Post by John Farrell on Sept 19, 2023 2:49:33 GMT
Recently, I have read in a number of reviews of Praktica L cameras, that they suffer from shutter failure due to a plastic gear in the wind mechanism. This misunderstanding appears to come from this thread on the Camera Collector forum.
cameracollector.proboards.com/thread/2387/praktica-shutter
The plastic takeup spool is mentioned in this thread, but the plastic element which fails is not in the winding mechanism, but in the mirror timing system.
The green arrow points to a plastic wheel, which acts to retard the rising and falling of the mirror. It is connected by the gear seen under it, to a sector gear which is part of the diaphragm step down plate, which is itself tied to the mirror. The wheel spins as the mirror rises, and falls. I have not noticed a problem with this part in any of my L series Prakticas, but the camera I used for the photo above has a crack in the edge of the wheel.
Oh, and there are no plastic gears in the winding train.
cameracollector.proboards.com/thread/2387/praktica-shutter
The plastic takeup spool is mentioned in this thread, but the plastic element which fails is not in the winding mechanism, but in the mirror timing system.
The green arrow points to a plastic wheel, which acts to retard the rising and falling of the mirror. It is connected by the gear seen under it, to a sector gear which is part of the diaphragm step down plate, which is itself tied to the mirror. The wheel spins as the mirror rises, and falls. I have not noticed a problem with this part in any of my L series Prakticas, but the camera I used for the photo above has a crack in the edge of the wheel.
Oh, and there are no plastic gears in the winding train.