The difference proper lubrication made on a seized Yashica shutter

I had a Yashica-Mat in the shop with a shutter that wouldn't fire at all past 1/100. After cleaning out old gunk and applying a tiny drop of synthetic watch oil to the blade pivot points, it fired clean at every speed within 10 minutes. Has anyone else noticed how much old lubricant turns into glue on those leaf shutters?

2 comments

2 Comments

riley582h ago

Try naphtha first before anything heavier, it dissolves that wax without wrecking the rest of the shutter.

taylor_barnes594h ago

Does your buddy still have that Yashica? I had a friend who almost threw away his dad's old Ricoh because the shutter was totally stuck. He was about to list it for parts when I told him to try a drop of naphtha on the blades first. After a couple days of soaking and working the shutter ring, it freed up like magic. The old lubricant had basically turned into a wax-like gunk that was holding everything together. He ended up using a tiny bit of lighter fluid to flush the rest out and now it works perfectly at all speeds. It's crazy how something so simple can bring a camera back from the dead.