IIIa shutter question

[Felmer Dingle]

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Hello All,

 

I recently had a IIIa CLA'd. It always had trouble with the slower shutter speeds so when the repairman suggested a slightly expensive repair is needed to fix the slow shutter mechanism I said ok. I thought I did a thorough inspection when I picked it up but noticed a couple of months later when I finally put a roll of film into it that the slow shutter speeds were still weird. Let me describe: Depression of the shutter button works like it should for all speeds on the top shutter speed dial but when I set it on Z, all shutter speeds on the front slow dial only engage when the shutter button is RELEASED. Is this normal?

 

Thanks

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[giordano]

Yes, it's normal. If the top dial is set to Z (or and the front dial is set to anything other than it's highest speed (20 on a IIIa if memory serves), the slow-speed mechanism will engage and delay the closing of the shutter.

 

Just another reason you should always set the front speed dial to 20 (or 25 or 30 depending on the model) unless you're actually using a longer shutter speed.