I Feel Like A Sucker.....

klop · Mar 26, 2015

Had sent the Leica IIIf off to be serviced and the shutter curtains replaced and got the following notification...

"I have your Leica IIIf done:
Someone worked on the camera in the past, the camera inside lost a lot screws, some spacers and a light shield for shutter main roller, also used some aftermarket parts. The slow speed escapement in the camera is also defective.

CLA'd, cleaned and lubricated mechanical parts, replaced both curtains to new. Replaced defective slow speed escapement, adjusted shutter speeds. Shutter works well at all speeds now. Replaced all missing light shield, spacers, screws in the camera. Cleaned both finders. Both finders are clean and clear now. Camera is in good working condition now."

I purchased the camera from a camera dealer in Indianapolis, thought I had gotten a good deal, but anyway........ Cant wait to get it back and try it.....

trythis · Mar 26, 2015

Sounds like it worked out in the end. There's no way to know what happened to a camera before unless you open it up.

Typos made on a tiny phone...

samuelphoto · Mar 26, 2015

Sorry to hear of your problems but glad to here a solution was available. I also purchased a M4 from a mom & pop dealer in Indianapolis and the camera was defective on multiple measures. Of course it had been advertised as not having any issues. I returned it. The dealer was pretty clueless I found, would never purchase from them again. Maybe the same dealer as you had used.

TheTrailTog · Mar 26, 2015

Ouch! Been there myself. Got a Rolleiflex 3.5E a few years ago in "good working condition". Received the camera and the aperture adjustment wheel was jammed. Seller agreed to split cost of CLA with me, which was fine as I got it at a good price. Sent camera to Krikor. He opened it up and said it had suffered a major impact at some point and would cost a fortune to fix. He said definitely not worth it unless it had extreme sentimental value. Luckily seller was willing to work with me and it all worked out in the end, but sometimes you just never know what kind of life these cameras have had.

snapguy · Mar 26, 2015

feel bad

I would not feel too bad if I were you. These are mighty old cameras and who knows what has been done to them over the years. I would not expect a normal-type camera dealer to know a heck a lot about what is inside one of these boxes. That is unless he specializes in olde cameras. Sounds to me like you are good to go and the camera will last you a lifetime. So where's the beef?

klop · Mar 26, 2015

Second Notification

"Thanks for payment, I will mail you the camera today and you will receive an e-mail for tracking info.
I was also shocked when I opened the camera, it had very crude work in the past. E.g., there should be 8 screws on the chassis cover inside, but there were only two. Many screws also were wrong. I virtually used another parts body to make your camera complete. Regardless it is good now."

Very Grateful he was able to do anything with it...........

summicron1 · Mar 26, 2015

klop said:
"Thanks for payment, I will mail you the camera today and you will receive an e-mail for tracking info.
I was also shocked when I opened the camera, it had very crude work in the past. E.g., there should be 8 screws on the chassis cover inside, but there were only two. Many screws also were wrong. I virtually used another parts body to make your camera complete. Regardless it is good now."

Very Grateful he was able to do anything with it...........

You should tell us who that repair person is. Sounds like a good guy/gal.

Youxin ye, perhaps?

and make damn sure you use that camera -- it deserves a life, after all that.

klop · Mar 26, 2015

summicron1 said:
You should tell us who that repair person is. Sounds like a good guy/gal.

Youxin ye, perhaps?

and make damn sure you use that camera -- it deserves a life, after all that.

Respectfully, Yes....

summicron1 · Mar 26, 2015

I saw a list of photography "truisms" once, of the the "dust is attracted to sky areas of negatives" sort of thing. Two of them apply here:

-- Most repairs to a camera can be done yourself with a butter knife.

-- Repair people charge double to fix a camera that's been repaired with a butter knife.

But it sounds as if you almost got two cameras (the original and all the parts) so I guess that works out. Sort of.

TheToadMen · Mar 26, 2015

summicron1 said:
I saw a list of photography "truisms" once, of the the "dust is attracted to sky areas of negatives" sort of thing. Two of them apply here:

-- Most repairs to a camera can be done yourself with a butter knife.

-- Repair people charge double to fix a camera that's been repaired with a butter knife.

But it sounds as if you almost got two cameras (the original and all the parts) so I guess that works out. Sort of.

Ah, you left out the duct tape ...

But seriously. You will be pleasantly surprised how the camera will spin smoothly now.
I had my Hasselblad SWC (from 1964) serviced. It seemed fine, but there were some loose screws, misaligned xxxx, etc.
Wilco Jansen serviced it all and he also adjusted the film back to this specific camera as well for a fair price.
When I shot my first roll after the CLA I was surprised how smoothly the camera operates now.
So be happy and go out shooting!!

pdeeh · Mar 26, 2015

I was given a Nikon F2 with an intermittent sticky film advance/jam. It looked well-used I have to say.
Sent it off to Mr. Wong and he reported it was a FrankeNikon built from about 3 different F2s of different manufacturing eras.
Would have cost more than a nice clean one from Grey's to have him restore it so I gave it to him for spares.

