Ok, so common theme … I find another issue after putting a camera on the shelf.
This time it is the Rollei 35. I had taken it apart long ago to repair the lens lock mechanism. Fixed that, cleaned a bit, then put it on the shelf. I recently took a look at it again and notice the light meter was off … so time to figure it out.
In the Online Learn Camera Repair lessons there is a chapter on this camera and it has a brief explanation of the light meter circuit.
Ok, there are two potentiometers … hmm.
Some research has pointed me to the usage of the two.
Ok so take the top off (again).
Now I think R1 is there on the right side of the camera and R2 is the one on the back. From what I got on the Web, R1 would be adjusted for hi light levels and R2 for low … Ok, so I point the camera to a bright source in parallel with my handheld lightmeter …. then turn the pot until the match needle lines up … then I point to a low light area and do the same … then I go back to the bright and … go back and forth until I am satisfied !!!
Great, so now it is calibrated as close as I can get … so I put the cover back on and … hmm, the light meter is off by about 2.5 stops ?? Ahh, the port for the light meter is about half the size of the sensor … so I take the cover off and adjust the pots with the ISO set 5x lower. Cover back on … and much better !!!
I have to mention the film rewind release lever … it is a pain to get out and a pain to put in.
I had mentioned in a much earlier post on taking the top cover off that you have to turn the post and move a spring to get the rewind lever post off … which is D shaped to get past the spring easier. You can see the spring in the above image … also note the scratches on the cover caused by some previous owner trying to get that thing off … you can see just behind the hole there is a T post, when lifted it will release the film pickup sprocket so that it can turn in reverse (so you can rewind the film without ripping it to shreds). When you put the reverse lever post back in you should lift that T post first so that the pin will sit under it.
Also note in the above image my hand made advance lever plastic stop that I just turned on the Unimat, as I got this camera with it missing so the lever was marking the top cover as it slammed into it.
Now … sometimes you get into more trouble fixing a trouble. In my case, as I was putting the advance lever back on the threaded post on the top cover sheared off @#$%!!!! I had to drill it out carefully so as not to damage the internal threading … then I drilled a hole in the cover, tapped it and found an appropriate screw to replace the threaded post.