Farid Posted August 6, 2008 Share #1 Posted August 6, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi Guys Recently I searched web to obtain some information about Leicaflex SL2 (because I have recently purchased one in very mint condition) and I found few web sites in which the authors had addressed unreliability of shutter speeds faster than 1/250 second in Leicaflex SL2!!. It is intresting to know that they claimed such unreliablity is seen in SL2's not SL's while I assume shutter mechanisms of SL & SL2 should be identical. I could not believe this issue as I red plenty of positive feedbacks about the Licaflexes and their legendary design and manufacturing. Can somebody put some lights on this issue? Are the Shutters of such high class cameras really unreliable in fast speeds?!!! Farid Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 6, 2008 Posted August 6, 2008 Hi Farid, Take a look here Shtter reliability of Leicaflex SL2. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jaapv Posted August 6, 2008 Share #2 Posted August 6, 2008 No - shutters of such old cameras are unreliable at high speeds due to thickened oil etc. The thing to do is to give the camera a CLA and it will be like new. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizard Posted August 6, 2008 Share #3 Posted August 6, 2008 Let me put it this way: If you use the camera and the results you obtain are ok, then you shouldn't be bothered. I have seen old SL2's with very reliable and accurate shutters. Of course, if the camera you bought was a collector's item and never used, it will likely need a CLA (clean, lubricate and adjust), which doesn't come cheap in the case of an SL2, due to its mechanical complexity. It will be fine afterwards though. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jimmy pro Posted August 7, 2008 Share #4 Posted August 7, 2008 Call Don Goldberg or Sherry Krauter and ask them about the SL2's shutter issue, they have the scoop. Something to do with the top speed or two sometimes giving just blank shots the first time there fired after the camera's been sitting a few hours or more. I remember talking to Sherry about it once, she explained it all to me but I forget it now. She said a lube job will fix it for a little while but not permanently, it's some kind of bad design thing. She said get an SL, which I did and liked it. That was a long time ago tho. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglasco Posted August 7, 2008 Share #5 Posted August 7, 2008 I have just bought the sl and put the first roll of film through it. I am very pleased with it exposure is spot on. The 50mm lens is superb. I am now going to start doing my own B/W developing Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farid Posted August 9, 2008 Author Share #6 Posted August 9, 2008 Hi again everybody Many thanks for your feedbacks. Apparently (according to the information on photo.net) the flaw shows up when you cock the shutter which is set on high speeds (1/250 and above) and leave the camera for a few hours and then fire it. If this is the case, then I have to ask: why should one do like this? I mean normally we cock the shutter just before we want to take the shot or at least some minutes before. Why should one cock the shutter and fire it after passing some hours. It sounds odd to me Are the shutter speeds still unreliable if we do not spend hours between cocking the shutter and firing it? Are there evidences in hand that shows Leica had noticed such flaw and had tried to fix it in latest series of the SL2's they manufactured? Anyway, I am going to run a roll in my camera and try this issue in earliest. I will let you know the results. I pray I would not be disappointed in my SL2. Farid Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farid Posted September 2, 2008 Author Share #7 Posted September 2, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) Dear All Hi. I have just tested my Leicaflex SL2 with ASA 400 film. The shots have mostly been taken with high shutter speeds (125-2000) in order to reveal any flaw and inconsistency of such speeds. For your information all shots came out in perfect and brilliant results from both high shutter speeds and metering accuracies points of view. I am now a cheerful and proud owner of a SL2. It is to be noted that I made no few hours delay between cocking the shutter and releasing it at higher speeds because I could not find a wise reason to do so. I will scan and upload some shots in earliest. Regards Farid Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted September 2, 2008 Share #8 Posted September 2, 2008 For me I always cocked the shutter the second after I had just pressed the shutter release. This way the shutter is always cocked and ready to take another shot. Waiting for any period of time to cock the shutter would just lead to not getting a shot. I don't know of anyone that takes a shot and doesn't immediately work the film advance lever or knob. If that is how you work you are the first I've ever encountered. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted September 2, 2008 Share #9 Posted September 2, 2008 I don't cock the shutter if I know I am about to put my M2 or R4 back in the bag. The M7 gets switched off before being put back in the bag, as does the R8, so cocked or not cocked doesn't make any difference. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farid Posted September 3, 2008 Author Share #10 Posted September 3, 2008 Dear Erfahrener Hi. I only refused to let the shutter stays cocked for some hours not for some minutes. Apparently shutter inconsistency syndrome in SL2's mostly shows up when the shutter remains under pressure (in cocked condition) for some hours. If this issue is supposed to be correct then you anyhow would lose the shot and it would be not so important if the shot is ruined for improper shutter speed or wasting the time to cock the shutter before taking the picture. On the other hand it is obvious that using fully manual cameras has its own restrictions. Apart from advancing the film (and cocking the shutter), you have to compose the scene, focus, and adjust shutter speed and aperture before taking the shot. The time you pass to do these, is simply enough to probably lose the shot at all if you want to capture a live and moving scene. Using cameras like SL2 in this digital era, besides of its legendary quality, is somehow because of the nostalgic feelings, sereneness and the sprit we all believe equipment like SL2 posses. I use gears