Shutter won't release on Bronica SQ-A

Hi there MF friends,
I've recently bought a Bronica SQ-A with 80mm, 150mm, speed grip and prism
finder. I like the build and the quility but unfortunatly I cant get it to
work.

When I bought the cam there was a film loaded. I could cock the shutter and
shoot. After the first film I put in a new film: manually wound the film to
the dotted line, closed the back, wound on untill the counter went from 'S'
to '1'. The first shot I wanted to do was one with a cable release.

I setup the camera, cocked the shutter, focussed, check exposure, set the
speed, screwed in the cable release and pressed the button,...nothing
happend so I decided to press the button on the speed grip,...also nothing.
As I fiddeled with the mirror lockup button (turning it from 'N' to 'S') it
fired! Darn thing fired but left in 'S' or 'C' I couldn't cock the shutter
again (is this normal?). So I turned the mirror lock up back to 'N' and I
was able to cock the shutter once more but once again it don't want to
release!!!!

The shutter release button can be pressed completely inwards (there is no
resistance), but the shutter won't release.

I've read the manual but it doesn't say anything that could solve this
problem. Does anybody out there have any pointers as I'm getting the feeling
the guy has sold me a faulty camera. That would be a disappointment....:-( .
Or hopefully it's just me and I'm forgetting something.... This is my first
MF journey and so far it isnt going to well

Any help would greatly be appreciated!

Thanks guys and gals.
Andrew

I FORGOT TO MENTION I REMOVED THE DARK SLIDE.....

Hi there MF friends,
I've recently bought a Bronica SQ-A with 80mm, 150mm, speed grip and prism
finder. I like the build and the quility but unfortunatly I cant get it to
work.

When I bought the cam there was a film loaded. I could cock the shutter and
shoot. After the first film I put in a new film: manually wound the film to
the dotted line, closed the back, wound on untill the counter went from 'S'
to '1'. The first shot I wanted to do was one with a cable release.

I setup the camera, removed the darks slide, cocked the shutter, focussed,
check exposure, set the speed, screwed in the cable release and pressed the
button,...nothing
happend so I decided to press the button on the speed grip,...also nothing.
As I fiddeled with the mirror lockup button (turning it from 'N' to 'S') it
fired! Darn thing fired but left in 'S' or 'C' I couldn't cock the shutter
again (is this normal?). So I turned the mirror lock up back to 'N' and I
was able to cock the shutter once more but once again it don't want to
release!!!!

The shutter release button can be pressed completely inwards (there is no
resistance), but the shutter won't release.

I've read the manual but it doesn't say anything that could solve this
problem. Does anybody out there have any pointers as I'm getting the feeling
the guy has sold me a faulty camera. That would be a disappointment....:-( .
Or hopefully it's just me and I'm forgetting something.... This is my first
MF journey and so far it isnt going to well

Any help would greatly be appreciated!

Thanks guys and gals.
Andrew

For those out there with the same problem:

Wel, finally after 5 hours I've found out what was causing the problem: for
some reason you CAN NOT have the speedgrip attached when using the cable
release. Undoing the speedgrip enabled me to fire the shutter.

I know it wouldn't be common to use a cable release and speed grip, but this
afternoon I wa handholding the cam and wanted to switch to tripod mount
WITHOUT having to remove the grip. This how ever doesn't seem possible.

Andrew
"Drew" schreef in bericht
...
Hi there MF friends,
I've recently bought a Bronica SQ-A with 80mm, 150mm, speed grip and prism
finder. I like the build and the quility but unfortunatly I cant get it to
work.

When I bought the cam there was a film loaded. I could cock the shutter
and
shoot. After the first film I put in a new film: manually wound the film
to
the dotted line, closed the back, wound on untill the counter went from
'S'
to '1'. The first shot I wanted to do was one with a cable release.

I setup the camera, cocked the shutter, focussed, check exposure, set the
speed, screwed in the cable release and pressed the button,...nothing
happend so I decided to press the button on the speed grip,...also
nothing.
As I fiddeled with the mirror lockup button (turning it from 'N' to 'S')
it
fired! Darn thing fired but left in 'S' or 'C' I couldn't cock the shutter
again (is this normal?). So I turned the mirror lock up back to 'N' and I
was able to cock the shutter once more but once again it don't want to
release!!!!

The shutter release button can be pressed completely inwards (there is no
resistance), but the shutter won't release.

