Three more rangefinders repaired

[luisalegria]

Too many ebay cameras are sold in uncertain condition. So many of these turn up with serious problems that, perhaps, it pays to learn to be your own camera repairman. I have been acquiring interesting cameras in "for parts or repair" deliberately, just to see what I can make of them.

Some new ones, fixed, more or less -

Kodak Retina IIa

One of the classic Kodak Retina folders, this version had an excellent f/2 Schneider Xenon. With the rangefinder and a Synchro-Compur shutter, thats a lot of camera in a tiny package, and a superbly made little jewel besides. Not the easiest camera to work on however.



This one came to me with the seller acknowledging a stuck advance lever. This is a common symptom of this type, the usual problem being caused by a stuck shutter. Maybe the good old squirt with lighter fluid would give me a neat camera for a bargain price. Not quite.

The repair of this thing turned into a nightmare, which I should have anticipated. Not only was the shutter stuck, but the cocking rack (the geared part that is part of the linkage chain that cocks the shutter) was displaced - though fortunately not broken, as is common on this type.

The Synchro Compur is a complex shutter and quite resistant to the lighter fluid treatment, and also its one of those that has bits that must be aligned carefully when they go back together, as they want to settle in unfortunate alignments otherwise.

The real problem thought was reassembly, as the design of these Retinas has all the mechanical systems interlinking and if not, getting in each others way. To reset the cocking rack for instance you have to remove both the shutter and the rangefinder ! And then one has to realign everything just so, or multiple systems fail. I spent a couple of weeks on this thing.

Never again. As Retinas go I'm sticking to the I's. These are, by comparison, dead simple.

This gent has an invaluable set of repair tips for these and the other %#!@$% Retinas, I couldn't have done this without his help -

http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~Srawhiti/index.html

Aires IIIL

Aires was an interesting Japanese camera company, that disappeared about 1961 or so, as best I can tell. They made a series of rather impressive leaf-shutter rangefinders in the 1950's, many of which had a certain look that reminds people of Leica M's, Zeiss Contax or Nikon S, etc.



Their lens brand was "Coral", and oddly enough it has a great reputation, among people who have tried them, some people have compared them to Konica Hexanons.

This guy is quite enthusiastic -

http://photo.net/classic-cameras-forum/00TLFY

The IIIL dates to about 1958, has the Coral f/1.9 lens and a Seikosha shutter, but has a linked EV-sytem settings for speeds and aperture. Its not a real problem setting the aperture and speed you want, it just takes some getting used to. Other Aires models didn't have this system.

I actually aquired two Aires IIIL's, both defective. One had a couple of broken aperture blades, so I took its aperture rings, etc to replace those on the other unit which were very badly brassed. I also had to drill and tap screw holes as a previous owner had managed to break off two screws on the bottom plate. And of course lighter fluid, rangefinder setting, etc. Not really a hard camera to work on except if you have to get to the aperture blades, as the shutter has to be removed and the ring to do so is very hard to get to.

Yashica Lynx 14E

THE fixed lens rangefinder camera, in many peoples opinions. The f/1.4 lens is almost unique in thei class of camera. This plus the leaf shutter and heavy weight give it great potential as a low-light camera. These are certainly not rare nor are they really expensive, a working one can certainly be had for less than $100.



This one had a stuck shutter (of course), stuck aperture, loose lens barrel, dim and dirty finder, and incredibly corroded battery compartment/electronics.

Lighter fluid and reassembly fixed all the lens and shutter problems. One common fault of this, which this one had, is an aperture linkage that easily gets displaced.

The corrosion was the worst problem. I cleaned out most of it, but the various wires inside and maybe the lightmeter may be toast. I certainly don't have them working. A pity, as this model has an interesting projected "heads up display"in the finder.

I actually have another 14e, which has been dropped and has both a warped lens barrel and a displaced name ring thats resisting removal. Thats the only way to begin disassembly infortunately. Its going to be a mess to fix that. Maybe I'll transfer the electrical stuff over.

All the Yashica rangefinders seem to be quite easy to work on.

To give some idea of the size of the Lynx 14E -

[Big Dawg]

Good work and some sweet lookin' cameras.

[ludoo]

Great job on these cameras. I too had started dabbling with repairs, but little time and an extra job made me stop. I still have a couple rangefinders to reassemble in my closet.

Ad for the Yashica, can't you just replace the wires? You'd need to dismantle it again, but it should be a pretty straightforward job provided you have soldering experience.