Mirror stuck up on MZ-3?

Hi all

I used my MZ-3 for the first time in perhaps a year, and after taking the first shot the mirror locked in the up position. When flicking the power on and off, I can hear (and feel) what sounds like a small motor whirring but the mirror won't budge. I'm reluctant to start playing around with it as sticky/clumsy hands and mirror assemblies rarely mix well.

Any ideas what's going on, and how easy it might be to repair?

Cheers
Matt


eta: gah, sorry guys, this should have gone in the troubleshooting forum.

Have you tried:-

Fresh batteries
Removing the film

Cheers Mannesty.

Tried both, but on reflection spare batteries were a bit dated - I assume you suspect it's a voltage problem? Nothing indicated on the display re. low battery, but I'll retry later, thanks for advice.

Some designs lock up the mirror when the batteries are too low to function properly, so that's the first place to start.

It is always good practise with film cameras when they are not being used for a while to fire them off at all shutter speeds and apertures to keep them lubricated. Particularly true of old mechanical self-timers

As is always the bloody case, I don't have any fresh batteries and my AA-using battery grip has gone walkies!

Cheers to all, once I can find the grip I'll try it out. Our of interest, the battery warning didn't come on, is time-degradation a different issue to exhaustion in batteries?

Are you in such a remote part of the world that you can't get new batteries?

None in the house - the *istD uses different batteries.

Tried it, no joy, mirror still resolutely stuck up. Its buzzing like mad, suggesting it's not intentionally holding the mirror up but something is making it stick.

Anyone know how the mirror is actuated up and down? I'd imagine the mirror is held down by springs and actuated electrically into the upwards position. I'm trying to figure if it's a spring/stick fault or an actuator fault.

The foam light seal hasn't degraded and become sticky has it. Maybe the mirror is stuck to it : Long shot but might be worth checking.

Will check, thanks for advice.

Quick question, the inner workings of SLRs are all pretty delicate, what can I touch and not touch to see if it's a sticky seal? The shutter is a no-no, and it has always been an article of faith with me that I don't touch the mirror assembly. Should I just try to flip it down, or will this cause damage?

I would just give the top of the mirror a nudge with the tip of a pair of tweezers or something similar. Don't force anything, and you shouldn't have to touch anything with your fingers.

Mirror flips down, but pops straight up again - it feels like there's a spring holding it in the up position. An actuator problem?

There was a discussion on this issue and I it did happen to me, too. It's a problem with the motor operating the mirror as far as I remember. There is a teeth-wheel that passes into a counter-axis which is unfortunately made of plastics. That plastics got worn too much and simply won't accept any attempts from the motor (or vice-versa) to make it turn. It just makes that little whining when you turn it on. You can basically repair it by yourself if you are handy but you need working internals from another body. I have one lightly damaged MZ-5 (still working though) but it is over 7 years old and it had been traveling a lot.