Contaflex III with sticky shutter

[George Mann]

I just found this camera after years of being misplaced in storage. I built it from a box of parts about 20 years ago.

Everything works but the counter, and it's shutter speeds are slow and sticky below 1/30, increasingly so the slower it is set.

What's the best way to clean it up?

 

[shutterfinger]

CLA the shutter. https://www.scribd.com/doc/44503560/Compur-Shutter-Repair-Manual
The III is skipped in the listing but all the other Contraflex models use the CN-1110-000 Synchro Compur shutter or a variant of it.
The other shutter used by Zeiss Icon was the Prontor.
Any good camera repair tech should be able to service it.

 

[George Mann]

As this camera is mainly kept on static display in my collection, I will leave it be for now. There is one curious thing I have noted however. It doesn't seem to employ any type of light seal in or around its back channel. Is this normal?

 

[Dismayed]

As this camera is mainly kept on static display in my collection, I will leave it be for now. There is one curious thing I have noted however. It doesn't seem to employ any type of light seal in or around its back channel. Is this normal?

It's a leaf shutter SLR with changeable front elements. Not the easiest camera to work on.

 

[GRHazelton]

It's a leaf shutter SLR with changeable front elements. Not the easiest camera to work on.

Back in the dayBa

As this camera is mainly kept on static display in my collection, I will leave it be for now. There is one curious thing I have noted however. It doesn't seem to employ any type of light seal in or around its back channel. Is this normal?

Back in the day most cameras didn't have light seals. My Retina IIIc doesn't have them, nor does my AsahiFlex IIa, c. 1957. They relied on precise manufacture rather than yucky plastic foam. BTW, if you do need seals, Jon Goodman is the go-to man. See this: http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/sealreplacement.html If you choose NOT to replace foam plastic seals they may deteriorate to the point where they gunk up a lot of the interior mechanisms of the camera.