Vintage film cameras

[Kenzie]

Today's boot sale finds include a Ricoh 500G rangefinder and a Lomo Cosmic Symbol. £6 for both. The Ricoh had duct tape all over it but has cleaned up well. The Symbol will need collimating. Also a Olympus OM20 for spares. Could use the focus screen for collimating.



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[johnnyrod]

Ricoh looks nice for sure! Is this somewhere where people sell a lot of cameras, or are all boot sales potentially rich pickings?

[Kenzie]

Just a car boot sale. What you need is someone who isn't looking like a trader or collector as they generally don't know what they are selling. This one guy had boxes of cameras. Loads of Konica slrs, Minolta and some other oldies Lucky I got there when I did as loads of people turned up after I picked up these two. Saw one guy with an old Agfa, he wanted too much for it and the shutter was jammed open. The 500G seems to work fine. Fancy collimating the symbol for me? If I tape the focus screen from the OM20 over the film plane, which side out do I have? Matt or shiny? Then I guess I measure a distance from something and adjust until clear?

Edit:

Just checked the focus on the symbol at 1m using a focus chart and at infinity outside. All looks good. Will load it up and give it a whirl.

[Kenzie]

The problem of owning so many cameras is showing itself again. Classic car show tomorrow but what to take? Want some 35mm as well as 120 but also the Polaroid. First world problems!

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[johnnyrod]

If it's a split image screen then you'll see the prisms sticking out like little ramps, that's the side towards the lens. Should be the matt side anyway. You want to measure from the object to the film plane, there doesn't seem to be a datum mark on those, but use your best guess. Tape the screen in place, watch out for any film guides that might mean it ends up at the wrong distance from the lens. Set to B, open shutter, adjust until clear or split images align - you'll need a loupe of some sort. You can use another camera for that, macro settings, if need be.

[Kenzie]

I think this one was microprism. Focus looks ok so I will run a film through it and see what happens. Found a roll of Ilford FP4 125asa 20 exp in the Symbol so god knows how long it has been in there. All metal canister as well. The Kodak 400 roll I found got developed yesterday. Will upload some to Flickr but they were pretty mundane.

[Kenzie]

Also forgot the Leningrad 8 lightmeter I got for £1. Says 5 feb 1986 inside the pouch.



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[Kenzie]

Turns out my Yashica f2 lens has a nice case of fungus. Long thin stringy bits. Seems to be inside the rear element. Been doing some digging and I should be able to remove the group and clean it as its a press fit. Will take a look at it when I get home.

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Edit-

scrap that idea. Got home and tried to undo the screws and they rounded off. Is usable but won't be coming off again. Will get a replacement lens.

Another edit- managed to "drill out" the offending screw. Fungus isn't too bad but I can't get the rear element off so it will have to do until I can find another lens. Managed to take a chunk out of my thumb in the process. Really need a dremel type thing.

[johnnyrod]

Yowsers. Is it on the inside or outside of the lens? If it's the outside then you can swab it with 50/50 hydrogen peroxide and ammonia, some people recommend trying spreading cold cream on it (whatever that is) which you then have to clean off, and the most outlandish one that is said to work is "nose oil" - rub the hollow on the side of your nose when you're hot and sweaty and spread that bad boy on there, leave it for a while then clean it off. These two probably float off the fungus, the ammonia/peroxide kills it. Rear element is the most vital for image quality though.

Adjusted the rangefinder in my new Olympus and it looks ready to go. My shutter speed tester needs some resoldering but 1/15 was coming in at 1/11 and the only rather rubbish reading I got on the top speed of 1/500 was 1/260 which is not unlikely for an old camera, so will try it out and test/fix it again another day. Meter and focus distance were right on the money.

[Kenzie]

Its on the inside unfortunately. Will see what the photos come out like before I worry about it too much. Got new screws in place so I can always try again. Nearly lost the little ball bearing that clicks the aperture ring. Shot a roll of Poundland finest and a roll of Ektar 100. Only took the Yashica and my Fuji HS10 out today in the end. Decided that if I go out then I can only take two cameras at a time.

Could do with adjusting the rangefinder on the Seagull, seems a bit out but I cannot seem to get much more adjustment out of the screws.