Contax llla: How do I remove the top and front covers?

[Kevcaster]

I'm opening up a Contax llla. It appears to have a different fixing regime to the lla, I have the controls off but cannot lift the lid. All help very welcome.

Kevin

 

[Vickko]

http://www.google.ca/imgres?client=...QcMFk&iact=rc&dur=326&page=4&start=70&ndsp=25

 

[Vickko]

From Tomosy "Restoring Great..Cameras" page 55:

...remove the rewind knob, and the meter dials.

... remove 4 screws from top cover, the collar around the meter adjusting worm screw (at the back of the meter unit), the meter cover frame (4 screws) and the front lid (2 screws) must also be removed to clear the way for the top cover.

 

[Kevcaster]

http://www.google.ca/imgres?client=...QcMFk&iact=rc&dur=326&page=4&start=70&ndsp=25

Thanks Vick, from what I see this is a lll not llla, they may be the same but no detail on the top plate removal which is causing me pain.
Kevin

 

[Highway 61]

I'm opening up a Contax llla. It appears to have a different fixing regime to the lla, I have the controls off but cannot lift the lid. All help very welcome.

Kevin

You have to remove :

- winding knob and speeds dial (same as IIa)
- meter top cover (4 screws plus the adjust screw hole washer on the rear side of the meter cover)
- rewind knob (hold the fork in place, uncollapse the rewind knob, remove the set screw, remove the whole shebang - be careful not to lose the small ironball which allows the rewind knob to stay in place once collapsed)
- meter knob (three screws)
- screws that hold the top cover onto the chassis under the meter knob

Ontop the meter unit, between the accessory shoe and the needles window, there is a screw head. This is a very long screw which holds the top unit onto the chassis. Remove it and you're done, you the can lift off the whole unit.

Once done, the front cover is removed the same way as on the IIa.

 

[sevo]

You have completely taken apart and removed the meter knob assembly? The main left hand top retaining screw is underneath that, many people miss it as there are several layers of meter to remove until you get to the base!

 

[Kevcaster]

OK I'm in, just the safe to crack now.
Thanks for your help as always, this has been a puzzle that I would not have solved.
Kevin

 

[Kevcaster]

Vick thanks, I did not see the second post, apologies for being a bit slow.
kevin

 

[Kevcaster]

I have restored the slow speeds and cleaned all through the mechanisms. This llla was built in 1961 and shows considerable refinement over my '53 lla, baffles better fitted, light proofing looks manufactured rather than hand cut.

The innards are dotted with etched marks, paint spots and even a cryptic 'S' under the viewfinder. The current speed settings are much different to the lla. I expect to have to re-adjust the speeds on this camera and am bracing myself for that.

The meter is a thing of beauty and surely constitutes 1/2 the camera weight! With great good luck, it works really well, I expect it to be fully useable once adjusted.

Thanks again for all the assistance so quickly offered.
Kevin

 

[Kevcaster]

First service is complete, lots of fettling needed on this camera. The lens focusing helical remains uneven and several past errors were evident in the infinity lock. The cams that hold the springs were incorrectly set forcing a string of fitment issues. One of the cams fouled the primary lever and had a washer added to mitigate the problem causing the helical mount to distort when tight and there was at least one home made spring that was too long.
The inside was clean with extensive markings, screw head scratching, paint daubs and a missing screw on the meter mount. I'm not confident about the adjustments I have made, I followed Rik Olenson's recommendations but sense that this is not the full story. I re-tensioned the shutter but did this before making other adjustments and think I should have treated the shutter tension as just one of a mix of things to be done rather than do it as a sequence.
The slow speeds are restored but inaccurate, too fast by 1/3 stop up to 1/10, settling down for 20th and 50th.
Next step is to Develop a test film.
This appears to be a camera that, while cosmetically mint, has attracted a lot of repair attention by people who I suspect we're not Contax literate has probably never been satisfactory.
This 1961 model seems to be further engineered than the 53 black dial I tackled and at the same time not as we'll made. The 53 is quieter by a margin and operates more smoothly.
Thanks again for all the assistance on this project. More to be done as at the end I found a 3cm piece of light flocking that should have been fitted around the lens helical beneath the rangefinder Grrrrrrr. So open it up again.
Kevin

 

[Kevcaster]

Test film shows fair results, useable exposure across all the the most used speeds on Ilford FP4. All speeds show an exposure, even 1250, some under exposure at each end of the scale.
All other functions are fine, rangefinder spot on with a 50mm F2.0 Sonnar at full aperture and closest focus, vertical alignment perfect. There appears to be slight hazing to the inside of the cemented viewfinder prism which I imagine will get worse but for now the view is bright and clear. Frame spacing is exact.
Thanks again for all your generous help, restoring these two Contaxes has been an immensely satisfying project.

 

[KoNickon]

Your skills are impressive -- this is a very educational thread. Not that I will try doing anything of this sort, but your observations about the assembly of the two cameras you have are enlightening. I'm sure that to some extent your IIIa shows the effects of incompetent repair, but I also think (and Henry Scherer's website says as much) that a lot of these cameras were not assembled correctly -- a function of the complicated design, I'm convinced. It takes a lot of skill to put right that which was wrong from the day it left the factory.