I just bought a RB67 and love it except that the 65mm lens I purchased with it doesn't function properly. Normal operation shutter close aperture set, shutter open shutter close. *This one goes aperture set shutter close. The other lenses work fine.

Well I have worked on dozens of Nikon lenses and thought I would give this a go.... Wow what a difference inside these things. Now I have the majority of the lens torn down and can not find the problem. *

Do all RB type C lenses uses the same shutter aperture assembly IE if I buy a cheap 90mm with bad glass can I swap out the entire assembly?

Do you have any advice where my problem may lie???


Thank you in advanced

Thank you all for the PM's and suggestions on how to repair this lens. FYI for everyone a spring that closes down the shutter before opening again was out of place! My endeavor into the RB67 has been fun although I forgot that one of my lenses was in mirror up the other day DOH!!!

I love this camera and developing my own film, this is coming from someone with a D700 and abandoned film for all this new digital stuff only to start playing with film again.

I, too, have a lens that needs a bit of work. My 180/4.5 C has a sticky shutter - it closes the shutter and aperture, but then has a delay of some 15 or 20 seconds before the shutter actually fires - so I need to get it out for cleaning. (Cocking it takes more force than it ought to, as well.) I have the repair manual, which shows how to take a 50 or 65 apart, but if anyone happens to have an exploded view of the 180 for me to look at before going in, I'd be grateful. Also, which end would it be the best to go in from to get the shutter assembly itself out? Or will I actually have to take the lens apart from both ends?

I also have a 50mm Sekor C lens for an RB and the shutter doesnt close in Mirror Up mode, but the shutter fires normall under other settings, just not in Mirror up. E.G. the shutter stays up instead of closes, so I need to depress the cocking lever to close it, but that negates the purpose of a shutter release cable and I am sure it creates blur...
Is this a return spring issue? and how difficult is this to repair on my own? should I shell out 100.00 or more to have Forsters In SLC do it? I also need a speck removed from the inside of a rear element, its in the dead center of the element, and drives me nuts when I look at it.

That sounds strange. The mirror up mechanism is really just an extra shutter release: it's a spring loaded see-saw with a hook under one end, which holds the shutter release mechanism so it won't fire even if the normal release is pressed. With the selector in the normal position, the selector itself presses down on the other end of the see-saw, keeping the hook from blocking the release. In the mirror up position, the selector is lifted, letting the spring tilt the see-saw so the hook grabs the release. You then have to use a cable release fitted into the center of the selector to tip the see-saw over and release the shutter.

From your description, it sounds as if the shutter behaves as if it were set to "T" when the mirror up mode is selected. How this should happen I have no idea.

Anyway, if you've never been inside one of these lenses before, and you value the lens highly enough to feel that a professional CLA is worth it, do so. If you're mechanically inclined, would like the challenge, and won't mind if you screw up and don't get the lens back together, possibly ending up with a more expensive repair job, or even sufficient damage that it's no longer worth it, taking the lens apart can be fun. A lens spanner and 0 and 00 size philips head screwdrivers are all the tools you need.

Lots of pictures of the insides of RB67 lenses here: http://logojoe.com/RB-RZ/

I've got a replacement shutter fitted in that 180 now, and the original soaking in heptane to get the dried grease and oil out of it. I noticed too late that the new shutter doesn't work properly in T mode, so I'll be refitting the original one and then doing a CLA on the one I thought was good. Then, I'll have a proper spare for the next time it's needed.

-tih

I went the forsters route they fixed it for 130.00 and it now works flawlessly! Thanks! it was a Shutter spring issue!