Vivitar v3800n problems!

[plainoldme]

February 27, 2011 at 1:57 am

Hi guys,

Have a problem with two vivitar film cameras, both of which seem to be presenting the same problem. With both the film advance level is now stuck and will only move about 1/4 of the way forward, and the shutter will also not reopen!
With one of these it happened right in the middle of shooting, with no seeming rhyme or reason to it, and to the other camera happened with the first try of a cable release with the camera!

I haven’t a damn clue whats happened or how to fix it,

Has anyone got any suggestions?? Is this common??

Thanks guys :)

[Dermot1]

February 27, 2011 at 3:37 am

got this from fixya and it seems your not the first to suffer this problem

This is very common on the 3800n and is usually the result of a stripped or broken plastic gear in the winding mechanism.

The 3800N is very cheaply made so this is not too surprising, and unfortunately the camera has absolutely no spares support at all. Repairs are usually possible using either spares from other cameras or by fabricating new parts, but totally uneconomic when you can obtain a proper Pentax/Ricoh 35mm SLR for cheap/free on auction sites and on FreeCycle. Although they’ll be much older, they’re far better built than the 3800N and there are plenty of perfectly good examples which usually only need new batteries and maybe new foam lightseals (a common DIY job).