Contax IIa/IIIa CLA recommendations

[Wayne R. Scott]

I sent a Contax IIIa to Steve on August 24th, 2006 with payment for CLA. I received the Contax IIIa back on Sept. 1, 2006. Eight days turn around time from leaving my home to returning home. Camera is smooth as butter to operate. Frame spacing of film is adjusted so that modern film processors do not pull out their hair trying to cut between the exposed frames like before.

I will send Steve more cameras.

I once sent a camera overseas by air parcel post and it took 3 months for it to arrive at its destination.

Wayne

 

[JohnM]

Ah, well. Now I am on the fence again.

 

[steamer]

Hi Wayne just wondering if you contacted serota outside of the bay, me and the other guy contacted him outside the auction site. Sure I understand packages can get lost or take a long time, it's just that he has not been straight with me on this, and was outright caught in lies with the other guy, it's been more than three months, the camera is missing, it's insured, file a claim, makes sense no?
Cheers
Steve

 

[rover]

Customs can be a crap shoot. I don't know what what happened, but I am surprised some times when packages travel like they are just going next door, and others going to the same place take forever. I would like to hear more so that we can know best about this guy.

 

[JohnM]

The counter-argument to that is that to send something out of this country, you are required to attach a custom's declaration to the package - that declaration has a number and the USPS uses it as a tracking number.

I sent a parcel to the UK two weeks ago in a situation where the buyer was very anxious to receive it prior to going on a trip. Using the custom's number, we were able to know exactly where the parcel was - including a detailed account of its movement through customs.

If Steve has mailed the camera, he would have a custom's declaration number that he would be able to provide. The fact that he has not done so could be looked at as a bad sign.

 

[rover]

I think that depends too on the services offered by the destination country too John, If that country doesn't have the infrastructure to track that number, the track ability is gone. For instance, short of using Express Mail I don't think we can send a package with tracking to Canada via the USPS. And of course, Fed Ex and UPS have their own challenges not the least of which is costs.

 

[JohnM]

You're right - not all services are available to all countries. (e.g. you cannot insure a parcel to the Phillipines.) But Japan is one of the countries where nearly a full range of services are available.

Even if it wasn't, the parcel's custom's number would show that it entered the USPS system at some date, even if it did not provide any information past that date.

 

[Dougg]

It's almost like we're discussing two different Steve Serotas. I did have a running email conversation with him outside of the eBay messaging system. I had sent him a IIIa with a dead meter and included a f/1.5 Sonnar not on the prepaid service. He was able to replace the meter cell with a new one for $45 extra, and serviced the Sonnar for $25, so I sent him a second PayPal payment for these services.

As an option he removed the "Zeiss bumps" at no charge, as neither of us has any use for rust or other "body rot". 🙂 In fact this discussion got us sidetracked onto 1960's Fiats, Triumphs, Volvos, and Corvairs, as he's a car nut too.

All this, including his ordering-in a fresh meter cell from the manufacturer, and shipping both ways from the West Coast, took from 30 July through 15 August this year, so it was pretty quick I thought.

He was using three email addresses: lizardracer@comcast.net as mentioned in the auction which is also his PayPal payment address, then later ebay-overhaul@camera-care.com, and finally sserota@comcast.net

 

[Rich Silfver]

It's almost like we're discussing two different Steve Serotas.

Agree.
Well, so far only three people here have dealt with him directly:
Positive: 2 (Dougg and Wayne) - both in the US
Negative: 1 (Steamer) - Japan

I'm still tempted to send him my IIIa.

 

[Wayne R. Scott]

Steamer,

I contacted Steve outside of e-bay. I sent an e-mail to him and got a quote and list of services. I mailed a MO with the IIIa to him. Granted, I am in the States. I am not sure that this makes a difference other than shipping times.

Wayne

 

[steamer]

It's almost like we're discussing two different Steve Serotas.

