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What is inside your "to fix" drawer?
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PostPosted: Mon May 10, 2010 12:34 pm    Post subject: What is inside your "to fix" drawer? Reply with quote

Reading Carsten's post on how he fixed his EOS 50e reminded me of all the pieces of gear I have in various stages of repair, and conforted me somehow as it seems I'm not the only one who keeps half-working cameras seemingly forever in the hope of managing to repair them someday.

So I decided to ask you all what is inside your "to fix" drawer(s), and how long have those cameras/lenses been there. Maybe painful, but take this as hope for a future resurrection of most of your broken gear. Smile

What I have, off the top of my mind (it's probably more)

* Olympus 35S-II, I cut and replaced the beamsplitter mirror and reglued most of the RF lenses after the mess left by the previous owner; I've been working on this camera for the past 3 months, a half hour every 2-3 weeks, now I only have to recalibrate the RF (not easy after most of its components were displaced and reglued)

* Jupiter-9, what started as a simple fix (tighten an inner ring) evolved into a huge mess, when I found out that the screw used to transmit aperture was stripped and I had to drill it; in the end my dentist gave me some tiny screws and I managed to cold-solder one; now I only have to reassemble it hoping it'll work

* Contax II, it has been sitting idle for 6 months; the shutter ribbons are broken and, while I got Arsenal replacements from Oleg, I am lacking the energy to tackle this project; its collapsible Tessar needs some attention too as it's full of fungus;

* Contax Sonnar 50/2 collapsible; got this as damaged and it is indeed damaged, with encrusted front and back lenses; it does not help that I managed to add a scratch of my own; will have to dismantle it and try to find some acid the remove the stuff on the glass without damaging it; if I ever find the motivation;

* Rikenon 50/1.7, have to open the rear group and clean a thick film of dust; the problem is, I have no idea how to open it. Smile

* Polaroid Land Camera 100 Automatic, just finished converting it to 3xAAA batteries, but the bellows are shot and I have to make new ones; I have most of the materials and hope to get it done soon

* Olympus Pen D, got this as broken for a song, it turns out everything works but the shutter is gummy and needs a cleaning; I also have to find a small screw which is missing from the top plate

* Voigtlander Vito B large viewfinder, needs a good shutter flush

* Agfa Super Solinette #2, shutter won't stay cocked, have to disassemble and check what's wrong; then it'll need the usual vf/rf cleaning and adjustment

* Agfa Super Solinette #1, cleaned shutter but still have to fine tune rf alignment

* 5 or 6 Vitomatic bodies (IIa, IIb, IIcs) none of which is fully working, which I'll have to dismount and combine into a couple of working cameras

* Agfa Karat 36, needs to have the lens dampening grease replaced, but as the front element is badly scratched I'll probably never get around to doing it

* Agfa Selectronic S, have to check if the shutter is working at all speeds, probably needs to have a capacitor replaced, another hopeless project

And last week, recognizing I'd never have the time and probably the skills for them, I brought my 3xAutoreflex TC to my repairman to fix.

I did not list the obviously broken stuff I keep hidden in various corners of the house. Smile

What about you?


Last edited by ludoo on Mon May 10, 2010 12:40 pm; edited 2 times in total


PostPosted: Mon May 10, 2010 12:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Two Zeiss Super Ikonta 532/16 with the 80/2.8 Opton-Tessar. They've been at a camera repairman for 3 years now... I'm thinking I should pick them up and finish the work myself, but I do not know what the stage of disassembly of them is at the moment.


PostPosted: Mon May 10, 2010 12:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Esox lucius wrote:
Two Zeiss Super Ikonta 532/16 with the 80/2.8 Opton-Tessar. They've been at a camera repairman for 3 years now... I'm thinking I should pick them up and finish the work myself, but I do not know what the stage of disassembly of them is at the moment.


3 years??? I'd go and get them before the repairman closes shop and your cameras disappear. Smile


PostPosted: Mon May 10, 2010 12:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ludoo wrote:
3 years??? I'd go and get them before the repairman closes shop and your cameras disappear. Smile


I wouldn't worry about that... He is well-known among vintage camera enthusiasts in this area for his quality work which takes a lot of time Laughing Laughing Laughing


PostPosted: Mon May 10, 2010 1:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ludoo wrote:
3 years??? I'd go and get them before the repairman closes shop and your cameras disappear. Smile


That happened to my mother. Sad By the time she found out that the shop was closed up, the cameras (bags of unassembled parts from what I hear) were all gone.


PostPosted: Mon May 10, 2010 10:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, in my current "to fix asap" box, i actually have a Tessar 50/2.8, a Flek 35/2.4 (not one of mines), two Domiplans, a Steinheil 135/3.5 and a Tamron 135/2.5 ...


PostPosted: Tue May 11, 2010 12:55 am    Post subject: Re: What is inside your "to fix" drawer? Reply with quote

ludoo wrote:
I did not list the obviously broken stuff I keep hidden in various corners of the house. Smile


You should list those too! Very Happy

In my opinion, at least for me, there is a slim difference between the "hope to fix someday" and "non-functional display" categories. Who knows when you will run out of time, or have your interests change, and find that cameras are quickly migrating back and forth between the two?

