Kodak Retina IIa - repaired

bryans_tx · Mar 14, 2023

Previously had bent struts, nothing was in focus. Thanks to Paul B., I have now a fun camera with a great look and feel to it.
My developing could use some help for sure, but that is OK.
Sometimes I dont care so much for the super science and super hard work.. that I know a lot of you have put into your Photo efforts

Old building in my town, "scanned" with a D700, 28-105 lens in Macro mode. 510-pyro, 25min minimum agitation.

Huss · Mar 15, 2023

Excellent. I just shot a roll of Kentmere through my iia gifted by the best looking man on Photrio!

The Retina iia is a much better and easier to use camera than my old zeiss contessa or Voigtlander Vitessa.

madNbad · Mar 15, 2023

Huss said:
Excellent. I just shot a roll of Kentmere through my iia gifted by the best looking man on Photrio!

Thank you, Huss. I am kinda fat and still move like Chester from Gunsmoke more than I would like. I figure after a few rolls through the Retina, it will make you appreciate the N80 even more!

Cholentpot · Mar 15, 2023

bryans_tx said:
Previously had bent struts, nothing was in focus. Thanks to Paul B., I have now a fun camera with a great look and feel to it.
My developing could use some help for sure, but that is OK.
Sometimes I dont care so much for the super science and super hard work.. that I know a lot of you have put into your Photo efforts

Old building in my town, "scanned" with a D700, 28-105 lens in Macro mode. 510-pyro, 25min minimum agitation.

View attachment 332557

Paul is the man. Love my IIC, hate the !@$# interlock though.

albada · Mar 15, 2023

Assuming you're referring to the frame-1 interlock, I suspect that Paul Barden knows how to defeat it.

Cholentpot · Mar 15, 2023

albada said:
Assuming you're referring to the frame-1 interlock, I suspect that Paul Barden knows how to defeat it.

Talking about the shutter and aperture being linked. You need to pull down on a tab to adjust them separately.

bryans_tx · Mar 15, 2023

it was the struts that move and hold the bellows and lens out. Lens plane was way off from the film plane

bryans_tx · Mar 15, 2023

I also got my Yashica Lynx 1000 back from Mark Hamas today. What a joy it is to have these two cameras that now seem like new.

albada · Mar 15, 2023

Cholentpot said:
Talking about the shutter and aperture being linked. You need to pull down on a tab to adjust them separately.

That can be defeated also. I show how in my web-site:
Defeating LVS in the Retina IIIc/IIc/Ib

Cholentpot · Mar 15, 2023

albada said:
That can be defeated also. I show how in my web-site:
Defeating LVS in the Retina IIIc/IIc/Ib

So that's your website. Interesting.

Does doing this modification make the level loose? Will it stay in it's proper setting or does it get easily jarred or knocked out of place?

StanMac · Mar 15, 2023

bryans_tx said:
I also got my Yashica Lynx 1000 back from Mark Hamas today. What a joy it is to have these two cameras that now seem like new.

Coincidentally, I received a Yashica YK back from. Mr. Hama today that had been in his shop since last spring. The long lead time must’ve been a parts availability issue but the YK looks and feels brand new. I do need a Retina IIa serviced - what is Paul B’s contact info, please?

Stan

bryans_tx · Mar 15, 2023

Paul Barden.

Paul Barden on Exposure

Grumpy botano-photographer. This site is about the Kodak Retina cameras made in Germany By August Nagel's camera factory in Stuttgart, from 1934 through 1968. Much of the content you will find here deals with the history and repair/servicing of these cameras.

kodakretina.exposure.co

he is on the forums here as well. A pleasure to work with.

madNbad · Mar 15, 2023

StanMac said:
Coincidentally, I received a Yashica YK back from. Mr. Hama today that had been in his shop since last spring. The long lead time must’ve been a parts availability issue but the YK looks and feels brand new. I do need a Retina IIa serviced - what is Paul B’s contact info, please?

Stan

Paul Barden is in Corvallis, Oregon and is a regular poster on this site. His work on Retinas is outstanding and finds problems other repair shops have missed. I can recommend him as one of the best to service the little Kodaks. If you have a Retina and want it to work flawlessly, send it to him.

albada · Mar 16, 2023

Cholentpot said:
Does doing this modification make the level loose? Will it stay in it's proper setting or does it get easily jarred or knocked out of place?

