The shutter release itself was not operative due to quite a bit of corrosion inside the camera. 

The arrow points to a rod that had siezed.
The Italian Rectaflex was one of the first 35mm single lens reflex cameras available on the open market.  I can only think of the Kine Exacta and possibly one of the Alpas as being either earlier or contemporary.  I'd have to get off my butt and look it up, however I'm sure someone will fill me in on the details.  I enjoyed working on this camera very much.  Like many early 35mm cameras, it had its own unique solutions to common design issues.

Satoshi: Apart from the usual focus, fungus, lube and adjustment issues, this camera had one major problem.  It had no operating shutter.  The - at least once already replaced - shutter curtains had come off their rollers and required rebuilding.  I did this camera some months before writing this, but I do recall it came up rather well.  The only bad bits I remember were one or two broken or screws, one of which had been drilled out previously.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was very impressed with the first true jeweled escapement (left)  I'd ever seen in a camera. (Or did I see one in an Alpa 6?)

Below, the modern modular construction is obvious with the mirror/prism box removed.  In the background, the machined film guides are visible.
Here we can see the straps entangled around the take up rollers.  This was something of a mess.

 

 

 

 

This is of course the broken shutter.  Here I've already unjammed and unraveled the blinds and straps ready for reassembly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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All material Copyright Robert Ian Axford   

And in these last two pics we have the shutter rebuilt and running very nicely again.  I was able to get a decent set of speeds out of this shutter with some tweaking.