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Contessamat

William B. Lurie
 

Friends, does anybody out there actually own one?
If so, I'd like a little advice on how to get the film
loaded and started. I have the instruction book and
followed it, but the shutter refuses to cock, so I can't
cock it and fire it 3 times to get moving. I'm trying to
diagnose whether IT is defective, or whether I'm doing
something wrong.

Thanks.

Bill Lurie
Larry Otto
 

Bill,

I have a Contessamat SE and it cocks and fires even without film in it,
I suspect yours may be jammed.

Larry Otto


"William B. Lurie" wrote:


Friends, does anybody out there actually own one?
If so, I'd like a little advice on how to get the film
loaded and started. I have the instruction book and
followed it, but the shutter refuses to cock, so I can't
cock it and fire it 3 times to get moving. I'm trying to
diagnose whether IT is defective, or whether I'm doing
something wrong.

Thanks.

Bill Lurie

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Larry Otto
 

Hi Bill,

I have my Contessamat here; from what I understand the difference
between an SBE and an SE is that the SBE has some sort of flash control
linked to the lens distance - I have never actually seen one. Anyway,
the "AUTO" function on mine sets the correct aperture based on the
shutter speed you choose and the light available ( my available shutter
speeds are B plus 1/30 to 1/500); otherwise I can set the aperture
manually ( available apertures on mine are 2.8 to 22- the lens is a
Color-Pantar 45mm f2.8 )based on the meter readout on the top plate.
On the bottom of mine there is a small round button that when slid
towards the back of the camera releases the rewind crank and the inside
sprocket shaft so the film can be re-wound. Otherwise, when the re-wind
crank is pushed back into place it causes the sprocket shaft to lock up
so that it only turns one direction-- that direction being to help move
the film forward when cocking the shutter, which also winds the film
take-up spool at the same time. I hope all this makes sense, if any
further questions, just ask. I have never taken on of these apart and
even though they are not that valuable I think I would prefer to turn it
over to a qualified repair person if the camera and lens are in nice
condition.

Larry Otto


"William B. Lurie" wrote:


Larry Otto wrote:

Bill,

I have a Contessamat SE and it cocks and fires even without film in it,
I suspect yours may be jammed.

Larry:
Let me 'splain a bit more. Maybe it will ring a bell.
When I release the rewinder crank on the bottom,
the sprocket arrangement becomes free to rotate.
That makes sense.

Now there are, on the side of the monster lens cylinder
TWO tiny black ribbed buttons. Depressing the front one
(dumb design, hard to do), allows me to set the film
speed.

The back one seems to have an "A" next to it, and
the instructions give a hint that that "A" might stand
for 'automatic', and might mean do I want shutter speed
calculated from the photocell, automatisch, or do I
want to set the shutter speed manually somehow. But
that back one appears to be smaller than the other,
and so far, I haven't found that depressing it does
anything at all. Can this be part of my problem?
What is it for? Anything else I can try? Striking it
with a hammer? If so.....where?

Bill Lurie

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