I have an Iloca Rapid B 35 mm camera in A-1 shape and just shot a roll of film with not one exposure. There are three settings marked V, X & M and I assumed they were all flash synch settings. I found out the hard way that when set on V the shutter doesn't function. Does anyone know what it's for? Harv.

-- Harv Jenkins (hjenkins@prcn.org), July 02, 2001

Answers

The V setting is the self-timer or delayed action. On most leaf shutters, you have to set the 'V' position before you cock the shutter, otherwise it doesn't work, and it may even damage the mechanism. It's quite common for these settings not to work on old cameras. They get used so infrequently that the mechanism simply seizes up.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), July 03, 2001.

V is for self timer, X is for electronic flash sync, and M is for magnesium bulb flash sync

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), July 06, 2001.