Hey there,
I recently aquired a Zeiss Ikon Moviflex MS8 Electronic. When shooting in "automatic" mode, the aperture dial on the side of the camera stays at f45. I'm able to manually set the f-stop & lock it in place using the cable release mechanism, as the instructions indicate.
However, looking into the lens, the iris doesn't appear to move... the opening is very small.
and as soon as I revert to manual mode, the dial moves back to 45.
I showed it to a local camera dealer. He said it looks like the aperture may be stuck, perhaps a small bit of rust, or maybe the lubrication is gummed up due to prolonged non-use. He suggested I put it out in the sun for a few hours, & maybe that would loosen it up. He also suggested trying some lithium batteries to give it an extra boost.
I'm also wondering if the auto-fade button might be stuck somehow, causing the aperture to stay closed.
My knowledge of how cameras work is pretty limited, so I hope I'm stating all the information correctly here.
Anyways, if anybody has any thoughts on what might be going on with this camera, i'd appreciate it... I really hope I can get it working, it seems like a nice camera