Do-it-yourself repairs of classic cameras

dmitriy_babichenko · November 14, 2008

I have a confession to make - I am obsessed with Soviet-era cameras - Smenas, Zenits, Feds, Zorkis, etc... I

grew up with those cameras and even though I shoot digital for my commercial work, I cannot seem to abandon those

clunky metal ugly ducklings. Over the years I've accumulated about 30 Soviet cameras. Most of them are in a

working condition and a few of them have been professionally CLA'd (the ones that I grew up with). However, I

still have 5 or 6 cameras that are broken. I don't want to invest money into repairs but would like to learn how

to repair them myself, especially since I am hoping to collect every Soviet camera model ever made.

I was wondering if you guys could recommend some resources for learning how to repair mechanical cameras.

Thank you

Dmitriy

connealy · November 14, 2008

<a href="http://mconnealy.com/vintagecameras/links.html" target="new">My list</a>.

charles_stobbs3 · November 14, 2008

http://www.kyphoto.com/cgi-bin/forum/discus.cgi

User_4525289 · November 14, 2008

Dmitriy go to rangefinder.ru and ask people about camera repare. Also 35 mm forum of foto.ru would be a great source of information. If you speak Russian, of course...

winfried_buechsenschuetz1 · November 14, 2008

It depends what type of camera you are going to repair.

Most, if not all soviet Leica clones have a shutter very similar to that of the original Leica. There are some pages about Zorki/FED/Leica shutter repairs on the web.

The russian leaf shutters follow the general outline of rim-set Compur shutters (Moskva shutters) or older Prontor shutters (Smena, Lomo135, Lubitel etc.), you can keep to repair instructions for the german shutters mentioned.

However, do not expect your first repair attempt to be very successfull. It is good practice to start with an almost worthless camera wreck to get familiar with the innards of a camera.

the celt 2 · November 14, 2008

Wow, talk about coincidence. I was going to post a question about where to get replacemnt parts for one of my newest toys. I found a really nice Zorki 4 at a local sell for commision shop. The price was great, but one of the latches to realease the back was really jammed. I asked the clerk not to force it, but was to late. The latch broke off in his pliers. Needless to say I got a pretty large discount, and the rest of the camera is premo. The back seems pretty tight with just the one latch, but I would really like to replace the broken one. Where would one look to get the parts, or maybe a replacement back?

razondetre · November 14, 2008

Go to http://www.edromney.com or get the repair books by Thomas Tomosy (search the web for his name. You get

all the book sources).

dmitriy_babichenko · November 14, 2008

Ed,

I had a similar problem with one of my Feds. Even though the back seems to be pretty tight, a broken latch causes light leaks. I ended up buying a broken Fed (the same model) on ebay for $5 to replace the back. Until I found a cheap body for replacement part, I used two strips of velcro (one over the broken latch, another one on the body).

mark_hahn · November 14, 2008

"All You Need to Know about Design and Repair of Russian Cameras." By Isaac S. Maizenberg.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~tomtiger/books/books.html

I think I bought mine from: http://www.andrewscameras.co.uk/

I heard that the book was recently reprinted... don't know where.

Good luck!

jon_goodman1 · November 14, 2008

I have shutter cloth and silk ribbons if you need any...a large roll of the shutter cloth. It is the thin cloth used in Leica and some Japanese models and not the heavier cloth (.08" or .085" as sold by some others). Mine is .006-.0065" and will let you run the shutter at lower spring tension.

Jon