Altissa Altix cameras

[seany65]

Well. I've just received a quote of £348 (inc. vat) from Sendean Cameras in the UK for a "full service and repairs: shutter, clean, rollers."

Seems a bit much to me, even if I could afford it. I'd expected £100-ish. I may have gone a bit above that, but £348?

On top of that it would be an extra £132 (inc vat) for "service, lens, focus, regrease, internal clean as best as possible".

Looks like I'll have to use it as a one-speed camera as the 1/200th seems not far off.

I know nothing of Sendean cameras and they could be the best in the world, I just can't afford these prices. I had planned on sending them my Ricoh 500GX with it's sticky viewfinder needle or faulty meter or both, but I can't even guess what they'd charge for fiddling with the electronics of a camera.

 

[Dralowid]

Although your expectation of £100ish is low I think the figures you have quoted seem seriously high, far higher than what I have spent on ltm Leicas etc.
On the other hand a Leica is a very simple bit of kit and all the jobs that need doing are well documented. Can't say the same for Altissas.

Shame Newton & Ellis are closing (I think)

I'd shop around, it just isn't worth it at those prices.

 

[seany65]

£100-ish Low? Hmmm, what sort of price would you consider reasonable for a camera without rangefinder?

I'm not being sarcastic, I'd like to know as there is another repair tech I could send it to, once I've got it back.

 

[Dralowid]

Around £150 maybe? In other words around three hours? But then there is the lens. I'm not being much of a help am I?

 

[neal3k]

Well. I've just received a quote of £348 (inc. vat) from Sendean Cameras in the UK for a "full service and repairs: shutter, clean, rollers."

Seems a bit much to me, even if I could afford it. I'd expected £100-ish. I may have gone a bit above that, but £348?

On top of that it would be an extra £132 (inc vat) for "service, lens, focus, regrease, internal clean as best as possible".

Looks like I'll have to use it as a one-speed camera as the 1/200th seems not far off.

I know nothing of Sendean cameras and they could be the best in the world, I just can't afford these prices. I had planned on sending them my Ricoh 500GX with it's sticky viewfinder needle or faulty meter or both, but I can't even guess what they'd charge for fiddling with the electronics of a camera.

It's not a bad idea to just use it stuck on 1/200. With 400 speed films, Sunny 16 will carry you through most outdoor shooting. That way it won't cost you any more trouble or money.

 

[seany65]

Thanks for the replies.

Dralowid: I would've been tempted by up to £150. The lens is actually interchangeable and the shutter is behind it, so it's just a case of "unscrew it, fiddle with the shutter and carefully screw it back in" - I'm fairly sure that its a rather fine thread.

neal3K: I have contacted a different company to see if they could help but I'm pretty sure that's what I'll end up doing, though I think I'll use a meter as I'm not good at sunny16.

 

[Juws]

Hello guys! Just started up my Altrix N that I have got in a package with other cameras. Everything seems to work fine, the time, the shutter, aperture... except the focus. Is it impossible to focus through the rangefinder? Do I need to calculate the distance?

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Yes- this is a "Scale Focus" camera. You can buy an external rangefinder to measure the distance, then set the lens.

Easiest thing to do: use the camera outside, stop down to F8 and set based on a "Zone", close-up (1.5m), Middle Distance(4m), Scenes (10m).

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LOMO "BLIK" EXTERNAL RANGEFINDER. ON REQUEST. VERY IMPORTANT! # 86034488.

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Ebay auction- just 1 example.

And- Welcome to the forum.

 

[seany65]

Dunno about anyone else, but I found a blick that I owned for a while extremely difficult to adjust. The rangefinder was off a bit in both vertical and horizontal. I found out that you take the shoe off and undo a big screw and then turn a couple of other screws, but whenever I got one bit nearly aligned the other would go out more. once I very nearly got both aligned but both went out so I got too annoyed and chucked it in the bin. 😳

 

[Eugen Mezei]

it's even got a film in it. Unfortunately I had to open the back so that I could see if the shutter was opening at 1/200 and 1/100 so it's ruined.

So in worst case scenario if the shutter was not opening you get an empty film. How is that worse than a ruined film?

 

[seany65]

The lens is tiny, there was no light coming through from the back, so it was hard to see if the shutter was opening, but on opening the camera and removing the film, I could see the shutter WAS opening, which means there may have been a few photos taken by the previous owner which I couldn't get to see as the film was fogged on opening.

 

[jweiland]

Hello everyone. I recently bought an Altix-n. After shooting the first roll, I noticed that the shutter times from 1/60 down were way off, so I thought I might be able to get some gunk out by just giving everything some movement. After some playing around, the shutter stopped closing. I can get it to close by pulling on the thumb lever, and the shutter opens correctly when pressing the release. The shutter-setting lever on the front does not go all the way to the right, and the shutter stays open. Any ideas what it might be?

 

[seany65]

Hello jweiland, I'd like to help, but my only solution to any mechanical problem anywhere is to suggest hitting it with a really big hammer. lol.

 

[jweiland]

Hello jweiland, I'd like to help, but my only solution to any mechanical problem anywhere is to suggest hitting it with a really big hammer. lol.

Heh, I managed with something similar, I let the thing sit for a few days and it decided to snap back closed again. Everything longer than 1/8 ist still completely off, and I have given up on B altogether, as I think trying to use that caused the problem.

 

[Retro-Grouch]

Hello jweiland, I'd like to help, but my only solution to any mechanical problem anywhere is to suggest hitting it with a really big hammer. lol.

This works on pretty much everything, not just mechanical stuff. Don't anyone piss me off!