Yashica FX-3 Super, mirror problem.

[IsleofWighter]

I had the same problem, and was astonished that I could find a solution, and that I could fix it myself. You are a SAINT for publishing this !!!!!!

 

[randomray]

Wow!!! You people are life savers!!!
I just got a Yashica FX-3 Super 2000 from ebay. It came in New-New Condition. Everything was dust free, clean, beautiful. Put batteries in, cycled camera, everything was good.
focused out to infinity, and something sounded off. Same problem.
It looks like there is at least 1-1.5 mm of space the mirror could slide back.
Thanks for the fix!!!

 

[Mrbassee]

I tried this with a FX 3 Super that i bought off of eBay and it worked like a charm, although i only heated the back side of the mirror for probably 10 seconds and was able to push the mirror back up into place. Really great work, very much appreciate you sharing this.

 

[PAwan_sh]

I had the same problem. I had bought used , fungus infected Yashica 50mm ML F2.0 lens from eBay. Thoroughly cleaned it and encountered this issue on the first roll itself. Since I was using an old self serviced Yashica Fx3 camera, the suspicion first went to camera and then to the lens. I do not know how much time I spent in trying to set the lens so that it did not protrude out on the back side of the lens when focused to infinity. When it did not succeed, I started looking out for others facing the same problems and voila, I find this life saving forum. I indeed had the same problem of mirror protruding out. Used hair drier for heating the back side of the mirror while in B mode and pushed it back slowly in 2-3 iterations. Fixed the issue and now all seems to working great. Thanks guys.

 

[halu]

I had the same problem. I had bought used , fungus infected Yashica 50mm ML F2.0 lens from eBay. Thoroughly cleaned it and encountered this issue on the first roll itself. Since I was using an old self serviced Yashica Fx3 camera, the suspicion first went to camera and then to the lens. I do not know how much time I spent in trying to set the lens so that it did not protrude out on the back side of the lens when focused to infinity. When it did not succeed, I started looking out for others facing the same problems and voila, I find this life saving forum. I indeed had the same problem of mirror protruding out. Used hair drier for heating the back side of the mirror while in B mode and pushed it back slowly in 2-3 iterations. Fixed the issue and now all seems to working great. Thanks guys.

Do we have the same problem? Mine looks like this. The mirror is completely stuck upwards. It goes down whenever I pull the little lever (the one that looks like an arrow, located below. idk what it is called). It gets stuck sometimes, sometimes not at all. Any suggestion? Thank you!

 

[PAwan_sh]

It seems it is a different problem. Mine was that the mirror had gotten displaced from its intended position and so it was getting stuck with lens while taking photo. Since the camera operation proceeds only when the mirror is fully up, it was not taking the picture in my case. The operation would complete if I took out the lens or focused on a nearer object(The back of the lens protrudes out a bit when focused to infinity).

Your case seems to be a sticky mirror or misaligned/bent metal getting lightly stuck. Fix could be to blow pressurized air etc and hope to remove any dust etc stopping the operation or may be completely open the camera, take the mirror box out, clean it with lighter fluid thoroughly.

I had done this completely some days back but unfortunately I have deleted all the pictures I took in the process. If you want to attempt it yourself, I can help where possible. It is not too difficult if you have the knack for it. Just remember to keep taking photos at each stage so you know how to re-assemble.

 

[halu]

I got it repaired before, well not totally repaired they just replaced the battery cap with a new cap, since the old cap was destroyed and can no longer be opened by a coin. Then after some time the mirror keeps on getting stuck, it wasn't a problem before I went to the shop. Do you think there is a connection why the mirror is getting stuck? Thanks

 

[PAwan_sh]

I got it repaired before, well not totally repaired they just replaced the battery cap with a new cap, since the old cap was destroyed and can no longer be opened by a coin. Then after some time the mirror keeps on getting stuck, it wasn't a problem before I went to the shop. Do you think there is a connection why the mirror is getting stuck? Thanks

I do not think there is a connection since the battery cap is totally separate from the mirror assembly. They're is no connection. Probably the repair shop messed up

 

[PAwan_sh]

I got it repaired before, well not totally repaired they just replaced the battery cap with a new cap, since the old cap was destroyed and can no longer be opened by a coin. Then after some time the mirror keeps on getting stuck, it wasn't a problem before I went to the shop. Do you think there is a connection why the mirror is getting stuck? Thanks

I do not think there is a connection since the battery cap is totally separate from the mirror assembly. They're is no connection. Probably the repair shop messed up

Uploading yashica repair manual if it helps

 

[halu]

I got it repaired before, well not totally repaired they just replaced the battery cap with a new cap, since the old cap was destroyed and can no longer be opened by a coin. Then after some time the mirror keeps on getting stuck, it wasn't a problem before I went to the shop. Do you think there is a connection why the mirror is getting stuck? Thanks

I do not think there is a connection since the battery cap is totally separate from the mirror assembly. They're is no connection. Probably the repair shop messed up

Uploading yashica repair manual if it helps

Thank you

 

[PAwan_sh]

Hi All, I think that my light meter misbehaves at lower speeds. Can someone do a small test for me - Set your ISO to 200, set your shutter speed to 4 and ensure that the light meter now shows +. If not then open up the aperture or go into more light. Now move the shutter to 2, light meter should still show +. Now move it to 1. Ideally, light meter should still indicate + (even at B). However, my camera suddenly jumps to -. Can someone pl confirm this for me? I have Yashica fx3 but this test can be performed on any camera that has ISO and Shutter speed on the same dial.

 

[timor]

Interesting. Los like suddenly resistance goes way up, or there is a break in circuitry. Considering that it is almost 40 years old camera from lower shelf no wonder, that electronics may display weird behaviour. Not the first case. I have number of such a bodies. Solution for me is handheld incident meter like Sekonic Studio.

 

[PAwan_sh]

Interesting. Los like suddenly resistance goes way up, or there is a break in circuitry. Considering that it is almost 40 years old camera from lower shelf no wonder, that electronics may display weird behaviour. Not the first case. I have number of such a bodies. Solution for me is handheld incident meter like Sekonic Studio.

Thanks for the response. However, being a bit technical and also having seen the internals of the camera, I think this behavior should by design and not by malfunction. Internally, there is only one resistor for both - Shutter speed and ISO change. And the variable point jumps from one extreme to other extreme and so the above described behavior. So if my ISO is 100, the shutter speed shows correct exposure till 1sec. If ISO is 800, light meter is correct till 8 and then jumps to - at 4 or any lower speed.

I should probably ask the question is reverse. Do you have any such camera where ISO and Shutter speed are set via dials on the same axis but the light meter works correct at all speeds irrespective of the ISO?