Vintage film cameras

[Kenzie]

I got the DSB bacl together but the focus off so it will have to come apart again. The Halina 35x that came in the job lot has a working shutter but the lens will need some attention, I think I have another lens set for it somewhere from another one I took apart. The Rex has a badly scrated rear lens element and the bellows while decent looking are full of pin holes. The Korell is a junker, front lens element is missing, front platebis dented and shutter and its mechanisms are borked. Oddly enough, it seems the lowly Halina might be the only salvageable camera. Looks like fun there Admin. Also, my Canon EOS 5 seems to gave a cloudy viewfinder, no idea where to start with fixing it.

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[admin]

Not sure it was fun. Put it back together and found i only had 18-135 range

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[Kenzie]

Oh dear, something in the wrong place? No idea how to sort the focus out on the DSB. I've seen so many photo ops on the way home from work but not been able to stop. Would be perfect in black and white with the snow and mist today.

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[admin]

Originally Posted by Kenzie

Oh dear, something in the wrong place? No idea how to sort the focus out on the DSB. I've seen so many photo ops on the way home from work but not been able to stop. Would be perfect in black and white with the snow and mist today.

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I guess it was. I just stripped it again and started from scratch. I then checked it for extension at every stage of the rebuild. It was all working well until I realised that AF was on even though the switch was set to MF. I'd forgotten to engage the mechanical lever with the external switch.

[Kenzie]

Guess you have had better luck than me.

[admin]

Originally Posted by Kenzie

Guess you have had better luck than me.

A lot of luck as I have no idea what I'm doing. The lens was with written off by the repair agent as water damaged. I couldn't see any. If you want to learn, you might well practise on a broken item

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[johnnyrod]

Well I didn't get much further with the Automatica. It's nicely made, shame it's not a rangefinder! The shutter needs to click three times when cokked (this was the problem it turned out), I need to look at this when it goes back together to make sure it cokks fully. I worked out the auto exposure, it's both innovative and crude. Crude in that you set the film speed, but this only equates to the aperture - a bit like setting an auto flash; the auto then times the shutter. You can use it in manual mode, it's a normal Prontor shutter. In auto mode you set it to 1/300 (max speed) so the escapement is essentially inactive. The cokking shaft is attached to a piston in the meter by a lever. The meter response (needle sweep) determines how fast air is admitted to the piston chamber. When the shutter is fired, the piston falls, at a speed dependant on the meter reading and hence air flow, and until it reaches the end of its travel, acts as a brake on the cokking shaft and so slows it between shutter opening and closing. God knows how close the real timing is to the time readings of the needle on the top plate. I expect in auto mode it is very quiet, as the escapement isn't used, so doesn't whirr, and the braked action will be quieter than the usual fast-as-possible action. Very clever (unique in fact), pity it isn't linked to the aperture/ISO ring, and no RF. All the light seals fell to bits so I'll need to put something in there as well! Dated from the lens as 1960.

[johnnyrod]

Piston attached to silver lever. The black toothed shaft is the cokking shaft drive, it engages with the cokking shaft on the shutter, and is driven by a toothed rack as you wind on.
Untitled by John Rodriguez, on Flickr

[Kenzie]

Wow, thats some serious engineering for the time. Can't understand why they had to make it so complicated. I got the DSB back together at last, the lenses are clean and the aperture isn't covered in oil but I had some trouble with the front ring. I've had to space it slightly as something has moved inside and if I tighten it all the way it blocks infinity focus. It will do for a keep but I have learnt not to mess with the focus if I don't have to.

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[Kenzie]

Got this as the minimum value at the antiques centre was a tenner, I only wanted an point and shoot camera as it had a rapid cartridge inside. Houghton Butcher May Fair 120 6x9 from 1930.

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