Steve Bellayr · Mar 26, 2015

When you purchase vintage items of any type those things are bound to happen.

BrianShaw · Mar 26, 2015

... you should feel lucky rather than a sucker. Good ending to the story. Sucker would be if it was unrestorable.

pdeeh · Mar 26, 2015

Or even not restorable

BrianShaw · Mar 26, 2015

Oops. That's what I meant. Thanks.

jeffreyg · Mar 26, 2015

My suggestion to anyone purchasing previously used equipment is ... if possible by from a reputable dealer or party with a definite return policy and if possible take a roll of film with you, expose it all shutter speeds and apertures and develop the film. While that may not be 100% fool-proof it is a pretty good test. So far that has worked for me except for one time when I traded some equipment I no longer used for a Hasselblad back to one of the major dealers. The back they sent was misrepresented and replaced with one that was not much better. I felt I had been taken and quit buying supplies from them. Five years after that a representative of that company posted on APUG that they were trying to improve their image. I emailed her an account of my dealings with them. I actually had kept the receipt and they took it back and replaced it with a proper one five years later.

Sometimes you get lucky.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

resummerfield · Mar 26, 2015

snapguy said:
I would not feel too bad if I were you. These are mighty old cameras and who knows what has been done to them over the years. I would not expect a normal-type camera dealer to know a heck a lot about what is inside one of these boxes. That is unless he specializes in olde cameras. Sounds to me like you are good to go and the camera will last you a lifetime. So where's the beef?

+1

Jerevan · Mar 26, 2015

With the help of someone knowledgable you helped an old camera back to a future productive life again.

That's how I think about my cameras anyways. The money is gone, but the joy remains.

EdColorado · Mar 28, 2015

Jerevan said:
With the help of someone knowledgeable you helped an old camera back to a future productive life again.

That's how I think about my cameras anyways. The money is gone, but the joy remains.

This is what I tell myself too. I'm in the exact same situation as the OP except the camera I'm having repaired was given to me. Thats good cause I'm thinking I put more into the repair than the body is worth. I don't really have the cash to waste, but I just couldn't let this fine old camera die. In the end, it looks like it was "rode hard and put away wet" on more than one occasion and perhaps used for parts, but now it looks like its going to be OK. Haven't received it back yet but it should be on its-way soon, and the pictures I was sent look great. I guess we're just preserving bits of history that really, most people couldn't give a hoot about!

trythis · Mar 28, 2015

I can't imagine that people will be doing this for any digital cameras in 50 years. Maybe the new lomographers of 2064 will reignite a passion for shooting on sd cards instead of "brain wave jello" or whatever they will be using then.

Typos made on a tiny phone...

CropDusterMan · Mar 28, 2015

I bought a Canon EOS 1N RS and it lasted a year...nobody could fix it. Guess I got my
$200 worth. If I was to invest in any more 35mm film cameras, it would only be Leica M
Series film...they still service ones that are decades old.

Do you think they'll be servicing EOS 5D MKII's or Nikon D's in ten years? I Doubt it.

benjiboy · Mar 31, 2015

CropDusterMan said:
I bought a Canon EOS 1N RS and it lasted a year...nobody could fix it. Guess I got my
$200 worth. If I was to invest in any more 35mm film cameras, it would only be Leica M
Series film...they still service ones that are decades old.

Do you think they'll be servicing EOS 5D MKII's or Nikon D's in ten years? I Doubt it.

The digital technology moves on so quickly in ten years these digital cameras will be a joke like an Atari computer is nowadays, it's planned obsolescence.

davela · Mar 31, 2015

Well this is sort of just life with old rangefinders. That's one reason not to pay too much for them, as a large percentage need servicing. Let's face it, 1950 was a long time ago!

The good thing is now you will have a first rate camera with new curtains which will last the better part of a lifetime if taken care of. The IIIf is a very fine camera.

ambaker · Mar 31, 2015

Will they service a 5D MK II in ten years? I hope so, as an owner. However the pace of advancement in the digital world seems to be slowing, as it has in computers. Remember when 18 months down the road, your super go faster computer was now half the speed of the current model?

There is still a way to go, but once get to very large enlargements with sufficient detail and color, how much more bang do you need?

I am a little surprised that you could not find anyone who would work on the canon. There are other makes, that sold a lot fewer cameras, that still seem to have someone who will still patch them together.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

klop · Apr 1, 2015

I got it back Monday, haven't had time to use it but it feels great........

I Feel Like A Sucker.....

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