Contax I ribbons

Some years ago some Ukrainian sellers used to sell recent Kiev shutter curtains units (including the bottom rollers) on eBay. This might still be the case nowadays.
 
In the UK the Kiev with the lightmeter is cheapest, they seem to be at least £30 on Ebay.

I have been given the remains of a Contax II with excellent blue ribbons but...guess what... the central spring is broken, well at least I think it is, the lower curtain has no tension.

And I have been offered a Contax I without the roller, not much use...

A question...how do you remove the lower roller on a Contax II (or Kiev)?
 
Dralowid said:
In the UK the Kiev with the lightmeter is cheapest, they seem to be at least £30 on Ebay.

A question...how do you remove the lower roller on a Contax II (or Kiev)?
Click to expand...

after removing the shutter
IMG_1377a.jpg

move tension holder a site (red arrow) , this give some room to move whole roller to right (green arrow) and loose roller from the shutter
 
Oleg will be able to supply an intact Kiev roller when he gets his business sorted out after the fire, ie in a few weeks time.

Ed Trotzka can also supply NEW Kiev shutter blind assemblies for £20 but says that installing the centre spring is very difficult, he calls it 'precarious'.

These guys have been really helpful but a workable solution is yet to be found.

I still like Deklari's idea of modifying the camera to take a Kiev/Contax II roller.
 
I may be losing the plot but here we have a couple of points of interest...maybe.

1) The remains of a Contax II that I have been given have ribbons that have been glued and not stitched. Although I have no idea how old they are this is worth considering for the future. Glue is easier and blue makes a change!

IMG_2855 by dralowid, on Flickr

2) In the picture below the roller at the top is Contax II and the one at the bottom is Contax I. They are both viewed from the back of the camera.

I am trying to illustrate two things.

First the anchorage hole for the central spring is almost in exactly the same place. You can see that I have threaded a pin through the Contax I axle and it is pointing very close to the hole in the Contax II axle.

Second, the Contax I axle is around 1mm shorter than the Contax II. This may not matter too much if one were going to change roller but worth bearing in mind.

So, unless I have missed the point somewhere a Contax II or Kiev central spring will fit a Contax I roller and axle. OK so it is not 100% but with the flexibility of a spring I would hope it would work out.

All we need now is a spring, 20 tiny fingers, several hours and bionic eyes!

IMG_2853 by dralowid, on Flickr
 
Dralowid said:
Second, the Contax I axle is around 1mm shorter than the Contax II. This may not matter too much if one were going to change roller but worth bearing in mind.
IMG_2853 by dralowid, on Flickr
Click to expand...

Yes , and this different I will used to install holding mechanism from Kiev. Central axle on the left site should have some extra length for it (see on picture)
IMG_3495a.jpg
 
A step forward, maybe.

On the right hand side of the Contax I the roller sits in a bush or bearing held in place by a flat head screw.

Remove both.

This bush is just the right size to fit over the left hand end of the Kiev/Contax II roller axle making it a bit longer and a good fit in the old tensioning device plate from the Contax I.

So, on the left hand side use the original tensioning device plate with this bush. Drill a hole into the plate to fit the flat screw (from the right hand side) which will then hold this bush in place.

On the right hand side do not enlarge the axle hole, simply drill a hole for fitting the tensioning lock plate from the Kiev/Contax II.

By now you will have plenty of washers and spacers to centralise the roller in the chassis.

Something that is easy to forget is that the axle does not move in its bearings unless it is being adjusted. Therefore these bearings do not have to be 100% to do an adequate job.

I hope this makes sense,

Michael
 
Dralowid said:
A step forward, maybe.

On the right hand side of the Contax I the roller sits in a bush or bearing held in place by a flat head screw.

Remove both.

This bush is just the right size to fit over the left hand end of the Kiev/Contax II roller axle making it a bit longer and a good fit in the old tensioning device plate from the Contax I.

So, on the left hand side use the original tensioning device plate with this bush. Drill a hole into the plate to fit the flat screw (from the right hand side) which will then hold this bush in place.

On the right hand side do not enlarge the axle hole, simply drill a hole for fitting the tensioning lock plate from the Kiev/Contax II.

By now you will have plenty of washers and spacers to centralise the roller in the chassis.

Something that is easy to forget is that the axle does not move in its bearings unless it is being adjusted. Therefore these bearings do not have to be 100% to do an adequate job.

I hope this makes sense,

Michael
Click to expand...

It totally make sense (for your version of Contax I).
 
I have successful installed bottom roller from Kiev on Contax I shutter. I still waiting for good roller to test shutter. But so far it work, and I can able to change tension as on Contax II/III..
ContaxI_1a.jpgContaxI_2a.jpgContaxI_3a.jpg
 
Deklari said:
I have successful installed bottom roller from Kiev on Contax I shutter. I still waiting for good roller to test shutter. But so far it work, and I can able to change tension as on Contax II/III.
Click to expand...

Congrats. Again - that was the way to go. Now finding a good Kiev bottom roller will be easy and cheap.

And now you can set yourself as a worldwide famous Contax I repairer ! ;)
 
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