I pretty much consider my display shelf to be the "inbox"... if I look at a camera long enough, I might just try to run a roll of film through it to see what happens. Wink


PostPosted: Tue May 11, 2010 3:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yashica Electro 35 (electronics issue?)
Praktica LTL 3 (light leak)
Fujica ST605 (probably just needs seals and bumper)


PostPosted: Tue May 11, 2010 6:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ludo, that's a looong list!

I have some items that queue up to be repaired...

- I still want to have my QBM Rolleinar 2.8/28 focusing to infinity on a 5D.
- I have got a very nice QBM Rollei 80-200 that needs to be mounted to EOS.
- I have a fascinating Mamiya Ruby 35. I was able to fix the aperture and speed ring and it seemed to work, but yesterday I realized that the shutter does not work. Sad
- I have a Yashica-24 with a non-working shutter. What a shame.

There are some other projects and I am rather pessimistic...


PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2010 4:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For repair:
Agfa Record II needing the lens de-gummed and new bellows. It's so pretty just sitting there (looks like new) but really needs to be sorted out.

Braun Paxette - the winder jammed and the spring sprung out and sproinged.

Kodak 3A Autographic - needs bellows repaired or replaced. I found a guy with a stock of new Kodak bellows, but he stopped communication suddenly.

Polaroid 110A - pinholed bellows; possibly repairable and the camera is lined up for a rollfilm conversion, although I might make it a simple 4x5 back.

Various old enlarger and LF lenses to strip and clean. The most interesting is the Eurynar 18cm which is stuck solid and I can't get it apart.


PostPosted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 7:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, an Astro Berlin Fernbildlinse 1000/6.3 remains long inactive in my basement due to a damaged focusing helicoid, I need to have this one fixed. Same problem with a Tewe Telon 600/5.
I had contacted a few repairmen both locally as well as in Europe but nobody appeared willing to even try touching those two old guns... I somehow suspect I could do better myself, I just need to find some free time.


PostPosted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 7:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have at least 30-40 lens what need to fix it Laughing and some cameras too.


PostPosted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 11:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My biggest problem is to fix an Canon EOS 1000D which got an Error 99 during my examination of the inner parts - before I disassembled the camera it works fine :-/
That camera is in my photo tinker board since ~ 4 months.

Some cheap manual lenses (for example a Tokina 200/4) with fungus are waiting for documentation and perhaps cleaning or experimentation. I want to make further stacked macro images of fungus, like this one: http://www.4photos.de/camera-diy/Glaspilz-Linse.jpg
These lenses are waiting some months.
A Fujinon EBC 50/1.8 i bought some weeks ago with some other equipment on the flea market has probably very early fungus - I have to check that under my microscop - if so I want to observe the fungus growing.

A Zenzazon 80/2.8 which I cleand from fungus is still waiting for further use, for example as a Tilt / Shift lens.
A Canon FD 20/2.8 is lying around, perhaps with hope to get a wideangle macro lens. I think I opend that lens some 4 months ago.

A cheap tripod waits to be more reducted - I play around with it to get it lightwight. That is not a "serious" project, I bought that tripod on the flea market, found it not usabel - but not sellable too. I think that is 5 months lying around and collecting dust.
A Tokina 80-200/2.8 is waiting to be converted to Canon EF - that lens is there some 1-2 years.

Some futher lenses are fragmented, and waiting for further experiments.

I bought a mini lathe a week ago (I got it cheap), now I plan to get some experience with that with the adaption of some cheap lenses, and then I could plan to buy and adapt the Canon FD 85/1.2 and 24/1.4 Smile


PostPosted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 11:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll add to my list a Voigtlander Color Ultron 50/1.8 which had a non-working aperture. I disassembled it a couple of nights ago and took pics while disassembling, only to discover later that there was no memory card in the camera. Doh!

Now I have a 3D crosswords puzzle on my hands...


PostPosted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 11:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ludoo wrote:
I'll add to my list a Voigtlander Color Ultron 50/1.8 which had a non-working aperture. I disassembled it a couple of nights ago and took pics while disassembling, only to discover later that there was no memory card in the camera. Doh!

Now I have a 3D crosswords puzzle on my hands...


Whooops!! Smile


PostPosted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 3:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

CZJ 135/3.5 Zebra, sticky iris.

Contax 50/1.7, sticky iris.

Minolta MC Rokkor PG, 50/1.4 - convert to EOS mount

Minolta MD Rokkor, 28/3.5 - cleaning first then convert to EOS mount

Contax G 90/2.8 - convert (a la Koji's instructions) to EOS mount


PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 2:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yashica Electro 35 (seals, electrics; I would ship it to someone who wants to fix it)

Praktica LTL 3 (CLA, seals; I would ship it to someone who wants to fix it)

Pentacon 50/1.8 (aperture inoperable; not worth repairing; I won't throw it away because I might get another Pentacon and might need parts)

Fujica ST605 (CLA, seals; this one is worth repairing and keeping)

Super Takumar 55/2 with very stiff aperture movement in f11 and f16; it works but is no fun to use.


PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 6:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Carl Zeiss Jena 300/4 Prakticar PB-mount lens is being converted to m42 permanently. I am not yet sure if I have the energy to enable the aperture mechanism or not (as I don't really plan to shoot at other than wide open apertures). The conversion may even allow me to reach infinity, depending a bit on what parts I end up using in the finnished product Smile

I also have about 3-4 lenses opened up with the sole purpouse of ending up as spares and parts for projects like the one above.