I've read the manual but it doesn't say anything that could solve this
problem. Does anybody out there have any pointers as I'm getting the
feeling
the guy has sold me a faulty camera. That would be a
disappointment....:-( .
Or hopefully it's just me and I'm forgetting something.... This is my
first
MF journey and so far it isnt going to well

Any help would greatly be appreciated!

Thanks guys and gals.
Andrew

On Sun, 9 May 2004 00:36:51 +0200, "Drew" wrote:

For those out there with the same problem:

Wel, finally after 5 hours I've found out what was causing the problem: for
some reason you CAN NOT have the speedgrip attached when using the cable
release. Undoing the speedgrip enabled me to fire the shutter.

I know it wouldn't be common to use a cable release and speed grip, but this
afternoon I wa handholding the cam and wanted to switch to tripod mount
WITHOUT having to remove the grip. This how ever doesn't seem possible.

Thats odd, I have two Sqas and use the cable release with the
speedgrip attached all the time. Wonder what the difference is?

Hmm, indeed very strange because I just tried it and it DOES work now (cale
release + speedgrip)...dunno what was wrong with it. I guess it's my
inexperience (just only recently moved up from 35 mm to MF).

Could you explain to me how you use the mirror lockup without waisting an
exposure? It seems as if the camera exposes as soon as I flip up the mirror:
I flip it up, the shutter fires and I have to recock the shutter.

Also, do you have any experience with long exposures (T-setting)? Do you
need a dark cloth (opening and closing the shutter manually)?

Thanks!
"Gary Beasley" schreef in bericht
...
On Sun, 9 May 2004 00:36:51 +0200, "Drew" wrote:

For those out there with the same problem:

Wel, finally after 5 hours I've found out what was causing the problem:
for
some reason you CAN NOT have the speedgrip attached when using the cable
release. Undoing the speedgrip enabled me to fire the shutter.

I know it wouldn't be common to use a cable release and speed grip, but
this
afternoon I wa handholding the cam and wanted to switch to tripod mount
WITHOUT having to remove the grip. This how ever doesn't seem possible.

Thats odd, I have two Sqas and use the cable release with the
speedgrip attached all the time. Wonder what the difference is?

Hmm, indeed very strange because I just tried it and it DOES work now (cable
release + speedgrip)...dunno what was wrong with it. I guess it's my
inexperience (just only recently moved up from 35 mm to MF).

Could you explain to me how you use the mirror lockup without waisting an
exposure? It seems as if the camera exposes as soon as I flip up the mirror:
I flip it up, the shutter fires and I have to recock the shutter.

Also, do you have any experience with long exposures (T-setting)? Do you
need a dark cloth (opening and closing the shutter manually)?

Thanks!
"Gary Beasley" schreef in bericht
...
On Sun, 9 May 2004 00:36:51 +0200, "Drew" wrote:

For those out there with the same problem:

Wel, finally after 5 hours I've found out what was causing the problem:
for
some reason you CAN NOT have the speedgrip attached when using the cable
release. Undoing the speedgrip enabled me to fire the shutter.

I know it wouldn't be common to use a cable release and speed grip, but
this
afternoon I wa handholding the cam and wanted to switch to tripod mount
WITHOUT having to remove the grip. This how ever doesn't seem possible.

Thats odd, I have two Sqas and use the cable release with the
speedgrip attached all the time. Wonder what the difference is?

On Mon, 24 May 2004 13:13:38 +0200, "Drew" wrote:

Hmm, indeed very strange because I just tried it and it DOES work now (cable
release + speedgrip)...dunno what was wrong with it. I guess it's my
inexperience (just only recently moved up from 35 mm to MF).

Could you explain to me how you use the mirror lockup without waisting an
exposure? It seems as if the camera exposes as soon as I flip up the mirror:
I flip it up, the shutter fires and I have to recock the shutter.

Also, do you have any experience with long exposures (T-setting)? Do you
need a dark cloth (opening and closing the shutter manually)?

Thanks!

Actually you are hearing the mirror open and the shutter close at the
same time so the film will not be exposed. After that point the
shutter can be fired. There are two positions on the mirror lockup.
The first click returns to normal on winding, the second click retains
the mirror lockup on winding.
Check it out for yourself by moving the multi exposure lever down (the
one just over the winding crank) and taking the back off. You can then
observe the shutter and mirror action from the back.
For long exposures the lenscap is sufficient. Trip the shutter open
then when the exposure is done put the cap on and advance the film.
The mirror will return and cover the film and you will be ready to do
another long exposure untill you reset the T switch.