Autocord with stuck shutter/aperture controls

[Nokton48]

I bought a good restoration project at an auction for $70 in Columbus Ohio. Then I sent it to replace the focusing knob snapped off and a good interior cleaning and adjust.
This cost about $150 and now I have a new Autocord. BTW Dan Daniels fixes Autocords I believe. I bought a beautiful heavy plastic machined plates which tighten up the pin on the bottom of the camera/top of tripod and it becomes rock solid contact. Highly recommended ! Paid $35 to Dan for that.

Then I bought a Autocord skin and I sent Morgan Sparks at Cameraleather (there are like eight different Autocords and Morgan knows this) I went with GRIPTAC which they use for golf club handles very grippy and comfortable. $35 or so Highly recommended to improve the Autocord handling. Buy an original lenshade, I did

If you really want to ramp it up (and channel your inner Irving Penn!) put a Hasselblad Stovepipe, it has to be grafted onto a spare Autocord popup hood, but the magnifier is Hasselblad great and a major upgrade regarding composition.

Minolta Autocord Bacharach Bracket 283 Photoflex Inflatable 1 by Nokton48, on Flickr

The original plastic Plastic Bacharach modified to work good with the Autocord

This weighs practically nothing and can be held for long periods in one hand

Great reportage rig Brings home the bacon

Minolta Autocord Baseplate 2 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Minolta Autocord Low Tripod by Nokton48, on Flickr

Channeling my inner Irving Penn The Rokkor glass is superb and holds it's own against Schneider Tessars IMO.

Hassy Autocord Stovepipe Viewfinder 1 by Nokton48, on Flickr

The hack of the Blad Stovepipe. Required some dremeling, design skill, and 3M Teflon Tape I got on Ebay. Was worth the trouble and fun to make I bought the extra popup hood from Dan Daniels.

Autocord R1 No 2 by Nokton48, on Flickr

We don't often see Great Whites here in Ohio Camera propped on table for a three second exposure wide open on HP5+

 

[Duceman]

Well, the verdict is in and... diagnosis doesn't sound good.

Known issues on initial inspection:
--slow speed escapement damaged beyond repair
--self-timer damaged beyond repair
--focus helix needs to be cleaned/lubed
--shutter cocking mechanism needs to be adjusted (and if it has already been adjusted to the maximum movement, then there is no repair possible).

Never heard back from seller, so I filed a claim with PayPal; we'll see where that goes. If in order to get a refund I need to send the camera back, I'm going to do just that. Otherwise, there seems to be too many unknown variables as to whether this camera will be operable again, and thus I'm finding it hard to justify attempting getting it fixed. Even if I did, there are no spare self-timers, so that is no longer an option.

 

[campy51]

Are you able to get a return shipping address? This happened to me on Etsy except the item was never shipped and the seller closed the account so Etsy did nothing. I went through paypal but had to wait a couple of weeks for the seller to respond to paypal which he never did and after that they issued me a refund.

 

[Duceman]

Are you able to get a return shipping address?

Only what's on the box it came in. But, short of Etsy/PayPal telling me that I have to return it, I won't be shipping it back.

Still haven't heard anything from the AWOL Etsy seller.

 

[Duceman]

Still haven't heard anything from the AWOL Etsy seller.

Filed a complaint with PayPal last week, and seller never responded to that either. So, I have escalated the complaint with PayPal, and now seller has until October 18 to respond. Only my second second stint with Etsy, and things aren't looking good. Whereas, with eBay, I've got well over 500 transactions spanning over 20 years, and not a single incident, especially one where seller is AWOL.

 

[campy51]

Etsy doesn't care. After I got scammed I stop buying anything from them.

 

[Duceman]

Etsy doesn't care. After I got scammed I stop buying anything from them.

Etsy was of no help at all. Caveat emptor.

 

[Duceman]

Update: Seller never responded to me once. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Didn't even respond to the PayPayl complaint. So, I am happy to announce that my full purchase price (including shipping) has been refunded me by PayPal.

 

[Nokton48]

Excellent. Karl Bryant sells restored cameras, you might check with him. He repaired mine and he's great

 

[Duceman]

Excellent. Karl Bryant sells restored cameras, you might check with him. He repaired mine and he's great

????

See posts #15 and #27.... that's who presently has the camera.

 

[Nokton48]

Oh. Ok. Good luck to you