You hit the nail on the head there. When this whole thing started, communication was great, had a very cordial phone conversation and when I saw his feedback on e-bay, I chalked the whole thing up to postal error and just expected serota to make an insurance claim and settle up.

If anyone really cares that much I've got the entire e-mail documentation of how things shaped up. I am an honest man myself and I just expect others to do the right thing as well. Everyone who got your cameras back in great shape, well that is the group I want to be part of.

The 3 questions I have which Serota will not answer are: 1 what is the customs or insurance number on the package in which he "sent" my repaired Contessa, 2 Why doesn't he file an insurance claim for the "lost" camera, and 3 Why doesn't he answer my e-mail?

Member "X" may want to weigh in with his experiences if and when he gets his camera back. This is all I will have to say on this until I move things ahead to a conclusion one way or the other with help from the police in his township.

Every one here is over 3 times 7 and can make their own decisions on where they want to repair their cameras.
Regards
Steamer

 

[dsymes]

Has Dougg received his IIIa back yet? Report?

 

[Wayne R. Scott]

dsymes,

Read post 49 of this thread.

Wayne

 

[Dougg]

Has Dougg received his IIIa back yet? Report?

...and post #34 on 8/15... But only now has a roll of film come back from processing & scanning, and last night I worked over some of these scans for upload. My impression is of smoothness in the look and a bit of flare from very bright areas. I tried to find some situations that would challenge rendition of bokeh. I did not make notes about apertures used, but tended to bias it toward as open as conditions permitted at 125 film speed. Fuji Super HQ 200, exposed at EI = 125, normal C41 lab processing and scans. Second shot (Jessica at the photo lab) definitely wide open. In the third one, maybe around f/2.8, see flare at the side of the window and along the edges of several boards.

 

[Dougg]

Here's three more; the first with glittery highlights on the water, second to see the overall rendition at mid-apertures and does have some OOF background, and lastly looking up at some grapevines with those tough bright-sky spots through the leaves. Close examination reveals some of the nature of this lens, fresh from CLA by Steve Serota; it's likely you will see things I haven't, and I'll enjoy reading your responses.

 

[Robert Perkins]

I have purchased a Contax IIIa which while it is in usable condition, could really use a CLA.

Now, I understand that Harry Sherer is considered the cream of the crop in terms of Contax technicians, but his waiting list is measured in years and that's a little longer than I would like to wait. (I may put this camera on the waiting list and have it CLA'd elsewhere in the interim - who knows.)

Does anyone have any experience having older Contax repaired/serviced in the US? Someone mentioned to me that CameraQuest or Essex may do it - other re
commendations?

Dear John: Ive had Henry Scherer redo all my Contax cameras and where did you get the notion that his waiting list is up to a year? Maybe a month at the longest. He's really quite the wizard with the Zeiss Contax and he does superb work on lens cleaning, adjusting, etc. If you havent allready done it, drop him an Email and he'l tell you up front what you can expect to wait for the work to be done. Personally, there is just no substitute for Henry's work. When he has finished your camera, it is as good, or better then new and an absolute joy to operate. Don't lose hope, get in touch with Henry!

Best Regards, Robert Perkins Rperkdog@aol.com

 

[RObert Budding]

Yes, Henry is good. But I'm number 87 on his waiting list. And, since he seems to complete 1 - 2 cameras per week, I've got about a 1 year wait.

 

[1dave]

Mark Hama [markhama@comcast.net] also does Contax repairs.
He's in Marietta GA.
He's doing a CLA on my G2 now.

 

[furcafe]

The Kyocera Contax G2 is a completely different animal than the Zeiss Ikon Contax cameras of the 1930s-1950s.

Mark Hama [markhama@comcast.net] also does Contax repairs.
He's in Marietta GA.
He's doing a CLA on my G2 now.

 

[Traut]

The guy on ebay, Steve S, is pure BS. Email me for details but so far he has kept my money and my camera. Months go by. He answers email for new business but nothing but BS regarding my Hasselblad.