Re: Contaflex I - how to fix a busted shutter... On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 14:50:12 -0400, "Dominic Richens" <knob@storm.ca>
wrote:
About zero.
I collect Contaflexes, and the problems that you describe are about
par for the course, especially for the early ones (anything before the
Supers). Some of mine worked OK when I first got them, but no longer
do so, because of disuse.
The root problem, basically, is congealed lubricant, combined with an
overly complex design.
You might try, per Ed Romney's advice, drenching the mechanism with a
volatile solvent. Try this once, and then if it doesn't work (the most
likely outcome), forget about it. Doing much disassembly on this
camera isn't feasible.
Even if these cameras appear to work, they're unreliable. Why bother
trying to take pictures with them, when there are so many better
cameras available? Consign them to the display shelf, as a part of
photographic history, and as examples of meticulous but misguided
German engineering.
(That said, I'm still nostalgic for the Contaflex, because it was my
first "serious" camera, back in 1963. At the time, my best friend
opted for a Nikon F, but I believed the Zeiss advertising on the
advantages of leaf shutters. I should have listened to my friend
instead.)
Alexander Arnakis
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