My beloved SL66 is broken! :(

JHannon · Jul 18, 2006

I loaded a roll of film in the SL66 today and made an exposure. The shutter seemed to fire and when I tried to turn the crank to advance, it had a lot of resistance. I stopped without forcing it and removed the back. The curtain is halfway up and has a small vertical tear in it. I did not force it but I think something caught on the cloth curtain. What a bummer......

I called Harry Fleenor at Oceanside Camera Repair and have it all ready to mail out..Harry's name has been mentioned on the net and I wanted someone familar with the SL66.

skillian · Jul 18, 2006

I had Harry do some work on my SL66 and he did a fine job. Highly recommended.

Mark H · Jul 19, 2006

I recently had repairs done on my sl66 by Jurgen Kuschnik and he did a thorough job on it. The turnaround time was very quick (less than 2 weeks), which I understand may not be the case with Harry Fleenor. That was my main consideration in choosing JK; I don't know about cost comparison, but from the research I did, felt that it was going to be an expensive proposition anyway (total was about $400 to unjam the shutter, correct a 3-degree error in the tilt, and do a thorough cleaning/lube).
I don't have the contact info handy but it should be easily found through Google.
Good luck! It may be helpful to give a report back on how you make out as it seems there are quite a few sl66 users here at APUG.

Mike Kovacs · Jul 19, 2006

As I PM'd you, JK did a nice job on mine too. Unjammed the shutter, general CLA but more in the $200 range including some parts. He had the camera done within 3 days of receiving it by post. He does not take credit cards.

You're looking at about another $150 per magazine back if you want those done too.

FYI: JK actually trained HF (and every other factory repairman in North America). JK is one of the foremost experts on the SL66 and was an employee at Rollei in Braunschweig. He bought the spare parts inventory from Marflex when they quit the Rollei warranty repair business.

Krikor Maralian at Krimar (formerly of Marflex) also does the SL66, probably for the best price of the bunch too.

JHannon · Aug 6, 2006

Just an update if anyone cares. The repair estimates for the Rollei were in the $400-450 range. The torn shutter curtain would have to be made.

I bought a SL66 body with a back in bargan condition for $330 from KEH. What I received is a camera in much better condition than my original -- plus an extra back! I am happy...

I will probably have the other body repaired some day.

tbm · Aug 7, 2006

Harry Fleenor told me last week that he is so backlogged with cameras, there will be a 3-month wait for all repairs and cleanings!

Terry

hal9000 · Aug 7, 2006

Hi John,
glad you got a replacement. I would die without my SL66. I have two magazines. One of them has a problem - when I load the film, the advance knob never locks, but does get more resistance at a certain point so I know about when the film is loaded. I will have to get that fixed one of these days. Anybody know of a good repair-person in Germany?
Hal

My beloved SL66 is broken! :(

JHannon

skillian

Mark H

Mike Kovacs

JHannon

tbm

hal9000

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