The lever will have a little friction to hold it in place, but not much. Bumping it will move it.

retina_restoration · Mar 16, 2023

Cholentpot said:
So that's your website. Interesting.

Does doing this modification make the level loose? Will it stay in it's proper setting or does it get easily jarred or knocked out of place?

Most people who make this modification end up regretting it: a strong breeze will shift the position of the aperture lever when its no longer coupled to the speed selector ring.

Cholentpot · Mar 16, 2023

retina_restoration said:
Most people who make this modification end up regretting it: a strong breeze will shift the position of the aperture lever when its no longer coupled to the speed selector ring.

This is why I haven't done it yet. Might be worth getting a busted up Retina and modifying the part off of that camera. I'll then have the original part in case I don't like how it feels.

retina_restoration · Mar 16, 2023

Cholentpot said:
This is why I haven't done it yet. Might be worth getting a busted up Retina and modifying the part off of that camera. I'll then have the original part in case I don't like how it feels.

You'd be better off acquiring a Retina II or IIa, neither of which suffer from the "EV link" problem, rather than modifying a perfectly good IIIc type.

Cholentpot · Mar 16, 2023

retina_restoration said:
You'd be better off acquiring a Retina II or IIa, neither of which suffer from the "EV link" problem, rather than modifying a perfectly good IIIc type.

Do you recommended the II or IIa?

madNbad · Mar 16, 2023

Cholentpot said:
Do you recommended the II or IIa?

Postwar Type 016 IIa. These were manufactured between 1951 and 1954, offer a lot of innovation over the previous models wile maintaining its pocketable size. The IIa has a top mounted lever advance, the shutter speeds and aperture can be set independently. Also, they don’t suffer from stripped cocking racks like the bottom winders do. The Schneider 50 2.0 lens is most common but they can be found with the Rodenstock Heligon.
I’ve owned a IIIc, two IIc’s and two IIa’s and the IIa was the best to use. Paul can do the service and it’s worth it. These are seventy year old cameras. The other advantage of the IIa is the relatively short space between the supply side and the take up spool often providing an extra frame or two.

Cholentpot · Mar 16, 2023

Excellent. Time to hunt for one of these things.

retina_restoration · Mar 16, 2023

madNbad said:
Postwar Type 016 IIa. These were manufactured between 1951 and 1954, offer a lot of innovation over the previous models wile maintaining its pocketable size. The IIa has a top mounted lever advance, the shutter speeds and aperture can be set independently. Also, they don’t suffer from stripped cocking racks like the bottom winders do. The Schneider 50 2.0 lens is most common but they can be found with the Rodenstock Heligon.
I’ve owned a IIIc, two IIc’s and two IIa’s and the IIa was the best to use. Paul can do the service and it’s worth it. These are seventy year old cameras. The other advantage of the IIa is the relatively short space between the supply side and the take up spool often providing an extra frame or two.

Exactly. Well said.
Though there's nothing wrong with the Retina II - it simply lacks the all-in-one action of advancing the film and cocking the shutter at the same time. Admittedly that's a big convenience the Retina II lacks. Make sure you get the Type 016 version of the IIa. Don't bother with earlier iterations.

albada · Mar 16, 2023

madNbad said:
Postwar Type 016 IIa. These were manufactured between 1951 and 1954, offer a lot of innovation over the previous models wile maintaining its pocketable size. The IIa has a top mounted lever advance, the shutter speeds and aperture can be set independently. Also, they don’t suffer from stripped cocking racks like the bottom winders do. The Schneider 50 2.0 lens is most common but they can be found with the Rodenstock Heligon.
I’ve owned a IIIc, two IIc’s and two IIa’s and the IIa was the best to use. Paul can do the service and it’s worth it. These are seventy year old cameras. The other advantage of the IIa is the relatively short space between the supply side and the take up spool often providing an extra frame or two.

Agreed.
Be aware that the IIa has a few disadvantages:

No framelines.
The film-counter is usually inop due to an overstressed spring which breaks;
The Xenon lens often has some unremovable haze on the two surfaces facing the blades. Heligons don't have this problem. On the positive side, I've shot with a couple of IIa's that had minor haze, and the haze did not appear to hurt photos.

Mark

Kodak Retina IIa - repaired

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