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What did you fix today? (part 2)
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I had some fun tinkering with an Olympus 35RC so I picked up a cheap (broken) 35DC because I liked the lens on it. The VF/RF windows had been smashed, so I found an even cheaper more broken DC but with its top plate and windows intact to use as a salvage carcass. Turned out the damage extended to the interior VF lens, but fortunately my parts carcass had a good looking VF unit. On these cameras the VF/RF mechanisms are in a single block casting so, three screws unscrewed and it lifted right out. Did the swap without damaging any of the rat's nest of wires and put the replacement top on and it all works. The RF lateral alignment screw seems to be jammed and I don't really want to go in and remove that block again. But the hyperfocal distance on this thing is 15 feet, so eminently useable without using the rangefinder. I doubt that I'll shoot with it much, though--the main lesson learned is that I don't like a camera with no manual override. The RC is much more to my liking as a shooter.
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I've refreshed the case of my Topcon-35L which was starting to disintegrate.
Partially disassembled this Kodak Timer. Apparently this one took a tumble as the framework was pushed inward when winding key hit the floor, misaligning the main spring and dial shafts.
Bent the frame back into shape a bit, and the overwound spring immediatly set off driving the clockwork.
Didn't stop until 30 hours later.
Another part of my US Army Portable Darkroom kit completed.
I've been tinkering a bit on a few cameras lately with some successes and a few botched attempts.
Even if it hardly qualifies as repair, today I am happy as I picked up an Isolette I in very good conditions (Jsolette, actually) with a solinar lens with stuck focus and managed to clean and put it back to work. Focus should be fine according to the ground glass used to align it - and the bellows seem surprisingly free of pinholes, though only a roll of film will tell on both the latter statements.
Even if it hardly qualifies as repair, today I am happy as I picked up an Isolette I in very good conditions (Jsolette, actually) with a solinar lens with stuck focus and managed to clean and put it back to work. Focus should be fine according to the ground glass used to align it - and the bellows seem surprisingly free of pinholes, though only a roll of film will tell on both the latter statements.
Ground glass (and loupe?) is unlikely to give you a good enough idea. Here is a better way of doing it:
Mike Elek: Lens collimating
How to check infinity focus?
<p>Hi, I have several vintage 6x9 format folding cameras. Most of them can only do scale focus, meaning that you estimate the distance to the target, and adjust the focusing ring of the lens accordingly.</p> <p>Now, I want to make sure when I set the distance to infinity, the le...
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That is useful advice. Yes, GG and loupe, and yet there was a tiny bit of play before I could discern any change in focus so it is entirely likely that is somewhat off. It specifically sounds possible I regulated it beyond infinity.
Had a quick read at the links and I think I get it - I am not entirely sure why tweaking this way is done at infinity but this is something I am likely missing and I am happy to take it on faith.
This is good learning as I have a mamiya six on its way too...
Had a quick read at the links and I think I get it - I am not entirely sure why tweaking this way is done at infinity but this is something I am likely missing and I am happy to take it on faith.
This is good learning as I have a mamiya six on its way too...
To be honest, I have no idea why this is done at infinity or how it works; but the idea is that once you have a lens that focuses at infinity, you can use it to collimate other lenses.
Ideally you're supposed to use a tele (85mm or longer) with as wide an aperture as possible, but I use an f3.5 50 mm lens on an SLR with a waist-lever viewfinder with a split-prism and it works fine and it's easy enough to make out when the target is in focus.
Happy shooting with the Mamiya
Turns out that I did not remember that the mamiya achieve focus by moving the film plane rather than the front element, which is quite fancy and cool-looking, but should focus be a problem the technique above won't work
Still good for the isolette and will re-tune it this weekend!
Still good for the isolette and will re-tune it this weekend!
Turns out that I did not remember that the mamiya achieve focus by moving the film plane rather than the front element, which is quite fancy and cool-looking, but should focus be a problem the technique above won't work
Still good for the isolette and will re-tune it this weekend!
Regardless how focus is achieved, when checking infinity the same principle applies. It's just a matter of figuring out how focus can be adjusted on the Mamiya 6 [Six?].
Currently refurbishing a Graflex outfit case from the 1940s
Not fixed yet but it looks like I'll have to re-clean the aperture blades of my Olympus Trip 35... I cleaned the whole thing less than a year ago.
I've cleaned the gummy shutter of my Olympus Trip 35.
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In the process of repairing a Graflex Viewfinder with some epoxy. Someone accidentally dropped a wooden beam on it last weekend.
MattKing
Moderator
More of a desired modification than a fix.
The VCCE and Dichroic heads for the LPL 7700 / Saunders LPL 670 enlargers have filtration indicating dials that are only illuminated when the enlarger is on - not the most convenient, when split grade printing.
But I figured out a solution.
