Contax II/III Repair Recommendations?

[KoNickon]

There is a sticky thread on repairers of the Contax IIa and IIIa, but how about the prewar Contaxes? I have a II with collapsible Sonnar, vintage 1938, that I would love to get rejuvenated. It generally works well now, but the viewfinder really needs cleaning and the shutter could use a CLA (sometimes doesn't cap on winding in cold weather with the slow speeds, and the first curtain starts to release when using the selftimer). And the lens has oil on the aperture blades, though the glass is pretty clear.

Mike (ZeissFan) has a very helpful writeup on his site about working on the II, but I frankly think that level of work is above my competence.

I have a III that Oleg Khalyavin serviced prior to my buying it, and I think he does a pretty good job based on my and others' experience. But I know it's somewhat heretical to send a Jena Contax to Russia. Of course Henry Scherer is an option, but I'd like to use the camera while I'm still (relatively) young, and not spend twice for the repair what I paid for the camera and lens.

What are others' experience with Oleg and Henry -- and whom else would folks recommend?

 

[furcafe]

I've had a good experience a couple years ago w/Jerry Sorin (jerrysorin3[at]gmail.com), who I believe works on both the pre-WWII (& Kiev) & post-WWII Contax bodies.

 

[KoNickon]

He has passed away, I believe, and Eddy Smolov has retired.

 

[furcafe]

Oh no, sorry to hear (belatedly) about Jerry.

He has passed away, I believe, and Eddy Smolov has retired.

 

[gdmcclintock]

Panorama Camera (Fima Bender) overhauled my II and IIa and did a pretty good job. He is in NYC.

 

[KoNickon]

Don't know about him. Got contact information?

 

[KoNickon]

So I'll give this a bit of a bump and ask whether anyone has had experience sending their II or III to Oleg? (And I'd like to know about Fima Bender too.)

 

[Pioneer]

Mark Hansen did a pretty good job on my IIa, but I don't think he works with the older models.

 

[Highway 61]

So I'll give this a bit of a bump and ask whether anyone has had experience sending their II or III to Oleg?

The bad : Oleg won't mess up with servicing an original prewar Contax shutter and will install a good working spare Kiev shutter in it.

The good : he won't lie and will tell you that this is what he'll be doing.

IMO once you know it and given that the Contax II cameras don't fetch a very high level on the collectible market, there is nothing really wrong with this option. A good Kiev shutter is better than a worn out original shutter if you intend to use the camera on a regular basis.

Same with the RF prism : installing a sparkling Kiev spare beamsplitter prism is a very good option if the original one isn't only dirty but suffering from separation (if you see golden needles all around the finder when you look at the camera from the front, this is it).

 

[KoNickon]

Thanks, good info. No, no "golden needles" -- just some dirt and haze. I think I can live with the shutter as is if I can get the RF/VF cleaned.