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General Vintage Technology Discussions For general discussions about vintage radio and other vintage electronics etc. |
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7th Sep 2013, 10:47 pm | #1 |
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Has anyone here attempted Camera repair before?
One of my other hobbies is vintage photography, my main weapon of choice being a 1967 Zorki 4 that I revived with a bit of tlc, I do own many other cameras aswell and try to use all of them atleast once however a few have broken down so I was wondering if anyone here might have perhaps repaired cameras in the past or still do and can give me some good pointers?
The two I plan to repair are a black Zenit E olympic edition that has had its shutter come adrift meaning only one curtain moves across when the shutter is cocked and the other a Konica C35 that was bought for where the Zorki was just too bulky to use, I dont know whats up in this one but the timer is jammed on, the shutter is cocked and will not realese and the doesnt seem to be any response when powered, I do have a possible donor for this one as I found a scrapper cheap. |
7th Sep 2013, 10:56 pm | #2 |
Octode
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Location: Worcestershire, UK.
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Re: Has anyone here attempted Camera repair before?
That's a coincidence, I was just considering having a poke around in a Leica 2f with a sticky shutter! Haven't been inside a camera before but apparently this job is fairly easy, with care! What concerns me most is chewing screw heads or slipping with a screw driver and gouging a visible surface.
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7th Sep 2013, 11:12 pm | #3 |
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Re: Has anyone here attempted Camera repair before?
Leica I would be dead careful with as that really is a good piece of kit with the price tag to match, I can only dream about owning one, for now I just have to make do with the distant clone cousins made from Soviet pilfered tools and plans.
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7th Sep 2013, 11:21 pm | #4 |
Dekatron
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Re: Has anyone here attempted Camera repair before?
I think forum member camtechman has done some work on cameras -- might be worth dropping him a PM.
Having established contact by PM, it's polite to share anything that might be interesting to other members in the main forum.
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7th Sep 2013, 11:31 pm | #5 |
Dekatron
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Re: Has anyone here attempted Camera repair before?
I have little experience with still camera shutters however I have repaired quite a few CCTV lenses back in the 1980s.
They are constructed with threaded rings with two notches that are used in order to rotate them so that the lens can be dismantled. They are very fiddly things to work on and a magnifier will be essential for the job. |
7th Sep 2013, 11:46 pm | #6 |
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Re: Has anyone here attempted Camera repair before?
It's worth doing an internet search for repairing your camera. I recently inherited an early Pentax Spotmatic (as it turned out, the one with the radioactive lens) that had a sticky shutter, and found a web site with step-by-step instructions on how to dismantle it and exactly which gear needed its lubricant replacing to fix the problem. It only took about 10 mins. I also found out how to dismantle to lens, necessary in my case to tighten up a loose element rather than to remove mould, a not uncommon problem.
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7th Sep 2013, 11:53 pm | #7 |
Octode
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Re: Has anyone here attempted Camera repair before?
Interesting, I have a Spotmatic too, have never heard of this radioactive lens thing! Whats the story?
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8th Sep 2013, 2:31 am | #8 |
Dekatron
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Re: Has anyone here attempted Camera repair before?
Loose elements were the most common reason for me to dive into lenses in my CCTV days.
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8th Sep 2013, 2:51 am | #9 |
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Re: Has anyone here attempted Camera repair before?
Better lens manufacturers would use expensive low dispersion rare-earth glass containing Uranium and other rare elements in faster lenses. This was most common in the 60s and 70s. Lenses containing Uranium are radioactive at a low level and interestingly the glass can yellow with age but from my experience, this doesn't seem to affect the colour balance of the image. These lenses can be worth significantly more to both users and collectors as they were expensive new and therefore rarer now. In the 1980s Uranium was substituted for other elements in low dispersion glass manufacture so later LD or ED lenses tend not to yellow.
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8th Sep 2013, 3:00 am | #10 |
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Join Date: Apr 2011
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Re: Has anyone here attempted Camera repair before?
I should mention that I would be wary of trying to service or repair a camera of any significant value or complexity as it can be a minefield for the un-trained. Just dismantling the top and bottom plates of some cameras incorrectly can see a shower of minuscule parts over the floor. Not so much of a worry on something costing 20 pounds but on something worth hundreds it can see you ruining a nice machine. Usually renewing light seals is as far as I would go - a fiddly but relatively easy job. Rangefinders are sometimes user adjustable also. I would leave anything more complex to a technician and preferably one originally trained in the specific make / model.
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8th Sep 2013, 7:59 am | #11 |
Pentode
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Re: Has anyone here attempted Camera repair before?
I've previously had two film camera lenses fail, a Mamiya TLR Sekor 55mm with a jammed shutter, and a Schneider Super-Angulon 65mm wide angle used with my Toyo 45a 4x5 camera, with a sticky shutter. After reading various tales re soaking in lighter fluid to fix, the dismantling concerned me. I had both repaired at Black on White in Bristol, http://www.bonwcameras.co.uk/services.html, an excellent service. The last repair was around 7 years back and was about £50.00 then. If the camera's have a low replacement value, then there's no harm done researching and attempting to fix yourself. If all fails there's nothing lost.
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8th Sep 2013, 9:52 am | #12 | |
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Re: Has anyone here attempted Camera repair before?
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8th Sep 2013, 10:00 am | #13 | ||
Octode
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Re: Has anyone here attempted Camera repair before?
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I can say there is one classic camera I would never even contemplate approaching with a screwdriver, that is the Contax I, II & III. They make Leica's seem simple!
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8th Sep 2013, 11:32 am | #14 |
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Re: Has anyone here attempted Camera repair before?
Sorry folks, but this subject is off topic for this forum.
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