Very nice, and that's why Retinas are so popular. Beautiful cameras, both to look at and the results they produce. Do you have the sunshade and filters for it?
I know it has been sometimes and you might have fixed it already, but I want to give some few information. In IIc/IIIc the shutter will be tripped before the film advance, so if you press the release button and can advance to the next frame but the shutter isn't tripped, then something is wrong with the shutter, maybe in the springs or the retarder inside the shutter. I suspect the cocking spring might have hard grease that when you press the release button, this spring doesn't bounce back to trip the retarder and gives you shutter speed . The other problem that can happen is the shutter hang and stay open until you cock the shutter or close the shutter by hand, the problem in this case will be with the shutter release shaft inside the camera which doesn't bounce back, this can be solve by install a spring to the shutter release shaft or give some space between the release button, the top cover and the top cocking rack guide.
It is a very good camera yeah, I got two recently and one of them always goes with me outside. It gives me outstanding result.I had a CLA done and the camera is good as new. I have a roll waiting to scan and the negatives look tack sharp. Camera is one of the finest in my stable. And I have a large stable.
I ran into a IIIC by chance, Saturday, near the end of the house sale, made a low offer (got change out of twenty!), which was accepted.
Both shutter and winding seem smooth, but I need to check with an actual dummy film roll.
I got the feeling that to the 30-year-old seller, film cameras were from some distant past, and as useful as a floppy disk or such.
He also never opened the IIIC lens door, I would think!
All should be aware that the cocking racks in the Retina II/III-family rangefinders usually strip. This is a well-known weak-spot in these cameras. The cause is poor support at both ends of the brass rack, causing the rack to flex away from the steel pinions, putting excess force on the tips of its brass teeth, causing them to deform and finally strip.
An experienced camera repairman can brace both ends of the rack with self-made parts that I call the "steel plate" (for the lower teeth) and the "sigma" (for the right teeth). These added parts are internal (invisible from the outside), and have no effect on any of the camera's capabilities. After bracing the ends of the rack in this manner, it will probably never strip. The details of the added braces are here on my website: https://fixfilmcamera.com/BraceRetinaRack/BraceRack.html
A better solution would be to make replacement racks out of steel instead of brass (hint hint for somebody who has the necessary equipment).
Mark Overton
Press the button which is closer to you than the shutter release, can you move the advance lever?Hmm... with the IIIC I found recently, I thought I was in the clear, operated the film advance normally.
A few days later, I now find that, after placing the "36" and the diamond in the right position on the frame counter window, I can fire the shutter, but then, the advance lever does not want to move.
I re-read the instructions in the manual, to make sure I wasn't missing a step, and I cannot pass beyond that point.
Note: When I bring the frame counter to the proper position (36 and diamond), I can feel and hear a detent release of some sort, but I do not know what it is or means.
Press the button which is closer to you than the shutter release, can you move the advance lever?
Did you press the shutter release lightly and not all the way until it hits the bottom?Yes.
What does that mean?
The question is, am I up to open it up (how easy?), and then apply the known fixes, that is, a combination of straightening teeth, and making a new spacer to control gaps and such.
In your photo, there is space between the back of the rack and its supporting post. That means your fix is working; it is pushing the rack into deeper mesh. On your rack, the fourth tooth from the left is shorter, indicating that the rack stripped at that point. But you got it to operate again by meshing more deeply. Congratulations!Mark, I was always mean to send you an email regarding this, just to say thank you to point out the problem. I have no tool to modify and create the sigma and plate, so I DIY with soldering lead and make a simple "dual support" which is just a spacer for the screw and a guide for the rack. You can see the lead from the photo, it is still working well after 15 rolls.
It is not easy, especially when it did not get serviced in many years.Yes, thanks, it clearly feels that way, the skipping teeth match the classic description of the common fault on these, and was half-expecting it.
This camera sat for many, many years, and that also may contribute to being stiff.
The question is, am I up to open it up (how easy?), and then apply the known fixes, that is, a combination of straightening teeth, and making a new spacer to control gaps and such.
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