I just purchased my first Pacemaker Speed Graphic (SN# 825224) which I hope to use for a while. However, I've already noticed that the focal plane shutter is exhibiting two characteristics that don't seem right. First, when I release the shutter at 1/50, the cloth rolls about half way, stops, then continues. Total exposure time about two seconds. Not sure of the accuracy of the other speeds. Secondly, when I turn the lever to "0", the cloth barely lowers 1/10th of the way necessary to view the scene through the ground glass. By removing the back I can gently push it down, but it's clear there's no tension.

Anyway, if at all possible, I'd like to take care of this on my own. I'm a pretty good tinkerer, and don't mind buying a few tools etc. to take care of this. If you have a good idea of how to fix this, please provide as much detail as you can stand. Don't worry about insulting my intelligence.

Quick follow up question: do people usually use the focal plane shutter or the lens shutter. I'd think the lens shutter would be preferred because of less vibration. Just curious.

Thanks a bunch in advance! John

I scaned all 5 pages from the pacemaker 45 repair manual but I can't get them to upload to this site so if you will send a request email to ________________ I'll send them to you that way.

Charles

_________________
While a picture may be worth a thousand words, a photograph is worth a million.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: 45PSS on 2002-03-20 16:10 ]</font>

I can send instructions via email also! bsaunders1@bak.rr.com

I've been playing with it more and it seems to be loosening up on its own. This seems to be pretty consistent with what I've read about old cameras -- sometimes they just need a little use to warm up a bit. I'm not sure if the speeds are accurate, but at least I can see through the ground glass now.

Thanks, everyone, for the generous help.