Older Camera Repair

seabee1999 · Nov 1, 2018

Good day to all, this evening I was given as a gift a few cameras that my grandfather used to own at one time. There are a couple Kodak Brownies, a Hawkeye, and Instamat104 and lastly a Kodak Vigilant Six-20. The last one is in fairly good shape aside from the rails that extend the bellows and lock them have come undone. Just wondering and looking for recommendations for getting this folder back to good working order again? Thank you for your time.

V/R
Dave

shutterfinger · Nov 1, 2018

seabee1999 said:
the rails that extend the bellows and lock them have come undone.

Explain/post a picture.
The rails have stop pins made into the bed to prevent them from coming off the camera. The front standard slides on the rails but is stopped by the stop pins so it cannot be removed from the rails.

thuggins · Nov 1, 2018

Definitely post a picture. There have been many times I have wanted to "undo the rails", mainly to get to the underside (side facing the bed) of the bellows to make a repair. I've worked with a number of folders of many brands, and every one of them has had riveted struts that can be disassembled short of drilling out the rivets.

seabee1999 · Nov 1, 2018

Attached are the images of the slider/rails that have detached from the camera. Also, the shutter is assembly is disconnected and the camera doesn’t close all the way.

For follow on information, these are cameras that my grandfather had. My dad inherited them and my brother had them on display not being used. Here in the coming weeks, I will retire from the Navy and these cameras were a gift to me as I have a greater interest in photography than he does. The Brownies are very rough. The Hawkeye and Vigilant are in better condition and have greater potential to be restored.

dxqcanada · Nov 1, 2018

Well, if the rivet can pop out of the arm slot, then they theoretically should be able to go back in.
Looks like someone forced them out.

shutterfinger · Nov 1, 2018

Pictures with standard camera terms:

The bed is the part the front standard is riveted to.
The bed braces have been disconnected from their pivots/retainers.
Are the heads on the retainers? The braces should not come loose from the body and as they are bent outward they may have been pried off.
I don't know of anyone that will service this camera as most have retired.
I have two of these for sale, 1 is a parts body that needs a new bellows and external viewfinder. Shutter has only two speeds after a CLA.
Body #2 is a complete working camera with all shutter speeds good.

seabee1999 · Nov 2, 2018

shutterfinger said:
Pictures with standard camera terms:
View attachment 210415 View attachment 210416 View attachment 210417
The bed is the part the front standard is riveted to.
The bed braces have been disconnected from their pivots/retainers.
Are the heads on the retainers? The braces should not come loose from the body and as they are bent outward they may have been pried off.
I don't know of anyone that will service this camera as most have retired.
I have two of these for sale, 1 is a parts body that needs a new bellows and external viewfinder. Shutter has only two speeds after a CLA.
Body #2 is a complete working camera with all shutter speeds good.

Many thanks for the labeled images. Sorry, as is at this moment, I am not looking to purchase any cameras. Thank you for your offer. Really, I was hoping for a camera repair recommendation. I don't have the time myself at this moment to tinker on anything with a looming Navy retirement, move across country, school, job search and the like.

R/
Dave

Pentode · Nov 2, 2018

You might want to contact Radu at 3R Camera Repair in Flushing, Queens, New York. He seems willing to work on a lot of older cameras that other technicians don’t want to deal with.

You could also look into an Ebay seller; Certo Six, who specializes in restoring folders. His reputation is excellent and I believe he takes in repair work but you’d have to send the camera overseas. It might be worth it to get an heirloom restored.

seabee1999 · Nov 3, 2018

Pentode said:
You might want to contact Radu at 3R Camera Repair in Flushing, Queens, New York. He seems willing to work on a lot of older cameras that other technicians don’t want to deal with.

You could also look into an Ebay seller; Certo Six, who specializes in restoring folders. His reputation is excellent and I believe he takes in repair work but you’d have to send the camera overseas. It might be worth it to get an heirloom restored.

Thank you for the referrals. I had already contacted Jurgen at Certo6 but he doesn’t repair Kodak cameras. I’ll try Radu this weekend.

R/
Dave

MultiFormat Shooter · Nov 4, 2018

seabee1999 said:
Just wondering and looking for recommendations for getting this folder back to good working order again? Thank you for your time.

Another one to consider would be Michael Zacks/Zacks Camera Repair. He did some work for me, and I was impressed. He works on older cameras, routinely.

I have no affiliation with him, other than being a satisfied customer.

papagene · Nov 4, 2018

I can also recommend Michael Zacks.

Huss · Nov 11, 2018

You could also try Walter's Camera Repair in downtown Los Angeles. They've fixed a bunch of old stuff for me.

John51 · Nov 12, 2018

seabee1999 said:
I don't have the time myself at this moment to tinker on anything with a looming Navy retirement, move across country, school, job search and the like.

R/
Dave

One way or another, using those cameras are going to cost you some time. If not your tinkering time, than work time to pay the extra $ needed.

Even if they were all in good working order right now, afaik, the only camera that will take film that you can buy from a regular camera store is your Brownie Hawkeye. That will take 120 on the supply side but you need a 620 spool for the take up side. (Later models need to have a small internal tab removed first.) Then you have to ask the lab to return your 620 spool and pay extra postage for that.

There are places that sell 620 film. It is respooled from 120 and of course it costs more than 120. Not that difficult to do the respooling yourself. You'll need a changing bag or a 100% dark room. Once you have the changing bag, might as well process b+w film yourself.

Some of your Brownies might take 127 film. Once again, there are places. Last price I saw was ~$18 per roll.

A problem with getting the Vigilant repaired is that the cost of the service will likely exceed the (non sentimental) value of the camera. The repair guy loses money if the value of the camera won't cover the bill should the customer not pay. Offering to pay a deposit first should ease their worries on that.

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