Zeiss Ikon Nettar 515/2 cleaning questions

<p>Hi everyone, I'm new both around here and to medium format photography in general. <br /> <br />I recently snared myself the Zeiss Ikon Nettar 515/2 with an f/3.5 lens and a Compur-rapid shutter that goes up to 1/400s. By and large the camera is in pretty good shape, but I would like to make sure it's in the best shape possible for when I start shooting with it. Here's a list of some questions I have: <br /> <br />Shutter. <br />The shutter has a constant speed, no matter whether the setting it at 1 second or 1/200th. All of the indicated speeds within that range run at about 1/30th of a second. It's only when I push it to the indicated 1/400th that I get a faster response time, and even then it doesn't quite look fast enough; my guess would be somewhere between 1/100th and 1/200th. <br />I've read that a bit of shutter cleaning should clear this up; however, the is no obvious way to remove the lens from the shutter. Does anyone have any advice on how to do that, and then also on what techniques I should use while cleaning the shutter? <br /> <br />Lens. <br />Similarly, I would like to get in and clean the lens a bit. The front element was easily unscrewed and I got a fair bit of dust and gunk out of it. However, on the inner surface of the element behind the front, there is a bit of gunk, and the inside of the rear element is rather fogged. Has anyone here ever opened this lens before? If so, could you help me figure out what to do? <br /> <br />Focusing. <br />Finally, the camera seems to have lost any markings that show where the focus is. The focus ring still has markings from 5ft to inifinity, but there is no line or indicator on the non-rotating part of the lens to reference where I should be taking focus from. If anyone else has this camera, I would love to see a picture to know where I should put my mark. <br /> <br />Finally, just a shot in the dark: does anyone recommend any vintage camera repair shops in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota? If any of these steps requires more than unscrewing a few parts, I would rather have a professional check this out. <br /> <br />Check out the camera at <a href="http://www.craftycarpenter.com/nettar/nettar.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.craftycarpenter.com/nettar/nettar.jpg</a></p>

<p>I recently did a search for camera repair here in the twin cities for some older medium format cameras I have acquired, including a zeiss-ikon ikonta very similar to yours. No luck. I did find a repairman in Nebraska who specializes in Konica equipment, who is helping me resuscitate a koni-omega 100. His advice included observations about the shutter that were pretty universal. You might drop him an email, and see if he would be interested in helping you with the shutter issue. His name is Greg Weber, and he is <a href="mailto:gweber@webercamera.com">gweber@webercamera.com</a>. <a href="http://www.marquettecamerarepair.com/camerasWeService.html">Marquette camera repair </a>here seems to be the last of the old school repair shops, and they are pretty limited in the kinds of camera and models they are willing to tackle these days...which is fair, but frustrating.<br>

Here is a <a href="http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/welti.html">non-local link </a>to someone who had some fun rehabbing a Welta Welti, which is a cousin to our Zeiss-Ikons.<br>

My Ikonta has a short blade protruding from under the shutter timing ring and above the focus setting, and the index line on it seems to apply to both the time setting and the focus. I have recently acquired an old detached rangefinder (just the rf, not a camera) from ebay, which needs adjusting, and intend to use it with the Ikonta, since the shallow depth of field the lens is capable of and the near focus limit under 2 meters makes close focussing by quess out of the question.</p>

 

<p>Thanks for the advice. Luckily I managed to gain access to the workshop at my local college, where the resident tinkerer and I have spent the last couple of days opening the whole thing up and cleaning it out. Hopefully I'll be able to have it all put together and working by tomorrow.<br>

That's an excellent idea on the rangefinder. How much did you snag yours for? Do you have any brand advice? Does a rangefinder off of a 35mm camera work fine with a medium-format? (I assume the answer to the last question is yes, but I just want to be sure.)</p>

<p>A rangefinder is a rangefinder. Viewfinders calibrated to specific film sizes need translation, but rangefinders report distance in feet or meters, not field of view, so they apply the same to all cameras. There were a number of brands of camera accessory rangefinders manufactured from the 30s thru the 50s and later for use with folding cameras, etc. A search on ebay brought up half a dozen for me when I was looking. They should cost under $20. Make sure you inquire if they read distance properly, are clean and bright, and move smoothly through the whole distance range. A lot of gotchas in buying old equipment are hidden in the phrase "functioning rangefinder."</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice! Good idea on making sure to ask the sellers - from what I've heard back on so far in eBay auctions, there is indeed a bit of baggage that goes along with "working" and "functioning."</p>