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Finally got a beat-up Mamiya RB67 back in action with just isopropyl alcohol and patience
I had this old Mamiya RB67 sit on my shelf for like 8 months. The shutter was totally stuck on the 127mm lens. I tried using lighter fluid to clean it, but that just made a mess and gummed things up worse. Switched to pure isopropyl alcohol and a soft brush, working the shutter blade edges gently over 3 days. The difference was night and day, the alcohol evaporated clean and freed everything up. Has anyone else had better luck with isopropyl over naphtha for sticky shutter blades?
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drewr1513d ago
Lighter fluid always left a weird residue for me too, ended up making my blades stick again after a week or so. Pure isopropyl on a q-tip, let it wick into the gaps without flooding the whole assembly, that's the trick. I've had better luck with that on older leaf shutters from the 70s than any naphtha based solvent. Takes patience though, you gotta let it evaporate fully between passes or you're just moving grime around. Worked on a weird sticky Copal shutter in a Fuji lens I had about a year back, so I'd say your mileage may vary but it's a solid method.
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