Lynx in the house

dreilly · 01-21-2005

Hi all,
Just got a Lynx 14E off Ebay, one of those labelled "IC camera". Total crap shoot. Faired about middlin, I think.

Shutter and aperture seem to work. No battery and some corrosion in the batt. chamber. So who knows about the meter.

Rangefinder is dirty dirty dirty.

Two questions: is the aperture stepless on these? There's no click stops and I can set the aperture anywhere I want between the stops. (That said, the aperture blades look clean and new. The shutter blades look great, with just one darker area on one of them that might be grease.)

The film advance should lock after it's advanced, correct? Right now I can advance it as many times in a row as I want without shooting the shutter. Even tried it with film and it still happens. That doesn't sound right, does it? The counter works as normal.

Sounds like Mark Hama for repairs? I'll wait until my GSN comes in and see what's in better/worse condition.

My overall impression is that this isn't in such rough shape. The glass is very clear.

And I have to say, everyone was preparing me for the hippopotamus of cameras, and it's not really all that big.

cheers
doug

LionFlyer · 01-21-2005

Your experience with the film advance is the same as mind. Wind it as often as you wish with out releasing the shutter. I have to keep track of what I am doing when I use that camera. Here is a link to the Yashica Guy's web site.

http://www.yashica-guy.com/document/chrono2.html

You may find it useful.

dreilly · 01-21-2005

How about the aperture adjustment, is yours stepless too?
doug

LionFlyer · 01-21-2005

Oh, yes. there is no stop for the apeture. Adjust it to where ever you want. Which makes since because of how they do the meter. The Hi - Low arrows. Set the shutter speed you want and adjust the apeture until the arrows center up and your done. Even with cameras which do have detents on the apeture ring, there is nothing to prevent you from picking some place in between. I really like the lens on that camera. It is sharp even at f/1.4. Another feature which is nice is that if you want to shift the stop/speed relationship without affecting the exposure all you need to do is hold on to both rings and move them together. Since the shutter speed does have detents you can count them off. That feature can be used to advantage for other adjustments. Hold both. Count the detents. Release the Apeture and count them back. Does not take all that long to do. This seems to work on any camera with both shutter and iris controls on rings mounted on the lens barrel.

dreilly · 01-21-2005

That's very cool, I never thought of that. Thanks! What do you use for a battery? I was thinking of picking up the Yashica-Guy adapter.

doug

dreilly · 01-21-2005

I like that idea even better! Anyone know about how much this would cost to have a CLA done?

LionFlyer · 01-21-2005

My ebay Lynx had corrosion in the battery compartment. The crud had distroyed the wire which leads to the meter button as well. So while I have cleaned the battery compartment and the viewfinder, I have not removed the lens to get to the switch to replace the wire. So I am using an external meter. A pocket sized Sekonic 308. I am not using the Lynx all that much. It is more of a special purpose camera. I am using it with Kodak HIE infra red film. Range finders are perfect for that IMHO. I can place a Hoya 72 on the lens and still see to compose. And because it is IR film I determine exposure other ways so the meter not working is no big deal. And unlike my Olympus, the Yashica has the little "R" on the focus ring so I can compensate.

dreilly · 01-21-2005

With the px28a, do I need to adjust the asa?

dreilly · 01-21-2005

26 or so millimeters. Roughly measured.

dreilly · 01-21-2005

I'm going to Radio Shack now, will let you know tomorrow how it turned out!
cheers

dreilly · 01-21-2005

Actually, another question. The ASA setting...it seems like you can set it either a little above or below certain numbers. How would I set it for 125, say? It seems like the proper stop is just above the first number of the ASA, above the 1 in 100, 2 in 200. There's a stop just below 200 represented by a dot. Would that be 125?

dreilly · 01-21-2005

Hey, here's the fabulous news...the light meter is functional!!

I picked up a PX28A at Radio Shack, and tried it there. Greyhoundman was right, the tolerances were very, very tight. But just closing the cover without screwing it on, I tested the meter and it works. I'm just thrilled.

So, correct exposure is when BOTH under and over lights are lit at the same time? Interesting system, you can even get a sense of how far you are by how bright/dim the under or over get.

I did manage to get the battery cover on, but took it off when I got home because it made me nervous. It's pretty tight. But it was worth the $4 to know my Lynx is alive!

Greyhoundman, I emailed you: I'd love to try your adapter and the price is right!

Now I think I will try to tackle a basic cleaning of the RF optics. I already took the top off. I like to tinker too, have since I took apart my parent's radios and tape players when I was real young.

cheers everyone!
Doug the Newbie

jon_flanders · 01-21-2005

Actually the film advance lever on a Lynx should stop if you have wound the shutter. I have three of these(don't ask why...) and the latest and in some ways nicest of the three just winds away.

There is a little pawl mechanism located around the winder shaft that has to move up and down correctly to stop a second wind after you cock the shutter. Evidently this seizes up on the Lynx.

