Exakta RTL1000: Mirror locked up

!Karen · Joined: 20 Jul 2013 Posts: 837 Location: Belgium Baby

I have this exakta camera lying around that is broken.
It has been sitting here for quite some time because nothing would move (the rewind lever, the shutter button, and the lens could not be taken off either, all stuck)
I couldn't see anything through the viewfinder either so I just assumed the mirror was missing.

Recently I have found out the thing at the top can come off (yay me Laughing

)
and I saw that the mirror is actually stuck there in 'locked up' mode (which I don't think this is a function the camera has).
I can push it down with my finger, and by doing that I was able to take the lens off and this also deblocks the other knobs.
However,
the mirror just won't stay down though.
Anyone got any idea?

I don't really know much about camera mechanics... this could be either the silliest thing or impossible to fix. I don't know!!!

Thanks in advance for any replies.

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philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4749 Location: Cheshire, England

Cant help you, but its a nice camera when it works. I had one for years when it was new, but never had this problem. Its related to the Praktica. Perhaps if you google 'jammed praktica' you may find something that works.

maybe this describes your problem: http://photo.net/classic-cameras-forum/00U4Qj

or maybe right here: http://forum.mflenses.com/stuck-praktica-l-t15552.html