Originally posted by bm75 When I'll get the camera, I'll send it to a lab for replacement. there's a guy next to my city that has the knowledge for doing that.
Good solution! I
Originally posted by bm75 As for the shutter mechanics, is there something I could check before buying if I have the possibility to test the camera?
All you can do at first glance is listen to the shutter. Take your watch, set shutter speed to the longest available time for example 1 second. Release the shutter. Listen to mirror going up and down, have a look at the watch if it roughly confirms the 1 second. From now on reduce shutter speed one step. Listen to the camera. Does the time intervall sound as half as long? You will hear this quite well up to 1/60 second. Try the other times as well. Does all sound good? This will give you a first impression if there is a major problem, but not more.
Normaly you only have to check the shutter speed on cameras with mechanical controled shutters (MX). The Super A and the ME super (do not buy the ME without super) have electronic shutters and should have no issues with it. They usually work well or do not work at all.
To test if the whole system works, set the f stop to 22 and the speed dial to B. Open the back of the camera. Look at the shutter (do not touch it !!). Press the shutter button and hold it. You should see the mirror go up and stay there. The lens should be closed to smallest f stop. Release the shutter button. The camera should go back to shutter closed, mirror down, lens wide open. Try other F stops.
When you test a super A, have a close look at the metering system. Try Av and P mode and have a look at the time/f-stop combinations. If the camera does not behave as expected, for example in Av-mode does not stepwise follow with the shutter speed, when you open or close the diaphragm or switchs to completely other shutters speeds like 1/2000 then do not buy it. The camera probably has issues with the electronical lens contacts.
Be aware, that the camera will set shutter speed to 1/1000, as long as the film counter is below picture 1. This is a feature, not a fault!
Buying used cameras is always a matter of trust as well.