1. Bronica Sq Ai Body Only

Start and End serial numbers are from Nikon Ai conversion lists, service manuals, catalogues and various books. The Earliest and Latest serial numbers are from lenses I have seen. They help confirm the Start and End numbers or indicate the range where the Start and End numbers are unknown.

Hi, I can't find an answer to this: maybe it's buried among posts where people have the opposite problem. My SQ-AI and SQ-I back used to work perfectly, but now I can release the back even without the darkslide in place. When the darkslide is in, the camera won't fire and the red light comes on, so that's working normally.

Is this a problem with the camera or the back? Looking at the back of the camera, there's a pin bottom left by the release button. It can be pushed in, but it springs back. Looking at the back (film side towards me), there's a pin bottom right (that mates to the one bottom left of the camera). With the darkslide in, the pin pushes out towards me. It retracts when I remove the slide. Hoping I can sort this out as the back release button is very easily engaged when handholding!

Based on my SQ-A - with the film back off, you should not be able to push in the back release button, unless you also push in the silvery interlock pin at the lower left of the camera body (viewed from the rear). If, with the back off, you can operate the back release without fiddling with the interlock, something is likely amiss in the body. I suppose it could be gunk impeding motion somewhere.

Either the body side of the interlock doesn't have enough spring tension to keep the interlock pin pushed outward, or the matching interlock on the film back is too stiff (or bent) to retract when the dark slide is out. Edit: Just after I wrote. I must have done something to put both parts out of kilter.

I removed the base of the camera with the back off. Some unscientific fiddling must have freed up the mechanism, and the release started working (i.e., remaining in position). So it does work like your SQ-A. Thanks again, Dave, for the tip!

Bronica Sq Ai Body Only

I then took removed the base of the back (the part with the serial number on). The piece of metal that engages with the projection on the darkslide isn't fixed to anything (it will fall out), and it looks to have got jammed under the pivoted arm. I can now see why kludges in place of the missing battery holder may only work for a while.

The base of the battery chamber will flex (hence the need for a solid holder to insert). So I may just run some wires to an external battery taped to the side of the camera. It's good to hear that brunico's problem may have been resolved. They are great cameras when they work, but for those of us who have bought used ones relatively recently and have no prior experience, threads such as this one may be part of the knowledge base we need to build up. I've had two problems with SQ-As, the first was a light leak in a back, which wasn't all that difficult to solve by replacing the foam seals.

The other was the cable release (which is mechanical on the SQ and SQ-A) stopped working, and over a few more shots, even the release button on the front stopped working. It's probably just a CLA type of problem, as the lens, back and finder were OK on another body. I actually acquired two additional bodies after that incident, in order to have a spare. At $80 or $90 apiece, it seemed the most effective solution.

So now I have almost three cameras worth of components to do substitution for trouble shooting. Some rainy or snowy day I have nothing to do (ha!) I may try and open up the unhappy body.