YF … GO … eh, no SLOW

One issue that I had with the camera after I replaced the ribbons was the slow speeds. Some of the higher slow speeds where OK, but hitting the slow speeds was a problem as it sometimes did not work.

The speeds 1/60 and higher are controlled by the timing of the second curtain release. The lower speeds are controlled by a slow speed escapement that is sitting on top of the bottom of the camera.

A separate speed dial changes the position of a swinging shaft that engages the slow speed escapement. The shaft is rotated by the movement of the second curtain roller, and thus turns the slow speed escapement.

Many Leica copy camera’s followed this Barnack design.

A flat spring on the bottom of the camera raises/lowers the shaft. When the top speed dial is set to 30X the spring on the bottom gets triggered when the shutter is open … it will push the shaft upwards. The top of the swinging shaft there is an arm attached that engages an tooth on the second curtain roller (shutter speed dial post) that is rotating by the roller movement.

When the shutter is released a flat spring on the bottom of the camera is pushed upwards … which raises the swinging shaft arm so that it can engage the tooth … which will push against it, thus induce rotation that moves the gears in the slow speed escapement.

The illustration is a bit incorrect, as the tooth is hidden under the larger arm that you can see.

The arm on top of the shaft changes position as the slow speed dial is changed. I didn’t take a picture of the back of the dial, but it has a ring that pushes against the swinging shaft, and also connects to the slow speed escapement to run only the star wheel (for 1/8-1/30s).

After the shutter release is completed the flat spring is lowered, the swinging shaft drops down and the top arm can no longer interfere when the shutter speed post arm.

OK, now that I explained that I will make mention of the issue that was located that caused issues with the slow speeds … as I noted in my previous post I already did some repair and cleaning of the slow speed escapement, so that should not have been the problem.

Looking at the metal arm plate attached to the top of the slow speed shaft I can see the leading edge is worn down.

I suspect that when the swinging shaft was in its lowest position (slow speed not engages) that top plate encountered the speed dial when it rotated … this eventually wore down the metal so it no longer had a 90 degree edge … so this causes it to slip over instead of engaging it when the slow speed are being used.

To fix that problem I reshaped the flat spring on the bottom of the camera a bit to ensure that the shaft lays lowest when not used … flattened the metal plate on top of the shaft so it was parallel with the top (it was lifted slightly at the end so I am guessing it was constantly being shaved down when the tooth returned position), and then I lightly (did not want to remove too much material) filed the side of the metal arm and tooth to get rid of any “ramp” … make a sharper edge at the tip.

After all that the speed dial arm was more consistently engaging the slow speed shaft plate at all low speeds … the most sensitive to this arm/tooth connection appears to be 1/4s.

[Missing picture, sorry forgot to take one] To adjust the timing, unscrew the cover of the slow speed dial. Here there is a centre screw and an outer ring. Loosening the ring and turning the inner screw will change the position a cam that is pushed against the swinging shaft.

This slow speed mechanism is a common setup on the typical Barnack type cameras, so you can read up on a Leica III repair and get similar info.

YF! from the top

OK, so lets get some clean up going.

Flexiclamps … like all Barnack type cameras, you will need this tool

Remove single screw on the flash shoe. Slide out the metal spring plate. the hole on the bottom leads to a deep grub screw which you will loosen, then you can unscrew the PC socket.

Rewind knob … screw on the side loosen then pull off the knob, note that the inner plastic friction part may come out with it. Then ring nut which holds the body on that side … no notches so you have to use a flexiclamp to get that off.

The shutter speed dial is held on by three set screws. Loosen them then pull of the dial … in my case they were stuck so much that I had to drill them out, which you really do not want to do.

Last is the single screw by the shutter button.

Pull top off … the shutter button will fall out … underneath is another spring loaded button … and a washer.

Beware of the glass surfaces … some are silvered so they can be worn off by cleaning.

One thing that I noticed when I first received this camera was a loose film advance lever. You will see that there are three outter screws … but there are also three inner screws that are partially hidden by the spring, and a centre screw that all may need to be tightened. You can get at the inner ones without removing the spring, but it is better to unhook the spring from the inside to make more access.

Rangefinder Alignment

There are two large screws by the view/rangefinder ports. The right one is for the horizontal alignment with a simple screw turning … the left one, hmm, it is a wheel.

Yashica YF … the party’s over so soon?

So, lets talk about this Yashica, or is it a Nicca ? It’s been a year since I first posted about Nicca.

The YF didn’t have a long life it was produced in 1959 and ended a year later. As I mentioned before it was modeled on the Nicca III-L. If you look at this camera you can see the influence that the Leica M3 made on the tech’s at Nicca … and it is still labeled Nicca on the front.

The Yashica YF (also known as the 35 YF) was an evolution of the Barnack cameras that Nicca made for years … it is a bottom loader, but had a winding lever, a hinged film back (to assist with film loading like the Leica M), it had a single view/rangefinder window … and it was an L39 screw mount … though one thing they really should have done is to make a better rewind mechanism.

It came too late into the game. Canon had a slew of LTM cameras out by this time and was at the end of their run (the P came out in 1959 and the 7 in 1961) … the industry was moving to SLR’s, and I think Yashica already knew this as their Pentamatic SLR was created in 1959 also (though I think the Nikon F introduction cobashed that one).

There were maybe only about 7,000 units made (maybe up to 10,000), so it is not so common to find one of these outside of Japan.

I actually got this camera because I’ve had an interested with the later Nicca cameras ever since I picked up my first Leica Barnack camera. There are many Barnack copies, but there are some interesting advanced cameras that deviated from them … like the later Canon models and this Yashica/Nicca.

Actually I think the original Nicca III-L looks better … I am not sure who, at Yashica, thought of the metal trim accent on the front.