Kodak Retina 1b issue. New procedure.

[Cluster]

I've fancied a Kodak Retina for a while, but they generally went for more than I wanted to pay..
Having a break from plastic cameras and managed to buy a nice Retina 1b.
It's in very good apparent condition and is ready for film, but, within the first dozen trial (no film) shutter releases the shutter/winder jammed.
I did a search online and found that this is a "thing" (for this model at least). There is a known way to jiggle the button near the counter and the funny button near the VF to release it.
It worked, and I had to do it again later.... is there something I might be doing wrong to jam it in the first place? I did read that if I release the shutter button before the shutter had closed (as in long exposure) it could jam it.... I can avoid that... any others?

 

[David_Mug]

I have a Retina Ia. I don't know if it is the same as the Ib but this does happen due to the film transport design.
When loading a film the counter has to be set to a diamond shaped mark just beyond 36 or 20 depending on the number of exposures on the film.
The exposed leader can be wound off by winding on and firing the shutter until 36 or 20 shows on the counter or winding and pressing the film release button instead of the shutter release.
When the counter reaches 0 the wind on will lock ready for the film to be rewound. It can be freed by pressing the film release button.
Maybe when you are firing the camera the counter is getting to 0 and locking the mechanism?
The film release button is intended to allow you to rewind a film before it is finished to change to another. The original can be reloaded later and wound on to the next empty frame by repeated winding on and pressing the release button - it overrides the double exposure prevention on the shutter release.
Do you have a manual for your camera? If not try Butkus - a great resource.
Good luck with the Retina, they are lovely cameras.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

It worked, and I had to do it again later.... is there something I might be doing wrong to jam it in the first place? I did read that if I release the shutter button before the shutter had closed (as in long exposure) it could jam it.... I can avoid that... any others?

I seem to have been very lucky with my 1B, I never had any problems at all.

I think of "B" series Retinas as the poor man's Leica; the bright line finder was nearly as good as the one on my Leica M3...

 

[Cluster]

When the counter reaches 0 the wind on will lock ready for the film to be rewound. It can be freed by pressing the film release button.

Thanks for the pointers... I hadn't thought of the count-down frame counter locking the mechanism when getting to zero, even though I have a couple of other cameras that do this.

 

[Cluster]

I had a chance to run a film through my new-to-me Retina Ib. It was fine. The winder issue is not faulty, it's as David_Mugg had suggested, the end of the frame count where the shutter/winder is disabled when the film frame count is finished.... I didn't set it correctly to start with and it appeared to stop/lock-up in the wrong place.
It's my first Retina and is a very nicely made camera from the 50's.

​