I recently picked up a new 503CW, and have run into an intermittent problem that results in two to three shots being lost per 120 roll.
What is happening is that when I press the shutter release, the lens shutter seems to release (going by the sound—a click) but the mirror doesn’t pop up, and I suspect that the auxiliary shutter doesn’t release either. To complete the cycle I need to activate the pre-release (thereby tripping the auxiliary shutter and mirror release(s)) and only then can I crank and re-cock the camera. The result on film is an image of whatever the camera was pointing at when I activated the pre-release.
Please note that this problem cropped-up after I used an A12 back in which I loaded the film backwards (a common newbie error?). I didn’t discover that error until I struggled with a camera that seemed to have an intermittent shutter release-sticking problem that could only be rectified by activating the pre-release and/or removing the back. The cocking crank at that time also seemed to bind. I didn’t figure out what problem was until after I tried to rewind the film and found I loaded it backwards – silly me :-(
Anyway, that problem persisted even after I tried using a second A12 back with correctly loaded film. I described the problem to the dealer from whom I purchased the camera, and followed his suggestion that I dry run the camera both with, and without, a back attached. This seemed to rectify the shutter release-binding problem, but have now run into the problem noted in the second paragraph.
Is there a chance I put the camera out of skew via my attempts to use an incorrectly loaded magazine? Or is it possible that the camera body and/or back (both new) were faulty to begin with? Or is this just a common teething problem with some bodies that can be worked out through use—in other words, does the occasional new ‘blad just need to be limbered up a bit before it settles in to a relatively trouble-free career?
What is happening is that when I press the shutter release, the lens shutter seems to release (going by the sound—a click) but the mirror doesn’t pop up, and I suspect that the auxiliary shutter doesn’t release either. To complete the cycle I need to activate the pre-release (thereby tripping the auxiliary shutter and mirror release(s)) and only then can I crank and re-cock the camera. The result on film is an image of whatever the camera was pointing at when I activated the pre-release.
Please note that this problem cropped-up after I used an A12 back in which I loaded the film backwards (a common newbie error?). I didn’t discover that error until I struggled with a camera that seemed to have an intermittent shutter release-sticking problem that could only be rectified by activating the pre-release and/or removing the back. The cocking crank at that time also seemed to bind. I didn’t figure out what problem was until after I tried to rewind the film and found I loaded it backwards – silly me :-(
Anyway, that problem persisted even after I tried using a second A12 back with correctly loaded film. I described the problem to the dealer from whom I purchased the camera, and followed his suggestion that I dry run the camera both with, and without, a back attached. This seemed to rectify the shutter release-binding problem, but have now run into the problem noted in the second paragraph.
Is there a chance I put the camera out of skew via my attempts to use an incorrectly loaded magazine? Or is it possible that the camera body and/or back (both new) were faulty to begin with? Or is this just a common teething problem with some bodies that can be worked out through use—in other words, does the occasional new ‘blad just need to be limbered up a bit before it settles in to a relatively trouble-free career?