I won one of these at blackjack, and i was hoping to be able to get the shutter working again because eveything else seems operational, so thanks for the tip about removing the cover. Ill have to leave an update if i get it working
Winning a film camera in a game of blackjack! You live an interesting life for sure. I took this one in for a shutter speed test and it's all over the place. I need to pop it open and clean the shutter mechanism. Yeah let me know if that little hack works for you.
I'm guessing now that you have to charge a shutter manually I'm assuming you could do double exposures on purpose. I just looked up the manual for this camera and supposedly it was supposed to prevent double exposures.
As far as I know zone focusing is possible however the lens lacks zone markings. I believe you'll have to add your own markings based upon a zone focusing chart. Zone focusing charts are pretty easy to find online.
Yes, of course it is... that, in fact, was the entire idea... set the aperture to f8, set your shutter appropriately, and estimate the distance, putting your estimate between the DOF markers, you could get really nice results with a slightly soft bokeh in the background (provided you wanted that effect)... or just stick it on f/22 with some tri-x and the top shutter speed it has... instant box camera...
Thanks for the awesome overview! Just picked up a ‘44 RF. Do you happen to know how to diagnose or fix a shutter issue? Regardless of setting, each time I “charge” the shutter and go to click, a shutter never happens, just a winding/ticking noise until the charge lever is set back to home.
Thank you. To me that sounds like sticky shutter blades. Usually the grease and oils used to help keep the shutters mechanical system operating will bleed onto the shutter blades. That oil creates surface tension between two or more blades. This prevents the shutter from opening. I would suggest getting it professionally cleaned. If that is not an option there are ways to do it yourself. However, be prepared to break your new camera if you take it apart.
@@filmcamerajourneys thank you for the detailed response. After tinkering around with it more last night, I found two issues: the expired film by the previous owner was wound so much it pulled it off the canister. That and I also wasn’t hitting the film advance release button in the correct order. I believe the shutter is working correctly now
@@shiddyangler Interesting. So shutter was never getting a charge because the film was not advancing past the sprocket cocking gear. I've never been a huge fan of sprocket cocking. That is leaving a lot of responsibly on the flimsy film.
