Contax II Shutter Probs, Help welcome

[Carlo]

Hey,

a few months ago I bought a really beaten Contax II I wanted to repair and use as backup. Now, I have a problem with the shutter and I hpe somebody can help me. I have replaced the ribbons as well as the leather stripes at the sides of both curtains, so the shutter is ready to work again. BUT, it seems that the gears are out of alignement the I must press the release knob two times in order to be able to turn the full 360°.

Has anybody an idea what I am doing wrong? Any help will be very very welcome.

Thanks in advance,
Carlo

 

[gzuiko]

This malfunction is described in Isaak S. Maizenberg's book "All You Need To Know About Design and Repair of Russian Cameras", of course it's listed in the section on the Kiev II. Unfortunately, this book reads like Greek to me, mostly, and it has crude drawings rather than photos to describe parts. Do you have access to this book? My Contax III has the same problem. I will have to send mine out for repair, although it may just need the adjustment of a lever mentioned in this book.

 

[jmkelly]

Eddy Smolov could make short work of this repair for you.

 

[ZeissFan]

Possibly, the straps are too long or you didn't pre-tension the lower curtain drum. It's been a while since I worked on one, so I can't recall exactly which it is.

Or it might be something else.

 

[ZorkiKat]

I would assume that you took out the shutter blinds from the crate.

Putting them back and synching the gears can be very tricky. Going off by just one gear teeth is enough to make the shutter or the winding to malfunction. It's also easy to install the blinds with the big gear (the one with a non-toothed part) in the wrong orientation.

Unfortunately, this book reads like Greek to me, mostly, and it has crude drawings rather than photos to describe parts.

Maizenberg's text is perhaps one of the easiest to read, like the Nat Cam manuals. The drawings are actually precise and accurate. You can even use them to do things like counting gear teeth for setting a part in place, or comparing them with the actual parts for positioning.😉

 

[Carlo]

Eddy Smolov could make short work of this repair for you.

Unfortunately I am located in Berlin, so Eddy Smolov is not really an option. There is a shop here claiming to be able to fix the problem, but they ask for a prohibitive amount of money.

 

[Roger Vadim]

Carlo, could you name the shop in Berlin?

The only repair person I know is located in Grossbeerenstrasse 29 (I think) in Kreuzberg:
http://www.berlin.de/stadtplan/map....%DFbeerenstr.+29&start=Finden&grid=dedatlas10

He claims not to work on "russian cameras" but its a Contax, so hey... I never worked with him but been in the shop and he was very friendly and aproachable.

good luck. I've still got my Kiev on my desk...

 

[Carlo]

Carlo, could you name the shop in Berlin?

The only repair person I know is located in Grossbeerenstrasse 29 (I think) in Kreuzberg:
http://www.berlin.de/stadtplan/map....%DFbeerenstr.+29&start=Finden&grid=dedatlas10

He claims not to work on "russian cameras" but its a Contax, so hey... I never worked with him but been in the shop and he was very friendly and aproachable.

good luck. I've still got my Kiev on my desk...

Roger, I mean the one shop in the Sybelstr in Charlottenburg, if you need more info please send me an email. I will check with Grossbeerenstrasse, this might be the best option.

Thanks

 

[Carlo]

This malfunction is described in Isaak S. Maizenberg's book "All You Need To Know About Design and Repair of Russian Cameras", of course it's listed in the section on the Kiev II. Unfortunately, this book reads like Greek to me, mostly, and it has crude drawings rather than photos to describe parts. Do you have access to this book? My Contax III has the same problem. I will have to send mine out for repair, although it may just need the adjustment of a lever mentioned in this book.

I unfortunately do not have this book. I've searched the net for a source but found none (it seems only 1000 copies of the book have been printed)

 

[gzuiko]

Maizenberg's text is perhaps one of the easiest to read, like the Nat Cam manuals. The drawings are actually precise and accurate. You can even use them to do things like counting gear teeth for setting a part in place, or comparing them with the actual parts for positioning.😉

Yes, I'm sure to someone who repairs cameras, the Maizenberg book is invaluable, but to me, with only basic repair skills, it serves as just a guide to how things work. By no means was I demeaning the book. Just a little hard to follow which gear or plate he refers to from his drawings.

Jim

 

[LorenzaF]

Hi everybody. I am new here. I too own a Contax II that used to belong to my grand father, and looked for info on changing the shutter ribbons (but in the end I didn't do it myself). Found this that might be of help for Carlo:

http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-29.html

 

[trifox]

Hi there -- I can offer quite comprehensive range of repair services through the years..

Manual focus lenses and film cameras are our main focus..

We're located in Slovakia EU and we do carry out repairs worldwide.

Here's our website ...
http://www.cameraserviceone.com

or contact us on this email address:

info@cameraserviceone.com

thanks

S. Homer