Spotmatic Light Seals

[martinsmith99]

I won my 1st Spotmatic on the auctions site and after fixing an initial problem with a sticky shutter (thanks Peter) I want to restore it to a working camera.

I've seen a seller on the bay selling kits for light seal replacement. As I have none of the equipment to get me started, I was thinking of buying this Click here to see on Ebay.

Does anyone have any experience with these kits? Are there better ones?

Thanks

[peterqd]

Martin, I bought a seal kit from Jon Goodman in Texas, mainly because he does the pre-cut strips for the door seals, which are not self-adhesive. The kit you found looks OK but I'm worried about you cutting and inserting self-adhesive foam in the door seals - it will be very tricky! I've done about 6 or 7 cameras with the one kit and I still have enough left for 3 or 4 more.
This is the one I got: Click here to see on Ebay but I think he does a smaller kit and he's very helpful if you have any questions.

For the door seals I actually think the Praktica way is better, using a black yarn. I've never looked for any but I think it's a better idea. You'd need to get just the right thickness.

[peterqd]

Here's another couple of links you might find helpful:

Classic Camera Repair Forum: http://www.kyphoto.com/cgi-bin/forum/discus.cgi

Yahoo Spotmatic Group: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Spotmatic/

[Rob Leslie]

There may be much better but for a simple job just use the light seals from used 35mm film canisters. You can get as many as you like free from any store photo lab.

[estudleon]

[peterqd]

[Sevo]

Everybody in the camera industry used felt and wool up until after WWII, when neoprene and PUR foam became generally available. Replacing one with the other is usually impossible, though - old style light traps designed for wool threads are deeper and more narrow than these for neoprene strips.

[Nesster]

I bought Goodman's small kit, and so far have re-sealed ... 5 cameras? and still have material left for more. Excellent seller, he's got enough detailed instructions for several cameras that even if yours isn't there you know what to do.

[martinsmith99]

I bought the Goodman kit. I did email him and ask if he had the smaller kits but no reply so I went ahead with the larger kit.

The mirror buffer concerns me the most. At least I don't have to worry about removing much of the old one as it's pretty much non-existent.

[Nesster]

The mirror buffer's not all that bad, really - it can be a bit awkward because you want to hold the camera so the old stuff doesn't fall into it. If some does fall in, better on the bottom than on the focus screen... I've had to replace something like 3 mirror foams, and none caused me any problems.


Re-sealing is truly doable, fun even.

[martinsmith99]

One thing I forgot to ask, is as these seals come without glue, what glue is recommended?

[peterqd]

You don't need any adhesive Martin. The instructions you've seen on Jon Goodman's site explain this fully. The pre-cut door seal strips do not need adhesive, they are pushed into the slots. The other seals have a self-adhesive backing. He recommends dampening the adhesive with your tongue to allow for initial adjustment and then as it dries the bond becomes stronger.

[martinsmith99]

Doh! Thanks again. I think today is stupid question day.

My excuse is, I'm at work so haven't got the instructions you sent me.

[Nesster]

All instructions here:
http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/sealreplacement.html

[martinsmith99]