like SL2 when I am willing to journey inside the scene which I want to capture, to feel it, to touch its sprit and in such conditions there is normally enough time to cock the shutter a bit before creating the photograph. In other cases I simply pick up my advanced electronic Contax or Canon gears. Regards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michiel Fokkema Posted September 3, 2008 Share #11 Posted September 3, 2008 Hi, A recently bought a SL2 and had it CLA'd by my repairman Wil van Manen. According to him the 1/2000th can be off because the gap between teh two shutter curtains is getting too small to control wel enough. But up to 1/1000th should be oke. Cheers, Michiel Fokkema Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooky Posted September 4, 2008 Share #12 Posted September 4, 2008 Unless you know how the camera was used and how recently, including servicing, it's best to have it gone over. The shutters are fine - excellent in fact. Remember, the SL/SL2 cameras were produced form the late 60's to 1977 (ish), any camera that old (even M's) will need servicing. Enjoy...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mole73 Posted September 6, 2008 Share #13 Posted September 6, 2008 As I wrote in another thread the shutter of the Leicaflex SL2 is manufactured by Minolta. The joint venture with Minolta began in 1971 and three years later the influence of them began to grow, even in the "legendary SL2", which many people consider to be the best SLR from Leica because it would be the last of the "real" Leica´s made by Leitz alone. So we see that this is a fairy tale... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farid Posted September 7, 2008 Author Share #14 Posted September 7, 2008 I haven't heard such info before. From where did you get this information? I am sure that I red somewhere on the net (regrettably I could not find the source to address it) that the way the shutters of Leicaflexes work is somehow unique in some aspects comparing to the other cameras. According to the following link from photo.net Leicaflex SL?s vs. R?s debate - Photo.net Leica and Rangefinders Forum The consistency and stability of shutters of Leicaflexes is remarkable comparing to the other systems. Leica announced that their cooperation with Minolta was commenced with the manufacturing of Leica R3. I can not find any convincible reason to believe that Leica was trying to hide such cooperation earlier than that time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon8202 Posted September 9, 2008 Share #15 Posted September 9, 2008 well I had a very nice SL which had exactly the fault you talk about even after a CLA. If you cocked the shutter and left the camera for more than a couple of hours the next picture would be horribly overexposed (ie the shutter opened but didn't close for many seconds) Like I say, this persisted after a CLA but I got used to working around it. I've always assumed that my SL must have had an SL2 shutter. That, or the problem can affect either model. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooky Posted September 9, 2008 Share #16 Posted September 9, 2008 As I wrote in another thread the shutter of the Leicaflex SL2 is manufactured by Minolta. The joint venture with Minolta began in 1971 and three years later the influence of them began to grow, even in the "legendary SL2", which many people consider to be the best SLR from Leica because it would be the last of the "real" Leica´s made by Leitz alone.So we see that this is a fairy tale... Whoaaa there,,,,,,,,, You're sure that Minolta made the shutter of the SL2??? It would be the first time I have heard of it - not that I am the repository of knowledge about the shutter's - It's just you would be the first of any human I have heard to have said this. So, if true, who made the shutter's of the SL and the first Leicaflex? Why jump to Minolta to make a shutter that they've already been making? I know they had Minolta working on lenses with them - the zooms, and wide angles (24 and the 16).....then the R platforms, but the SL2 shutter??? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_newell Posted September 9, 2008 Share #17 Posted September 9, 2008 As I wrote in another thread the shutter of the Leicaflex SL2 is manufactured by Minolta. The joint venture with Minolta began in 1971 and three years later the influence of them began to grow, even in the "legendary SL2", which many people consider to be the best SLR from Leica because it would be the last of the "real" Leica´s made by Leitz alone.So we see that this is a fairy tale... Not so. The SL2 was the last of the essentially all-German Leitz SLRs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsteve Posted September 11, 2008 Share #18 Posted September 11, 2008 The later SL2 had this error fixed. Gerry Smith at Kindemann said it had something to do with a spring that was redesigned in later cameras. He also tested mine during the CLA and found it to have the problem. I think it only involved 1/2000th of a second, but I may be wrong. It is just something you have to live with if your camera has the older shutter. Robert Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBA Posted September 11, 2008 Share #19 Posted September 11, 2008 ILeica announced that their cooperation with Minolta was commenced with the manufacturing of Leica R3. I can not find any convincible reason to believe that Leica was trying to hide such cooperation earlier than that time. This same subject is addressed in some detail here: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/customer-forum/62543-leica-r3.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruiespanhol Posted September 11, 2008 Share #20 Posted September 11, 2008 As I wrote in another thread the shutter of the Leicaflex SL2 is manufactured by Minolta. The joint venture with Minolta began in 1971 and three years later the influence of them began to grow, even in the "legendary SL2", which many people consider to be the best SLR from Leica because it would be the last of the "real" Leica´s made by Leitz alone.So we see that this is a fairy tale... The shutter is not made by Minolta, but by Leitz. It was one shutter whit horizontal movement, near the same in M cameras, but whit some diferent specs. of corse. The shutter in R cameras was copal/Leitz product(R3,R4). Since R5 to R9 the shutter was full copal product whit Leica specs. Best, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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