Topic: Some abominable photos...

[Flippy]

Ensign Roll Film Reflex. by Berang Berang, on Flickr

I've always wanted one of these Ensign reflex cameras. So when one showed up on ebay, I paid way too much money for it (although it was through a best offer, so the price was downgraded from insane, to just too much).

I ran a test roll through. Disappointment. The shutter only fired on half the exposures, and there is a massive light leak somewhere.

SAAB by Berang Berang, on Flickr

Porsche by Berang Berang, on Flickr

The lens actually seems pretty sharp, even wide open, but I'll have to find some way of negating the massive mirror slap.

mirror shake by Berang Berang, on Flickr

Now the camera is all in pieces on my desk while I look into the shutter malfunction. I've always wanted a 6x9 SLR!

[Francois]

I think you'll need a monopod for this one...

[Flippy]

Good news! I started digging into the camera, and found what was causing the trouble.

Ensign Light Leak by Berang Berang, on Flickr

The light leak was caused by this old piece of tape which has come unstuck. It shields the mirror pivot from light entering through the ground glass.

Ensign Light Leak by Berang Berang, on Flickr

Not a good thing!

The shutter is actually far more complicated than I assumed. There are lots, and lots, and lots, of moving parts. Also lots of sliding surfaces. I ended up using a q-tip to thinly coat a lot of metal to metal surfaces, this resulted in the shutter being smoother, quieter, faster, and oddly enough removed a lot of the mirror slap.

Ensign Mirror Box by Berang Berang, on Flickr

The problem with the shutter not exposing turned out to have to do with this little latch and tab:
Ensign Shutter by Berang Berang, on Flickr

Ensign Shutter by Berang Berang, on Flickr

The tab with the cut out in it (to the right) is connected to a shutter blade that caps the shutter after the mirror swings up. The latch is supposed to hold it down, and thus hold the shutter open, until released by the pin on the left. The mirror hits the pin, which releases the latch, which allows the tab to spring up, which closes the shutter. The problem was this latch wasn't latching reliably, so sometime the shutter would close before being triggered by the mirror. The solution was to just bend the tab slightly down so it would catch on the latch sooner when resetting the shutter. Works fine now!

Ensign Shutter by Berang Berang, on Flickr

Ensign Shutter by Berang Berang, on Flickr

And here you can sort of see how it works:
Ensign Shutter by Berang Berang, on Flickr

[Indofunk]

You lost me after the tape comment    But it looks cool and the photos look great! I'm going to have to Google this to see how the thing works. That's a waist level finder, yeah?

[Ezzie]

Nice. I too have a strange penchant for 6x9 SLRs. I have for a very long time been thinking of a National Graflex II. Unaware of these Ensigns though. Seems infinitely simpler to operate.

[Domingo A. Siliceo]

All those old and fantastic cameras always deserve a second life in good hands. Congratulations for the purchase.

[Late Developer]

Amazing to think that 6x9 SLRs actually pre-date the modern 35mm versions.  I haven't used one of these - though I've seen a few for sale at Photographica over the last few years.

Looks like fun to use (though not "fix". Enjoy!

[lharby]

I like the first shot with the light leak.

[jojonas~]

aaah, these look like so much fun! glad to see one in use and not just as a collectors item

[thatguychad]

Awesome post! I love seeing how these older cameras operate. I also want to thank Satish for the excellent work he's done documenting some camera partial tear downs (I think the last one I used was for the Minolta 7S - but I've found at least a couple using google searches.)

[Kai-san]

You are really tempting us here Flippy!   I can easily understand that you paid a lot for that camera, there is a working example on ebay that is priced to 1500 dollars (reduced price!). This looks just as fun as the Pilot camera. Love to see more shots after the repair, it looks promising.

[Flippy]

I didn't pay that much  but as these things tend to go, just after I bought mine another one showed up on ebay uk and ended for only about U.S. $75.