As do the shutters on some of them. Two of the three I have came to me with stuck shutters. That can be fixed with naptha and a q tip.

jon_flanders · 01-21-2005

Oh, and you are lucky to have a functioning meter. The wire to the battery case has a very poor solder joint and the wire itself is very flimsy. I have only one Lynx with a working meter. The wires fell off on the other two when I tried to solder the battery end back on. It wasn't worth tearing the lens element out to fix.

dreilly · 01-21-2005

Okay, I cleaned the RF and it looks good. It was, however, quite an adventure. I hadn't read Jon's post before I did this, so I may go back in sometime to fix the stop, or maybe I'll leave that to the pros down the road if I decide this is a "keeper". For now I'm happy to have it back together.

I cleaned the cleanable parts of the RF, glued the shield back over the top, replaced the dust washer with a little tab of neopreme tape (adhesive worn away) I found on the basement floor (placed there for this purpose by the gods), and replaced the long foam line on the underside of the top cover with the same material.

I disjoined the flash contact wire by accident, but didn't worry about. I'm not a flash user, so I just tucked it back in. Could always solder it at a later date.

Here's the odd thing: when I put the cover back on, the shutter release was not going down far enough to hit the activator. I read somehwere that I could turn the screw on the top of the activator to adjust it downward, and I did and got it working, but I had to adjust it down quite a bit. Now, how did this happen just by removing the cover? Any ideas?

Seems to work now, RF is fairly clear, my fair-to-middlin' Lynx cleaned up well. Now, how does it take pictures, I wonder?

Doug

dreilly · 01-22-2005

Ah, perhaps not so odd. I thought there might be a piece that spans the distance between the shutter release and the activator. Alas, there was a little plastic bolt left on my work table that I had overlooked. So, open her up again, move the activator adjustment back up, put in the plug, and NOW we should be ready to go!

the adventure continues.

Me and the Lynx are bonding.

I'll post a pic when I can...she cleaned up well for an old cat.

doug

dreilly · 01-22-2005

No, but when I go back in, I might as well solder it back where it belongs when I replace the "phantom part". Thanks for the tip and for all your help Dave, and everyone else who responded too.

cheers!
doug

kafrf · 01-26-2005

Doug, I just got out my 14E. I've never used the meter, since the camera was immaculate in all ways, except for corrosion in the battery compartment. I use an external meter and get great results. I haven't used it in a while, but this thread got me started, again! Thanks for the nudge! Oh, and I think others have answered this: Yes, the aperture setting is stepless, and once you get used to it, you'll like it. You can really fine tune your exposures.

kafrf · 01-26-2005

Oh, one other thing. At the bottom of the battery compartment, there is a contact, and corrosion was clogged under the contact. I used, sparingly, vinegar on a q-tip to get the stuff loosened, changing q-tips frequently. Then, after I had gotten it as clean as possible, I used a dental pick to life the contact and scrape under it. Now, to get a battery and try it!

kafrf · 01-26-2005

And, finally....the lens on the Lynx is just one more humongous chunk o' glass! When I take this camera out, it gets the stares! (And, let's all face it, folks. We like that lens!)

Brian Sweeney · 01-27-2005

I got in on this late but:

How many RM640 batteries does the Lynx 14e take?

I seem to remember that the RM640 is 1.35v and the PX28a is 6v. The PX28a makes a great replacement for the PX32 (which is 4 RM640s stacked), or 4xRM640's.

I took apart a (real) PX32 to power my Minolta Hi-Matic E. It gave 4 RM640's. A PX14 looks like an RM640, but is really two PX13's stacked to give 2.7v. I found a bunch of those and took them apart to get the PX13's.

pshinkaw · 01-27-2005

The 14E takes two batteries. There is a Maxell alkaline that fits and works fine, but I have only been able to find it at the "Battery Store"

-Paul

Brian Sweeney · 01-27-2005

I would think that 2 LR44 type (ms76) and Greyhoundman's adapter or a single 3v Lithium would be close enough. I was a bit worried that a 6v PX28a in it would be double the proper voltage.

Adding to my list of disassembled batteries: Take apart a Silver-Oxide PX28 and you get 4xMS76; Take apart a Lithium PX28 you get two of the Lithium 1/3DL (?) 3v equivalents to 2xMS76. I often batteries on clearance, and it helps to know which sizes can be made to fit which cameras. Usually the bigger batteries are made of 1.35v Mercury cells or 1.5 Silver-oxide/Alkaline cells.

dreilly · 01-28-2005

Okay, so I'm a little confused by all the battery specs flying back and forth.

Greyhoundman's adapter works great, I just purchased two silver oxide LR44--with a dozen other names at 1.55V each.

So the Lynx 14-E is supposed to take approx. 3 volts, is that correct?

And so the PX28a, at 6 volts, is indeed twice the proper voltage, but this does not effect the performance? Interesting.

Greyhoundman made a nice adapter, by the way, thanks!

Now I wait for the reseal kit from Interslice (and he emailed directions for the Lynx and GSN even though I went for the 6 buck kit and not the 9. That's a class act!

cheers
doug