While working on a Contax IIa ...

[melek]

I'm doing some work on a Contax IIa (color dial), and a test of the speeds showed most within spec, but the 1/10 speed bizarrely was running at 1/60 consistently.

Here's how I corrected it.

I knew that all slow speeds: 1/10, 1/5, 1/2 and 1 second are governed by the escapement mechanism that sits at the top of the camera under the accessory shoe. Here it is:

Tensioning the shutter is really harsh on your fingers, so I reinstalled the shutter-speed selector dial and the knob.

As you change the shutter speeds, that small horizontal arm with the reverse inverted "L" piece helps to govern the speeds. In order to get the 1/10 speed correct, I slowly bent that piece until it just contacted the piece above it. The picture shows the dial at 1/5, but that's what I did. Before I did this, I noticed that the two didn't touch each other.

Here's the piece that I mean.

The other speeds were slightly off by about 0.1 seconds, so I carefully bent that piece forward or backward by a tiny amount until the shutter speeds were accurate.

Just a tip for those who tackle this camera and encounter a similar problem.

By the way, I'd rather have the older black dial model any day.

[alexvaras]

Great, Mike! Thank you for the tip.

[PFMcFarland]

By the way, I'd rather have the older black dial model any day.

That can be arranged.

PF

[GrahamS]

Thanks for sharing this, Mike.