A Leica IIIf Has Joined My Contaxes

[largedrink]

Hi Hugh,
I would remove the top cover, personally, to be able to clean and lubricate the timing shaft and latch, and also the front plate and light baffles, so that the curtain shaft bearings may be cleaned and lubricated. A soldering iron is needed to separate the wire to the flash terminal.

Thanks Brett, for the detailed response. I'll remove the top cover and front plate today and clean/lubricate. Can you recommend a lubricant? Usually with brass gears and the like it pays to leave very clean.

It's usually impossible to know who has worked on a 1950s camera over the years and when it was last touched. So I suppose it's possible the curtains have not been tensioned sufficiently, however in my experience, people nearly always tend to over tension curtain springs, rather than under tension them. Hence, if you have had to boost the spring tension, the odds favour that they might now have too much. In which case the question would be: why is this needed?

I de-tensioned both curtains completely and the shutter still behaves well. Now to read your useful links to discover the default turns to get started with.

Usually, this will be because the mechanism is not clean and adequately lubricated, and increased friction and/or sticking components prevent optimum transit times. Alternatively, original curtains may have aged and stiffened, which will impact their speed and acceleration. Unless the curtains are supple and still sound, it is usually a combination of the two.

Therefore, if a shutter is not running very well (or at all), the best course of action is usually assessing the curtains, and, if they pass muster, cleaning and lubricating the mechanism. It should then run reasonably well and evenly when the curtain tensions are adjusted to the default number of turns (after which it may be fine tuned for even exposure across the gate and, if needed, slit width).

After servicing my IIIf it now winds silky smooth with minimal effort. I can take multiple images in quick succession just as quickly as a lever wind camera, by running my right index finger along the outside of the wind knob (an old "Leicaman" trick of yore). This winds rapidly enough to easily permit shooting a frame a second, and it is only possible because the mechanism has been thoroughly cleaned and lubricated, and the curtain tension is not excessive. Otherwise, you'll risk rubbing your finger raw if your camera is dry and/or over tensioned.

If it's the one I think you're referring to, that screw head under the lens opening is merely one of the retaining screws for the front plate. It is different to all the other screws for the plate and must go back in the same position, but it simply fastens the plate, it doesn't adjust anything.

That is what I thought too which is why I loosened it in the first place. When the shutter began working again I thought it may be an adjustment screw. Perhaps just something like a speck of sand was disrupting things.

Earlier in this thread (post # 9) I shared some links to helpful documents about servicing the screw mount IIIc, IIIf and IIIg series and their derivatives. The National Camera Repair manual is very detailed and helps with the disassembly process by covering it step by step. I will be in touch privately.
Cheers,
Brett

Thanks again, looking forward to hearing from you

 

[Coldkennels]

Well spotted, yes the pressure plate is quite scratched on the edge. And yes perhaps the shutter curtain was fixed at one point, it seems to be light tight now.

Looks to me like this photo should be put somewhere permanently to discourage people from doing the "shove a card into the back of the camera so you can use a modern film leader" "trick". That's the only way I could see that amount of gouging from happening - but god only knows what they were using to do that much damage!