Well, friends, after having successfully opened up and repaired numerous vintage cameras, from Argus A2B and C-3's to Japanese rangefinders of all kinds, Canon AE-1's and plenty of Spotmatics, SRT's and Nikkormats, I may finally have met my match.
Last night I opened up an Agfaflex. A somewhat rare bird these days, this camera features a between-the-lens leaf shutter in an SLR. The mirror stays down after one takes the shot; advancing the film returns the mirror to its operational (i.e. "down") position while cocking the shutter. In this particular example, the shutter was not shutting - which is, after all, the point of a shutter - and the mirror was not fully returning to home base, so surgery was necessary.
What an unusual Rube Goldberg-ian contraption! The thing is, they come apart pretty easily . . . it's the putting back together that's an issue. And unlike more popular makes and models, about which the intertubes practically teem with pictures, videos and step-by-step how-to-do-it's there's next to nothing on this baby. So it looks like I'll be figuring this one out one gear, one lever, one spring at a time.
Wish me luck!
This could take a while . . .
Anyone else here enjoy the process of camera repair?
Last night I opened up an Agfaflex. A somewhat rare bird these days, this camera features a between-the-lens leaf shutter in an SLR. The mirror stays down after one takes the shot; advancing the film returns the mirror to its operational (i.e. "down") position while cocking the shutter. In this particular example, the shutter was not shutting - which is, after all, the point of a shutter - and the mirror was not fully returning to home base, so surgery was necessary.
What an unusual Rube Goldberg-ian contraption! The thing is, they come apart pretty easily . . . it's the putting back together that's an issue. And unlike more popular makes and models, about which the intertubes practically teem with pictures, videos and step-by-step how-to-do-it's there's next to nothing on this baby. So it looks like I'll be figuring this one out one gear, one lever, one spring at a time.
Wish me luck!
This could take a while . . .
Anyone else here enjoy the process of camera repair?