Mamiya 7 43mm Lens: Shutter Blades Not Opening Fully
Originally posted on Instagram. Notes from the repair bench, kept here as a searchable archive. View the original on Instagram
This Mamiya 7 43mm lens arrived with the complaint of not firing. I did get it to release, but it was erratic. And, in looking at the shutter blades, I could see that they were not opening fully (photo 2). Keep in mind that the blades on these Seiko 00 shutters may not fully open and be slightly visible, but this was out of spec. They should not be hanging down into the aperture at this level.
Photo five shows the shutter removed from the lens and the partial closing is very visible. Oddly, there is residue on the blades as seen in photo six, not sure what that is from, I first suspected water damage but did not see any inside the shutter. I found that the shutter blade closing assembly was quite stiff, even after removing the parts for inspection/cleaning. Maybe wear?
While I generally like to repair the shutter assembly rather than replace it as supply of shutters is finite, in this case, to make the lens long term stable, I decided that replacement was the best option. Yes, costly, but probably gives the best outcome.
