Beautiful Super Ikonta 533/16... beyond repair?

[Luminousoctaves]

Today I picked up a medium format rangefinder Zeiss Super Ikonta 533/16, sent to me from an older guy in the north of Sweden some 1300 kilometers away. I paid 1100 Swedish Kronor, 1100 skr = 130 dollars. A very good price considering the outstanding cosmetic condition.

But still, the purchase was a bit of a gamble since the old man didn't know anything about cameras. (He had inherited the camera from a close relative). I made sure to ask about things like shutterspeeds, bellows, glass, lightmeter and overall condition. He checked it and everything seemed OK.

Now, with the camera in my hand and looking through the viewfinder, the yellow rangefinder mirror/prism has crackled and distorted the viewfinder completely. In fact, it looks likes there's a huge birch tree with yellow autumn leaves standing in front of the camera (see attached images below). Catastrophy!

A friend of mine who repairs analog cameras professionally now tells me that this is a tricky thing to fix. The mirror/prism has to be heated up, cleaned, then prepared with new "wax" (of some kind, can't remember the name of it), then hardened with UV-light and finally inserted into the camera again.

Does anyone have experience of this crackled viewfinder prism? Is it even fixable?

I could call the old man and complain, send it back or get a price reduction, since he should have noticed this and told me about it.... but then again I never asked him. Frankly I just forgot about the viewfinder since everything else looked almost perfect in the pictures he sent me.

Also, the camera is apart from the mirror/prism in almost perfect condition. It would be a shame not to but it back in working condition.

What would you do?



Below: viewfinder, seen from the front.

Below: viewfinder, inside, shot with iPhone (crackled parts are out of focus)

 

[Alan9940]

If it were me and the camera is otherwise in nice condition, I'd make up a cardboard cutout for general framing and make one of these: https://tomchuk.com/misc/rf/ to determine subject distance. If you wanted to get fancier, you could buy an appropriate external viewfinder that slides into the cold shoe and a Voightlander or similar separate rangefinder device for determining exact subject distance.

Good luck!

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Take a look at this website.
http://www.certo6.com/

I sent in my Zeiss Super Ikonta IV to have a shutter fixed.

 

[gone]

Your first idea is the best idea. Call, complain, send it back. He would have had to be blind as well as old not to have seen that.

 

[AgX]

Not wax, but balsam in case of seperation of cemented lenses.

Though it looks different. More like a coating defect.
More probable the silvering of the partial mirror.

The first photo of that camera I found on the net has exactly the same artefact...


EDIT: could also be deteriorated laquer .

 

[Luminousoctaves]

I'm still trying to understand why any kind of wax would be called for in such a repair.

This may be a case of language difficulties from my part. I wrote quote "wax" end quote since I wasn't sure of the correct english translation.
Apparently there is a yellowish surface on the mirror/prism. This surface has crackled up. To remove it, first heat the prism., then apply new "wax" and harden surface with UV_light.

 

[summicron1]

I'm still trying to understand why any kind of wax would be called for in such a repair.

Probably a reference to tree sap of some sort, not wax per se. Tree sap was used to glue lenses together for a long time.

The sort of damage ur looking at is typical of age, although I've never seen anything that extreme before. I wonder if, instead of a repair that really sounds more like a rebuild, you could check various repair shops and see if they have a donor body that could be cannibalized.

 

[Luminousoctaves]

The sort of damage ur looking at is typical of age, although I've never seen anything that extreme before.

The more I look, the more it reminds me of that "virus"-looking fungus you sometimes find in lenses (note, this image is from somewhere else, a picture of a lens):

 

[Luminousoctaves]

Not wax, but balsam in case of seperation of cemented lenses.
Though it looks different. More like a coating defect.
More probable the silvering of the partial mirror.
EDIT: could also be deteriorated laquer .

Any ideas if it's fixable?

The first photo of that camera I found on the net has exactly the same artefact
.

Can you please link to this photo?

 

[AgX]

http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/index-frameset.html?ZeissSuperIkonta.html~mainFrame

 

[tedr1]

The price says everything, this is a beautiful Zeiss camera, and it is defective. If it was in better condition it would be worth a lot more. It can be repaired, but the cost is probably much more than the price of the camera. After paying for the repair the amount spent on the camera is approximately the same as the price of the same camera in good condition. I would send it back.

 

[Luminousoctaves]

Thanks everyone for your input!

I was hoping for more encouraging answers like "Easily fixed! Just polish with a toothbrush and some hot water" … but of course I knew deep inside that this was something else than a normal CLA.

I haven't decided what to do yet. I will definitely call the old guy tomorrow and see what he says. A part of me would prefer to keep the camera with a price reduction, it always feels like a failure to return great cameras that needs fixing, but then again I'm the worst repair man on earth.

I will probably look around with some more repair shops in Sweden and Europe before I decide. If I against all odds would be able to get the camera back in shape I will post the result here.

Again thanks.

 

[AgX]

If there is a focusing scale, then you might take out the mirror (if that is the cause) and use it as plain finder camera for the time being.

 

[Luminousoctaves]

If there is a focusing scale, then you might take out the mirror (if that is the cause) and use it as plain finder camera for the time being.

That's not a bad idea...
It is better than putting it on the shelf, but then again, I was longing to use that lens on f2.8.

 

[summicron1]

here's a 532-16 on ebay right now for less than $100 on a buy-it-now. Parts?????

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zeiss-Ikon-...628538?hash=item1eaffd3f7a:g:Q2UAAOSwn9lXKdqt

 

[Fixcinater]

I bought out Jurgen at Certo6's inventory of partial/complete 532/16 and have taken the top plate off of a few of these now. It may be a terrible example of fungus/dust/haze inside the windows or on the glass surfaces of the rangefinder. No special tricks to getting inside them, but I wouldn't recommend it for a first timer, especially given the cosmetic and otherwise functional condition.


A couple of them have been terrible to look through and been as 99% as good as the best I've seen or this model once they were cleaned up properly.


I would seek an economical repair and ask for partial refund.

I would offer to do the service myself but I am buried with other projects currently.

 

[Luminousoctaves]

To sum things up:
I called the old man about the Super Ikonta, was offered a $50 refund, accepted. Partly because the camera came with the original case and a yellow filter.
Same week I found another fully working Super Ikonta BX on Swedish *bay (Tradera), same version, also very nice comsetic condition, for 100 euros ($110).
In total I paid $190, and I'm ok with this. Keeping the mint one for spare parts.