What did you fix today? (part 2)

[mshchem]

Found this at Camera Corner in Davenport Iowa. Needed one of the two ancient ballasts replaced, nearly impossible to find, along with rare 33 inch tubes, new starters. Thank goodness I took electronics in 9th grade!

 

[mshchem]

I need to wash my windows

 

[Duceman]

I need to wash my windows

Restoring photo ephemera comes first. Windows come second. Gotta have priorities.

 

[mshchem]

Restoring photo ephemera comes first. Windows come second. Gotta have priorities.

I just can't resist some of the stuff. I'm going to need a warehouse soon.

 

[MattKing]

We had so much Kodak branded stuff in our house when I was growing up, I couldn't figure out what "this" you were referring to when I looked at your photo.
Everything looked normal to me.

 

[AnselMortensen]

Oooh! I'm jealous.
Nice work, cool score!

 

[Sirius Glass]

I need to wash my windows

No, just cover them with blackout curtains.

 

[mshchem]

No, just cover them with blackout curtains.

Good idea! I built this room as a print finishing area, I since then have acquired the ginormous Deardorff. I'm going to remove 8 feet of the countertop to make room for a backdrop. I have some nice Zeiss Hasselblad lenses I want to use for portraits.

 

[AZD]

Fixed a $10 Minolta Hi Matic AF2 from the thrift store. Looks new, except for the batteries had leaked all their crud into the compartment. Quick disassembly, clean, new batteries, and it works! At least I think so. Test film to follow.

I’ve been on the lookout for one after becoming familiar with Ricky Powell, but sure wasn’t going to pay 2021 compact camera money for one. Ricky is (or sadly was) a real character, and absolute proof that equipment matters far less than subject. So naturally I learned the wrong lesson and decided I needed a Hi Matic as well.

It was probably worth $10 though.

 

[AZD]

Yep, worth the $10. Ten quick shots on HP5 and it did better than expected. It’s a keeper.

 

[Helios 1984]

I've disassembled the front group of my Rodenstock Rodagon 50mm f/2.8 and cleaned the elements with isopropyl alcohol after noticing fungus marks. The lens came with the LPL 670DXL that I bought about 2 weeks ago, the price was so low that I didn't inspect the lens. Mind you, by no means it would have been a deal-breaker, I'd still have purchased the enlarger. I'll leave the lens in full sunlight for a couple of days, just to be on the safe side, and give it a shot when I'll be ready to print. Fortunately, it only ate away the coating on the center element of the front group so maybe I could find a replacement element or a whole front group from a donor lens?

 

[Roger Thoms]

Fixed a $10 Minolta Hi Matic AF2 from the thrift store. Looks new, except for the batteries had leaked all their crud into the compartment. Quick disassembly, clean, new batteries, and it works! At least I think so. Test film to follow.

I’ve been on the lookout for one after becoming familiar with Ricky Powell, but sure wasn’t going to pay 2021 compact camera money for one. Ricky is (or sadly was) a real character, and absolute proof that equipment matters far less than subject. So naturally I learned the wrong lesson and decided I needed a Hi Matic as well.

It was probably worth $10 though.

We have two Minolta rangefinders, a Hi Matic 7s and a AL-F and get nice results with both cameras. Both 10$ Craigslist list finds. Hopefully yours is a keeper

Roger

 

[Mr Flibble]

Serviced these two Yashicas over the weekend;
The Minister-D had a stuck shutter, too much oil and dirt built up on the shutter blades.
The Lynx-1000 needed a deep clean as foam from the deteriorated seals under the top had started to infest everything.

Also cut and applied some new covering material for this Ihagee Exakta Varex prism finder.
Cleaned the internals as well and tapped out a shallow dent in the top.


And I reassembled an Agfa Selectaflex, after an attempt to get the meter running again.....But the Selenium cell was dead

 

[grat]

Replaced the mirror in an ICA Reflex quarter-plate camera.

Went from this:



To this:



What's astonishing is that the old mirror actually produced a workable (but very dim) image on the ground glass. So far, I've cleaned the ground glass, the lens (was filthy, but cleaned up nicely), and replaced the mirror. All that's left is to replace the shutter curtain, and I can start taking photos ("all", he says.... *sigh*).

Speaking of mirrors, there's a user on eBay named "marty1107" who cuts mirrors to order, has a very quick turnaround, and his prices are reasonable. Search for "replacement TLR mirror".

 

[Kino]

Fortunately, it only ate away the coating on the center element of the front group so maybe I could find a replacement element or a whole front group from a donor lens?

Will it even matter that much? I wonder...

 

[Roger Thoms]

Not so much a fix more of a modification. Wanted to mount a small ball head on my old Gitzo tripod. The problem though is that the old mounting plate on the center column was way to big making it hard to turn the little pan lock knob. So I made a smaller mounting plate.

I slowly getting up to speed with my lathe, lol, I should be an expert considering how many YouTube videos I’ve watched.

Roger

 

[Helios 1984]

Will it even matter that much? I wonder...

Behold the ugliness in all its inglorious splendor! I’ve said the front element but since it's an enlarging lens, wouldn't the front actually be the rear? humm I guess I’ll have to print to find out. I still need to get a timer, trays & a safety light. Soon.

 

[Kino]

Behold the ugliness in all its inglorious splendor! I’ve said the front element but since it's an enlarging lens, wouldn't the front actually be the rear? humm I guess I’ll have to print to find out. I still need to get a timer, trays & a safety light. Soon.

The flashlight test is always brutal. Tests are the best; you may be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Helios 1984]

The flashlight test is always brutal. Tests are the best; you may be pleasantly surprised.

I try to refrain from flashing a light through my Topcor 4.4cm f/2 as the front element it’s twice as bad as the above in scratches. It takes lovely crisp pictures tho, that’s all that matter.

I read that diffuser enlargers are very forgiving with specks of dust so maybe the diffused light will help mitigate the marks on the lens?

 

[MattKing]

The marks on the lens don't form an image.
Instead they add flare, which can reduce contrast and, in extreme cases add fog.
Diffusion enlargers already have more flare than condenser enlargers.

 

[Sirius Glass]

The marks on the lens don't form an image.
Instead they add flare, which can reduce contrast and, in extreme cases add fog.
Diffusion enlargers already have more flare than condenser enlargers.

Hence diffusion enlargers generally produce lower contrast prints.

 

[ronnies]

Replaced my FTbn de-silvered prism with one from and AE-1. Nice to have the FTbn usable again. Also managed to remove the hazy group from my AF-Nikkor 35-70/2.8 and give most of it a clean. Not perfect yet but vastly improved and usable again.

Ronnie

 

[mshchem]

Not so much a fix more of a modification. Wanted to mount a small ball head on my old Gitzo tripod. The problem though is that the old mounting plate on the center column was way to big making it hard to turn the little pan lock knob. So I made a smaller mounting plate.

I slowly getting up to speed with my lathe, lol, I should be an expert considering how many YouTube videos I’ve watched.

Roger

View attachment 292942 View attachment 292943 View attachment 292944 View attachment 292945 View attachment 292946 View attachment 292947

Nice job!

 

[Philippe-Georges]

I cut a new sheet of glass as a replacement for my contact printing frame (for 18x24cm film) which had a scratch.

 

[mshchem]

I replaced the darkslide light seal in two 1974 Hasselblad A12 backs. They are perfect now.