000 miles on it), and I admit that
I don't exactly _baby_ my tools (but I did spend a significant chunk
of my grocery money on a different type of camera strap, 'cause "not
dropping" counts as basic care rather than "babying").)
-- Glenn, off to put a long
lens on the Super Program
and try to shoot that police
helicopter circling nearby.
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