The illumination for the dials normally comes from a small amount of light spilling out of the mixing box into the enlarger head. Most of that spilled light is constrained by the head, but a little spills into a cavity above the mixing box, and then through a hole toward the front of the head - as indicated roughly by the red and yellow arrows added here:
Above the mixing box, there is a handy cavity, angled, but otherwise the size of a pack of playing cards. If one shines a flashlight through the dime sized hole on the front of the cavity, the light goes into the shallow space in front and illuminates the filter indicators in the same way that turning on the enlarger does.
I went to the Dollar Store and spent less than $5 to buy a cheap, LED headlamp, powered by AAA batteries. One that looks a bit like the one pictured here:
The one I bought offers two white light power settings, and one lower red light setting. The headband is removable, and the remaining package fits in the cavity above the mixing box, with the light shining toward and through the hole that is used to illuminate the filter dials.
When the lower power white light is on, the dials are very easy to see and use. The red light setting is quite dim - I'll have to see if my eyes adapt enough for that setting to be usable.
The biggest challenge with this is going to be remembering to turn it off at the end of each session - otherwise the batteries will run down regularly.
I had tried this earlier successfully with a smaller LED light source, but it used button cells which didn't last particularly long, so was likely to end up being expensive in the long run. I have lots of alkaline AAA batteries, and they are relatively cheap.
There are USB rechargeable versions of the headlamp, but they seem to be a fair bit more expensive.
The VCCE and Dichroic heads for the LPL 7700 / Saunders LPL 670 enlargers have filtration indicating dials that are only illuminated when the enlarger is on - not the most convenient, when split grade printing.
But I figured out a solution.
The illumination for the dials normally comes from a small amount of light spilling out of the mixing box into the enlarger head. Most of that spilled light is constrained by the head, but a little spills into a cavity above the mixing box, and then through a hole toward the front of the head - as indicated roughly by the red and yellow arrows added here:
Above the mixing box, there is a handy cavity, angled, but otherwise the size of a pack of playing cards. If one shines a flashlight through the dime sized hole on the front of the cavity, the light goes into the shallow space in front and illuminates the filter indicators in the same way that turning on the enlarger does.
I went to the Dollar Store and spent less than $5 to buy a cheap, LED headlamp, powered by AAA batteries. One that looks a bit like the one pictured here:
The one I bought offers two white light power settings, and one lower red light setting. The headband is removable, and the remaining package fits in the cavity above the mixing box, with the light shining toward and through the hole that is used to illuminate the filter dials.
When the lower power white light is on, the dials are very easy to see and use. The red light setting is quite dim - I'll have to see if my eyes adapt enough for that setting to be usable.
The biggest challenge with this is going to be remembering to turn it off at the end of each session - otherwise the batteries will run down regularly.
I had tried this earlier successfully with a smaller LED light source, but it used button cells which didn't last particularly long, so was likely to end up being expensive in the long run. I have lots of alkaline AAA batteries, and they are relatively cheap.
There are USB rechargeable versions of the headlamp, but they seem to be a fair bit more expensive.
Forgot to share the progress on the Graflex viewfinder repair. Meh. Good enough.
z
Next up, reapplying the leatherette to the front of the dropbed.
Spending 9 days in the wet wasn't a good idea
z
Next up, reapplying the leatherette to the front of the dropbed.
Spending 9 days in the wet wasn't a good idea
I think it looks great *thumbs up
Spent a couple of hours giving my aging VC-II meter a little love.
There is a lot of great stuff documented here. I’m just getting into camera repair and have been limiting myself to just junk bin cameras and lenses to date. One of my projects is a very abused Canon FT that I paid $5 for. I’ve cleaned it externally and internally, it’s pretty clean already. I did a bit of minor disassembly to lube the ball bearings with a tiny amount of oil and added a notch or two of shutter screen tension to help eliminate a first screen slowness at high shutter speeds. Yesterday, I finished cleaning up the pentaprism and am happy with the results. I forgot to get a before pic, but the picture below of the Canon FX viewfinder is near identical to what the FT was like when I got it. The bottom picture is the results using a lot of acetone to remove the old black finish, then respray with mirror type paint and then a coat of flat black.
Any particular brand of mirror paint that you use? I've got two Contax D cameras that have some deterioration to the mirror coating of the prism.
I have done this as well and it works suitably, but do be aware it MIGHT shift the color of the images coming through the prism toward a more "bluish" look due to it being paint and not sliver.
It did shift the color for me, but I did not care as the camera was (like above) a junker being reclaimed.
Pretty sure I used Krylon instead of Rust-oleum.. maybe.
One could put a patch of weak CTO gel in the viewfinder to "correct" the cast if you are dedicated enough, but I didn't.
It did shift the color for me, but I did not care as the camera was (like above) a junker being reclaimed.
Pretty sure I used Krylon instead of Rust-oleum.. maybe.
One could put a patch of weak CTO gel in the viewfinder to "correct" the cast if you are dedicated enough, but I didn't.
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Thanks! 88E30M50 & Kino, I'll look into this.
Did you strip the whole mirror coating off before respraying or just the black backing?
Did you strip the whole mirror coating off before respraying or just the black backing?
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