mike_elek

That lost shot is great -- almost a religious moment (are we allowed to say that here?).

See if you can download the photos through the USB cable. Then try reformatting it in the camera. Otherwise, I probably would get rid of it. Memory is cheap enough, and it's not worth the risk to keep around an unreliable memory card.

for a start and for free, try Google's Picasa software (http://picasa.google.com/). Also, Adobe offers has its free Album software (never used it).

regarding the Jupiter lens ... maybe the problem with it is that someone already has tried to repair it.

yes, but Kodak also gave us the hideous Kodak 35 RF ...

... Since I didn't carefully proofread my answer, and the forum software doesn't allow editing:

 

If it's a later screen and made of plastic, clean gently with soap, water and fingers and allow to air dry. Some compressed air is OK to help it dry.

 

If it's made of glass, clean gently with soap, water and fingers and dry either with cotton or plain white facial tissue. You can help it along with some compressed air.

Oh, forgot the photo.<div></div>

Do get a competent repairman. Don't get a hack. Here are two of my Super Ikonta B cameras (both serviced by me). You can really see how the lens coating makes a big difference. You can see the shutter blades on the coated lens, but not at all on the uncoated lens. There is no difference in use between either camera. Results show the coated lens to be better with color film, which is to be expected.

No problem -- I'm just saying that a camera with these kind of problems probably will benefit greatly from a routine CLA. But if you got it to work, that's good.

If it's a later screen and made of plastic, clean gently with soap, water and fingers and allow to air dry.

 

If it's made of glass, clean gently with soap, water and fingers and air either with cotton or plain white facial tissue. You can help it along with some compressed air.

I second cameraleather.com. You can buy leather in sheets with adhesive and then cut your own. I had to re-skin a good part of an Ikoflex.

That camera needs to be serviced. When the slow speeds stutter, any liquid you add to try to free it can only loosen the debris and redeposit it elsewhere.

<b>1. The film counter does not quite line up with the numbers - is this a mal-adjustment, or just the standard operation?</b><br>

You can adjust this by loosening the two screws on the film counter dial and then carefully turning it to "1." However, it's not unusual for some of the numbers to be slightly off. The film counter mechanism uses a series of notches that were hand cut into part of the gearing.<p>

 

<b>2. The lens is a Zeiss-Opton 'T'. How does this differ from the later lenses without the 'Opton' designation? Is there any way of dating it by it's serial number?</b><br>

... what the others have said.<p>

 

<b>3. The slow speeds are accurate but are loud like a clockwork toy car - loads louder than my Retina Reflex. Are they always loud in this camera?</b><br>

Yes. Larger shutter, larger blades = more noise.<p>

 

<b>4. There is no visible flash synch setting. Anyone know what synch these cameras are (X or M).</b><br>

Hmmm -- not sure, but I think you should be OK with electronic flash. I probably would test it.<p>

 

<b>5. Lastly, can anyone recommend a good repairman to me. I am loath to spoil the camera through unexperienced meddling and have also had my fill of 'bodge-jobs'. Where do you have yours serviced?</b><br>

I service my own. Ivor Mantanle routinely recommends one fellow, Ed Trzoska, 0116 267 4247.

Great job with the Contaflex. That Tessar lens is really sharp.

I didn't know that Universal made TLRs. That's pretty cool. I guess I always think of the Mercury cameras. Like the others said about the lens -- very sharp.

The film counter uses a small geared wheel on the end of a spindle. That geared wheel has a spring to keep it pressed against the film spool.

 

There are several possibilities here:

 

1) The spring that provides the tension might have snapped.

 

2) The geared wheel might be gummed up and not having enough friction against the film spool to turn the frame counter.

 

3) The entire frame counter mechanism might have a gummed-up or broken part

 

 

I'm going to guess it's No. 1. Open the camera and press down on that small geared wheel in the top chamber. It should require a firm press. If it doesn't move or it simply flops back and forth, then you'll need to the camera serviced.

 

This is where I would start.

One of the most incredible things about the horrific loss of life. The articles says, "... in the 63 days of that desperate struggle, more than 250,000 people lost their lives ..."

To remove the top plate, you need to remove the film-advance knob, the frame counter and the screw under it and then gently lift the piece of leather on the left side. Under that is a screw. Also, remove the screw from the accessory shoe -- note that there is a small tube spacer under that screw that must be replaced.

 

Once the top plate is removed, you'll want to remove the main prism, which is held by two braces. You can also disassemble the eyepiece, if you want to go that far. For some odd reason, I've found that most of the paint flakes off the postwar prisms, so you can simply repaint those (flat black).

 

Then pull the shutter, clean all lenses surfaces, reassemble, and you've got a great camera that should outlast you and everyone else on this forum.

 

The tricky part on reassembly is the frame counter. David Richert has a very good page on this.

Yes, like (nearly) all Eastern bloc lenses, there was the unfortunate choice of aluminum. These lenses need to have a good amount of lubrication to protect the helicals.

 

At one time, I had the East German version. Optically, a very fine lens, although the focus had several rough spots. In retrospect, I should have kept the lens and disassembled and relubed it.

 

In general, I concur with Christopher regarding the performance of the prewar and postwar lenses. There isn't much discernible difference, although the coating of the postwar lens gives it an advantage.

 

However, both benefit from a lens hood, because that huge front element is sitting right out front, just begging to flare.

You own the postwar Super Ikonta B with a coated Tessar, a very fine camera.

 

There are no mirrors in this camera. It uses a series of prisms for the rangefinder. The discoloration could be anything from paint loss on the primary prism to possible separation to merely haze.

 

With a camera of this age, it would benefit greatly from being serviced. However, make sure that the person who works on it understands the camera. There are a couple of different things about the camera's disassembly, and you don't want the average hack working on it.

 

Once serviced, you get a real feel for the precision of its assembly and its use.

There were some changes made, and from what I can tell the later shutters were different from earlier ones.

 

The early rim-set Compur shutters (which includes those used in Rolleiflexes) required the shutter speed ring to engage a thick coiled spring, which explains the extra effort to engage it.

 

I think the later shutters were more like Prontor shutters, which didn't use the coiled spring.

The viewfinder is a mirror and a magnifying glass, more or less. In fact, with some cameras it wasn't even a mirror but a highly polished steel plate.

 

I think the shutter speed is closer to 1/30 or 1/50 -- at least that's what I recall.

The high amount of suction makes it difficult to control the nozzle. What will happen is that you'll move the nozzle very close to the sensor, and the velocity of the suction will then cause the nozzle and sensor to make contact. You probably should secure both the camera and the nozzle so you can make small movements. And I also agree that the cool air rushing across plastic components might create conditions in which a static charge would be possible -- not a good thing for electronics.

You should be aware that many P&S cameras with zooms will show noticeable barrel distortion on the wide end. However, in many shots you might not notice it. It will be most apparent in photos with buildings and straight lines.

Yes, you can have both loaded concurrently. No, you don't need to turn off the camera to change the camera between using MS to using CF, just move that switch (obviously don't do it if you're writing an image to the card).