Retina Reflex Type 025 Woe and Frustration!

[jonathan_stark]

Now Kerry Kennedy's gone and done it with his Reflex posting

yesterday...... I've been putting off telling my tale of Retina

Reflex woe and frustration, but no longer!

 

I saw one (type 025) on eBay in June 2003. Advertised as working OK

(from a camera store with 100% pos. feedback!) Silly me, shoulda

known better, but I bought it. Of course, it wasn't working OK - it

would fire only every other time it was wound and cocked. Not much

use in that condition; I try to only collect (yes, I used the "C"

word!) things I can shoot. After casting about a bit, I found a well-

known East Coast camera repair place that worked on Retina Reflexes.

Off it went.

 

Three months later it came back, with a $165 repair bill, all CLA'd

and supposedly ready to go. Loaded it with its first roll - tried to

anyway. Turned out the rewind clutch was disengaged, so the sprocket

drive was free-wheeling. But the rewind clutch button (Retina

Reflexes have these on the bottom next to the advance lever) wasn't

pushed in, and wouldn't push in. Actually the shaft to which the

button connects was pushed in - it was stuck in - and the button was

nearly unscrewed from the shaft, giving it the appearance of being in

it's 'out' position. Puzzling over this, I dry-fired it less than a

dozen times - and the rewind clutch button and a few other parts fell

out of the bottom of the camera!! CLA'd it was, all right! Gathered

up the parts, and back to the repair place it went.

 

Another 3 months passes. Never heard from them. Wrote two letters

(real letters, not e-mail - no answer.) Finally phoned, got the

owner. He asked me, "why is your camera still here?"

Ummmmmmmm...... (you can imagine the ensuing conversation.) He

promises to get it fixed right away. A few weeks later and it's back

(now 7 months after I bought it). No bill this time.

 

I loaded and started shooting. Camera seems fine, everything seems

to work. First roll comes back - every picture taken with a shutter

speed shorter than 1/15 is blank!! I open the back, start dry-

firing, and it's obvious why. This camera was reassembled so that

the Compur shutter opens and shuts before the back shutter ever

opens. Good grief, don't these people TEST anything before they send

it back?

 

After this abortive roll of film, I dry-fired the camera over 2 or so

months maybe a grand total of 100 times. Always gently - I own other

Retinas and I know about the cocking rack. During this 100 or so

cycles, the camera started to fail - the mirror would come down and

the back shutter would close at the end of the advance lever travel,

but they wouldn't catch and hold in place. Finally, the winding

system failed completely - the advance lever moves, but it doesn't

feel connected to anything internally. Perhaps a failure of the

infamous cocking rack.

 

So, I own a Retina Reflex with a beautifully clean lens, and a CLA'd

aperture and Synchro Compur running perfectly on all speeds - with no

means to cock the shutter!! What would you do? Send it back to the

same place for a 3rd time? (I don't want to drag their reputation

through the mud, but this is a well-known facility that specializes

in unusual and hard-to-fix cameras). Is there someplace else that

works on Retina Reflexes? Bald Mountain, maybe?

 

Postscript- I was at a camera show recently. There were 3 Retina

Reflexes (type 025) for sale, and one Reflex IV (type 051). None of

these 4 cameras was 100% functional in their shutter, aperture, and

winding mechanisms.

 

Sometimes I think Retina Reflexes are a lost cause. What would y'all

do?

[mike_elek]

That is a very sad tale. I think I'd cut my losses and look for a nice little Contaflex or even a Bessamatic.

[mfophotos]

I would just keep looking for a better one. I'm not willing to spoend more to repair a

camera than it is worth. Alternatively, look for a Contaflex. You might have some of the

same issues -- after all, these are 50+ year old complex cameras, and lens/shutter SLRs,

though compact, really show their age. I have a Retina Reflex that has a line down the

middle of the mirror, fires only at faster shutter speeds, and it cost me maybe $20. There

are a lot of them on eBay, look for one that has a return if not-working guarantee. Also

check cameta Camera on the web, as they often have such cameras in stock, with

guarantees.

