Zorki-6 trouble

[rxmd]

Hi there,

this being my first post here, I've got some questions about a Zorki-6 I've got (one out of my three FSU rangefinders, the others being a Moskva-5 and the FED-5 my wife brought into our household). The Zorki-6 is enjoyable to use and I get good shots out of it, but there's some trouble it's been giving me.
Intermittently the shutter release button can be rather hard to press. Sometimes it goes in very smooth, at other times I have to jam it in with force, and it feels as if it was jamming against something. I've lost some shots at 1/30 sec to accidental camera motion because of this.
The camera regularly has film transport problems at the end of a roll, starting about frame 25. The film advances only with a large amount of resistance. After having the entire film torn at frame 32 once, I've been advancing film very slowly and gently in one smooth, slow stroke, but still I often get torn perforation teeth and image overlap. I normally use Ilford FP4 and HP5, but I've never had this problem with other 35mm cameras, and I don't think this is due to the film being overly prone to mechanical damage.
Is this fixable by the average layman? I do know how to use a screwdriver and have fixed some problems in other (MF) cameras including the Moskva, but I've never dissected a Leica copy so far.

Thanks -

Philipp

[fidget]

Hi Philipp, congratulations on your Zorki 6 and welcome here.
I think that it's a fine camera and one that's fairly easy to work on. (Although I damaged mine recently by turning the left hand threaded collar the wrong way to remove it!! http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18796&highlight=fidget )
Don't let this happen to you. There's some nice strip detail here: http://muj.proit.cz/roman/z6disass/
This shows how to get the top off. The shutter button presses down on a heavily cranked rod, so lack of lube here will cause a juddering movement, as mine did.
As for the film damage, I wonder if the film spool has a tight clutch. Turn it by hand, if it feels too hard then perhaps an adjustment is called for. I haven't done this yet, but it looks like it is accessed from under the spool when the base is off.


good luck and enjoy.

Dave

[outfitter]

Sounds like an awful lot of malfunctioning things are occurring around the take up spool: shutter release, transport sprocket and friction clutch etc. It may be some gears are out of mesh or need lube or the clutch spring needs to be stretched. I careful disassembly of the take up spool and sprocket assembly and cleaning and re-alignment of all these parts might work wonders.

[Doug]

Your film-wind trouble sounds very much like what I have with a Pentax ME Super... the winding action tightens up dramatically in the latter 1/3 of a 36-exp roll. Diagnosis was a *loose* clutch, causing the film to wrap more loosely on the takeup spool than it should, until it's eventually too large in diameter and jams in the spool recess. Repair said not to be feasible because the clutch on this model is not adjustable. Solution: Shoot only 24-exp rolls! But perhaps the Zorki can be adjusted...

[outfitter]

[QUOTE=DougRepair said not to be feasible because the clutch on this model is not adjustable. .....But perhaps the Zorki can be adjusted...[/QUOTE]

According to Maizenberg to stregthen the take up sppol friction clutch, disassemble and slightly stretch the spring.

Maizenberg also advises in cases where the film is pulled with difficulty to: (a) check the fit of the film cartridge; (b) make sure the film wind and fork move smoothly (lube) and (c) look for deformed or broken gear teeth (hard winding puts excessive load on mechanism gears) displaced bridge connecting winding gears to take up spool or ratchet parts of the winding lever - cure diassemble check teeth and reassemble so that everything functions smoothly.

I've done this with a Zorki 1 - to cure slipping of the flim when advancing - but the Zorki 6 looks more complicated.

Good luck

Michael

[fidget]

The clutch is forced to slip more as film is added to the spool. In a case of a tight clutch, this could need more effort on the winder to overcome it. One of my FEDs had a clutch so tight that the spool turned on the bobbin, squeeking loudly. This was always more pronounced towards the end of the film. As mentioned here, a simple clean and lube of the gears could work wonders.

[rxmd]

Hi there,

thanks for all the replies. It looks that I'll just have to look into the mechanics and see if the gears themselves are in order, then see if the clutch is too tight and lubricate everything. Now I'll just wait for the copy of Maizenberg to arrive. I'll keep you updated.

For the meantime I've got a Kiev 4M to play with. Now that's a sweet thing, too... only the meter is useless, something like Huw Finney's Leica III TTL mod could work wonders here and there's lots of space at the top of the thing. And if only I had the Jupiter-12 to go with it... :)

Philipp

[Doug]

I think it might be useful to sacrifice a 36-exp roll, and run through it with the back open and watch how the film rolls up on the takup spool... Tight or loose, how does the shredding occur, etc...