Saved!

[Mitica100]

The other day I 'saved' an old Konica 35 from extinction. It was in such a bad shape that I had doubts whether it's going to make it or not. But...

A few hours of work put into disassembling the shutter and working on cleaning as well as the covering (black leatherette) and it's back to 'normal'. It's a Leica copy (of sorts) and not too badly put together. A nice piece of glass complements it (Hexanon 50/2.8 in a rim set shutter).

Here are some pics:

 

[hobbes28]

MmMMmMmMMm that's a nice looking camera.

 

[terri]

Don't mind me....I always cry at happy endings.....



Looks like you did a great job here, Mitica - beautiful camera! :thumbup:

 

[Mitica100]

Thanks Terri and Hobbes, yes, it's a beautiful baby. It's been neglected for many, many years and the old oil inside the shutter was gunked and sticky. A little Naphta and some blowing made the shutter purr like a kitten in love. The rangefinder was out of synch but I found how to fix it and did so.

I love working on simple (mechanically speaking) German cameras like Leica/Zeiss/Voigtländer and on occasional Japanese ones. It is not as complicated as it seems.

Hey, maybe we could have a special sub-thread on camera repair...

 

[terri]

Hey, maybe we could have a special sub-thread on camera repair...

Dude. You ARE the sub-thread on camera repair!

Seriously, I think it's awesome how much you've obviously learned, just in the last several months you've really taken an interest in it. :thumbup: Some of these well-built babies just suffer from lack of use, it seems. It must be a great feeling to restore them to their original beauty!

 

[Karalee]

Oh my gosh its beautiful!!! Did you take before pics? I cant wait to see what it can do

Ive taken to collecting a few cameras myself lately, but dont tell the hubby.... its a secret

 

[Mitica100]

Oh my gosh its beautiful!!! Did you take before pics? I cant wait to see what it can do

Ive taken to collecting a few cameras myself lately, but dont tell the hubby.... its a secret

I wish I had... D'uh! Well, next camera I'll save.





PS I won't tell your hubby if you don't tell my wife! :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

 

[hobbes28]

I like repairing simple mechanisms too... but more like the Brownie Box Camera variety.

There's no hiding my collection fever from my wife, they're all over my desk. :lmao:

 

[Karalee]

Ive just learnt to say "I bought that ages ago honey.... remember?"

Even if I did just pull it out of the box it arrived in this morning

 

[Mitica100]

Ive just learnt to say "I bought that ages ago honey.... remember?"

Even if I did just pull it out of the box it arrived in this morning

Great! A line which will be used by me from now on...

 

[kemplefan]

cool camera i realy like the look of that

 

[nealjpage]

I'd be very interested in following camera repair. I've got an old Pax that won't focus and an old...something else that won't trip the shutter when the button is pushed. My grandfather brought both back from Japan after the Korean war, so I'd like to get the working again.

 

[Mitica100]

I'd be very interested in following camera repair. I've got an old Pax that won't focus and an old...something else that won't trip the shutter when the button is pushed. My grandfather brought both back from Japan after the Korean war, so I'd like to get the working again.

Camera repair is an awesome hobby. At least for me...

Anyway, you can start taking apart cheapies you find at Salvation Army stores near you. You'll need some good tools like:

-good set of jewelers screwdrivers;
-long nosed tweezers and micro pliers;
-magnifying glasses;
-good source of white light;
-a good and large white towel to work on (this way the little screws that come lose don't bounce all over the table);
-a bottle of Naphta or old-style (wick) lighter fluid;
-alcohol (the 90% type);
-cotton swabs;
-microfiber lens cloth;
-a spanner wrench to be able to open lenses;
-and you can make some of the tools you need as well.

A very good source of tools is http://www.microtools.com

Then you'll need patience and willingness to learn from mistakes. A digital camera is also welcome so you take shots of every step of the disassembly so you'll know in the end how to re-assemble it. A notebook is also welcome to write in every step.

If you post a picture of the two cameras I might be able to tell you what you might need to do and how.

 

[Karalee]

:shock: do you use the lighter fluid and alcohol for cleaning? Actually if you dont mind I need a few tips on cleaning the exterior of my new argus c-3 :mrgreen: I tried giving it a once over with windex and a toothbrush but that didnt remove much of the dirtyness.

Suggestions?

 

[Mitica100]

:shock: do you use the lighter fluid and alcohol for cleaning? Actually if you dont mind I need a few tips on cleaning the exterior of my new argus c-3 :mrgreen: I tried giving it a once over with windex and a toothbrush but that didnt remove much of the dirtyness.

Suggestions?

Yes, I do. Lighter fluid is for cleaning the shutter mechanism and alcohol is for cleaning the external metal parts. Lens is to be gently cleaned with special lens-cleaning fluid and leather I do clean with cotton swabs dipped into Windex. What color of leatherette is your C-3? Some came in tan and most came in black. You have two options here, especially if it's black. Clean as much as you can with Windex dipped cotton swabs, let dry for 24 hrs. Now apply a very good black shoe polish with a soft bristle brush, let dry and buff it. The other option is to replace the leatherette completely with new one. The way I work with that is by cleaning the old leatherette, to bare metal. Then making a template with the help of masking tape, cut the template and glue it carefully to the body. I have recovered many a camera this way, there's no way of telling if it's not the original leatherette. I even covered a Leica IIIc.