LightOmatic II repair (4 of 5)
On the first page
On the second page​
On the third page​​
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The light meter
​On this page
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An explanation of the body/lens linkages
On the fifth page
An explanation of the body/lens linkages
There are two linkages between the body and lens assembly to be aware of.
The first is the shutter release. Figure 23 shows the lever on the back of the lens housing, which trips the shutter when the arm swings downward. This is the "actual" shutter actuation mechanism. It's sprung, so always returns to the position shown in figure 23.
[The other components in figure 23 are: the back of the PC socket (the triangular brass bracket on the bottom right corner), and a lock to stop the lens barrel unscrewing from the mounting plate (brass plate with two screws on the left).]
Figure 24 shows the foot (or is it a leg?) of the camera body shutter release train. The "actual" shutter release lever simply sits beneath the foot of the drive train, but is not physically connected to it. The lens housing shutter actuation lever needs to be slightly depressed in order to get the two components to mate correctly, and its spring maintains their connection.
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The body shutter release train works like this. The top-plate shutter release button merely rests on a platform, (shown in figure 27). This platform works like a seesaw, so when the shutter button is pressed, the platform tilts, pushes the shaft beneath downward, which in turn pushes the lens housing shutter actuator via its foot, tripping the shutter. This mechanism is sprung, which allows the top-plate shutter release button to pop back up again. This part may need a little lubrication (on this camera, the shutter button was slow to pop-up).
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Refitting this component of the lens assembly to the camera body is easy, because the secondary access panel (on the left-side of the lens assembly mounting-plate) allows you to see and manoeuvre the two parts of the shutter release train so that they marry-up: it's simply a matter of getting one part to rest on the other.
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The second linkage is the shutter tensioner. The lens housing part is like a small keyhole at the internal apex above the rear lens element (figure 25).
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The camera body component of the shutter tensioner is a protruding hollow tube above the top of the shroud for the rear lens elements (figure 26). Note that the shroud has a blue velvet band around its inside edge - a nice touch.
The body and lens housing are connected by a removable sprung shaft, shown inserted into the body housing in figure 26, which fits into the keyhole in figure 25. The ends of the shaft are shaped to allow correct insertion, and so ensure drive.
The mechanism works like this (see figure 27). The film winder turns the film receiving spool [1], and simultaneously pivots a sprung arm [2], which pulls a flat bar across the top of the camera body [3]. Via some cogs (hidden under a removable cover plate just visible in the bottom left corner of figure 27), this movement rotates the connecting shaft [4], which turns the shutter tensioning mechanism located in the lens housing.
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Getting these two parts together is a little tricky. The shaft has to be fitted in the lens housing keyhole, and the other end guided into the tube receptor on the camera body, as the two parts are brought together.​
Figure 23 - the lens housing shutter actuation lever highlighted in red and seen from the rear.
Figure 24 - the brass foot end of the camera body shutter release train (with a red arrow to show its range of movement) seen from the front. Note that when aligned with the lens housing, and therefore viewed from the rear, the component will be on the right side as per figure 23.
Figure 25 - the lens housing shutter tensioning keyhole location and close-up.
Figure 26 - the camera body drive shaft which connects to the keyhole on the lens housing.
Figure 27 - the camera body shutter tensioning drive train.