Anyone know anything about servicing a Contarex Bullseye?

I bought one about 3 years ago at auction and it's not working. The shutter fires at all speeds and appears to be accurate. The problem is the mirror doesn't flip up when shutter is pressed, but if you cock the shutter and then manually push up on the mirror until it hits the top then the mirror will lift when pressing the shutter release. I have the bottom and back of the camera off and have the shutter assly exposed and that works fine. I can't figure out how to take the top and front faceplate off. Has anyone done this before?

Recently when I was trying to figure out my Contarex problem, I watched several videos about how to disassemble the camera. You can find them on youtube, a 6-part series by a Japanese person. This is an awfully complex machine, and not for the faint of heart.


In my case, luckily I didn't need to do much to resolve my problem.

Thanks I saw the first one. I ran into a problem trying to unscrew the nut to take off the film advance. It's made out of brass and it's so frozen that my spanner keeps slipping off and now the cut out in the brass is rounded off. This will not budge and I know it's a left hand screw. Do I need to drill tiny
holes for a pointed spanner?

campy51 said:

Thanks I saw the first one. I ran into a problem trying to unscrew the nut to take off the film advance. It's made out of brass and it's so frozen that my spanner keeps slipping off and now the cut out in the brass is rounded off. This will not budge and I know it's a left hand screw. Do I need to drill tiny
holes for a pointed spanner?

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How about first use some Naptha to soak the nut and nearby fixture, in order to free up some old grease?

Also did the repair manual or video shows clockwise or counter-clockwise loosening?

I had similar problem with the film supply side on the Contarex. Also a very tough brass nut. Took me a coupe of days for the naptha to work through and finally turn the nut.