[summitar]

Now you have got me worried, Jonathon. When I recieve my Retina Reflex type 25, I will post a note on its condition at first look, and later if and when I take some pictures with it, I will also report results. I really like my Retina folders, but I also have some that are inoperative due to shutter cocking. I have never seen or held a Kodak reflex, byt they look neat.

[jonathan_stark]

Mike- funny you should mention Contaflexes. I've got a Contaflex I coming on it's way from the new camera-auction.com site. Should arrive today or tomorrow.

[jon_goodman1]

I offered a very (extremely) nice Retina Reflex III on the new camera auction site not long ago with a buy it now of $85. Shutter working at all speeds, self-timer working, meter still working and accurate, about mint in appearance with the 1.9 lens. Nobody offered anything on it. I've almost decided to keep it, but I don't know. I used this camera frequently about 3 years ago, and it did fine. It was last serviced in 1972, but doesn't seem to have seen much use. The only person I believe I would trust to work on one would be Chris Sherlock in Australia. Don't know what he charges, but I sold him all the parts/parts cameras I had about a year ago.

 

Jon

[tito sobrinho]

In the late '70s, I bought a "mintish" 051 with the Xenon lens for $15.00. I used it for 3 months but the mirror would not come down upon advancing the film transport lever. I never had it fixed but, for 3 months, I enjoyed the superb Xenon. Today, it is an "object d'art" good to look at.

 

Jonathan, if you want it to be fixed, by all means, send it to Ken Ruth at Bald Mountain; being an excellent photographer himself and an expert on the Dagor lens, concerning usage and history. He is well versed, but can be long winded on the subject, i.e your camera, and it would be a toss up between he and Bill Maxwell...

 

He hand made a part for my Compur shutter as well as for my pneumatic Compound III. There are a plethora of professional technicians around us for a CLA, but few can make a part for a camera or for a broken shutter.

[jonathan_stark]

Coincidentally, the Contaflex I from the new camera auction site arrived last night, and everything seems to work perfectly. Hmmmmm. I think Zeiss won that round!

 

The Marital Unit made rude noises when she saw the Contaflex last night.

 

Me- "But honeeyyyyyyyy, it was only $31!!"

 

She- "All those $31 add up you know."

 

Me- "Well, I can always sell some of them...."

 

Surprisingly, she fell for that line of BS. She should know I'll be selling them about the time I see pigs flying by..... But I gotta be cool for a while, because I need a film scanner and I want to get the darkroom running again, which means $$$ for some plumbing connections in the basement.

 

Jon- I saw your Reflex III. I'm heavily into M42, LTM, and Exakta systems, and don't want to start on Kodak S-mount also. (But who am I kidding? I'll sucumb to collector-itis eventually!) I've got a Retina IIIc (021) and thought the original Reflex would be cool to share the C-mount lens components. I was looking at Chris Sherlock's site yesterday. I might ask him if he wants the Reflex, either to fix for me, or as a spare parts donor.

[jon_goodman1]

Hi, Jonathan.

I think I bid on that Contaflex, too...come to think of it. I am positive Chris would be interested in the Retina Reflex. He is a very nice fellow, by the way, and Kodak trained. Good luck, no matter what happens. What sort of M42 stuff are you interested in? I have some of that, also.

Jon

[jonathan_stark]

Jon- mostly I'm interested in Asahi-made M42 stuff. I have a pair of Spotmatics, which are my "new" cameras -- what I shoot when I "mean business" and am not playing around with my classics!! (the newer is a Spot F - 32 years old.) I have 20mm, 28mm, 35mm, 150mm, 300mm, and 400mm Takumars, as well as the 50mm and 55mm normals, and have an eye open for an 'affordable' 85mm/1.9 (an oxymoron, I know.) I also have some interesting non-Asahi lenses: a 105/2.0 Komura, and a Vivitar Series 1 35-85 zoom - a very sharp lens that flares like crazy and weighs a ton.

[jon_goodman1]

You might watch for a Chinon CE-3. Very nice screwmount which has a sophisticated metering system and a split dot focus screen. Fujica ST605n is also nice.

Jon

[fernando_mcsoto]

The story of your Retina Reflex is identical to that of my Contaflex Super BC and a repairer in the East Coast of Scotalnd. This is the fourth time in three months I am driving there to get it repaired.