Had a weird shutter issue on a 1970s Canon FTb last month

A customer brought it in saying the second curtain was dragging. I opened it up and found old, sticky grease all over the timing gears. Cleaned it with some lighter fluid and a tiny brush, which worked, but the shutter speeds were still off by a full stop. Ended up adjusting the governor spring tension for about an hour to get it right. Has anyone else fixed one of these and found a better way to handle the governor?

3 comments

3 Comments

shah.olivia2mo ago

Oh man, I read somewhere that the governor on those is a total pain to get just right. Maybe try a tiny drop of clock oil after cleaning next time?

gavinperez1mo ago

Got me wondering what kind of oil works best though... like, is clock oil really the move, or would sewing machine oil do the same job? I've seen some people swear by one and others say it gums up faster. What's the actual difference between them for a tiny part like that?

marymorgan2mo ago

Yeah, @shah.olivia, I heard that too... a tiny bit of oil can make all the difference.