Italia1861
Newbie
Hello
It is the first time I write here, but not the first time I visit this site and read its threads.
As you are the most knowledgeable I now on soviet rangefinder matters I would like to ask you something, just so that I can satisfy my curiosity and, perhaps, be more prepared in the future. So, let me begin.
I bought my Zorki 4 (PM1800 I believe) on the 9th of March in the city of Trieste, where I study, for 35 euros, around 5 or 4 hours before the whoke country went under lockdown. I was, needless to say, quite happy. The seller said the camera was working and I (not really having any time to check) just took it, fired it once and believed it to be good. This believe lasted no more than 90 minutes.
That same day I had no time to check it for good for a precise reason: later in the day I had to take a flight headed to Sardinia (where I live). The 90 minutes I mentioned before is the time between me buying the camera and me getting on the train headed to the airport. As soon as I hopped on the train I sat down and started tinkering with the camera, first things I noticed: stuck rangefinder due to the fact that the arm connecting to the lens was oxidised, and faulty shutter speeds (maybe due to me setring the speed before cocking the shutter while testing the camera).
These problems did not make me all too happy, but the camera took me a while to find and 35 euros is a considerable amount when you only get 250 euros a month. So (considering the "free time" lockdown provided) I set out to repair it myself.
Repairing it was... kind of an interesting experience!
I had already serviced an Helios lens for the other camera I own (a Zenit 122 found in my house's basement) and in that case I had found a video where assembly and reassembly where precisely shown and detailed, I tried to find a similar video for the Zorki 4 but to no avail.
What I resorted to in the end were a series of videos with different interesting bits and this quite famous CLA guide (https://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33914).
It all took me a while, especially because I continuously wailed to refit the slow speed mechanism (as dumb as I am it took me a day to understand how to do it right and be sure about it).
After the whole ordeal was over though the camera finally worked. For one day.
Being it for me unacceptable to consider tge camera repaired until after some relentless testing of its mechanics I took it again in my hand and noticed two problems:
- the rewind mechanism did not work: turning the shutter disengaging ring did mostly nothing and the film transport sprocket would not rotate backwards;
- wirning the rewind know resulted almost always in going half way and then having the sutter curtains fall back automatically: I could turn, turn and turn without ever cocking the shutter, as if half way through cocking someone came and pressed the shutter release.
This too was eventually solved, I really just disassembled and reassembled the shutter release assembly twice and everything started working again.
Now, the question: do you have any idea why these last problems presented themselves and how I actually solved them?
It is the first time I write here, but not the first time I visit this site and read its threads.
As you are the most knowledgeable I now on soviet rangefinder matters I would like to ask you something, just so that I can satisfy my curiosity and, perhaps, be more prepared in the future. So, let me begin.
I bought my Zorki 4 (PM1800 I believe) on the 9th of March in the city of Trieste, where I study, for 35 euros, around 5 or 4 hours before the whoke country went under lockdown. I was, needless to say, quite happy. The seller said the camera was working and I (not really having any time to check) just took it, fired it once and believed it to be good. This believe lasted no more than 90 minutes.
That same day I had no time to check it for good for a precise reason: later in the day I had to take a flight headed to Sardinia (where I live). The 90 minutes I mentioned before is the time between me buying the camera and me getting on the train headed to the airport. As soon as I hopped on the train I sat down and started tinkering with the camera, first things I noticed: stuck rangefinder due to the fact that the arm connecting to the lens was oxidised, and faulty shutter speeds (maybe due to me setring the speed before cocking the shutter while testing the camera).
These problems did not make me all too happy, but the camera took me a while to find and 35 euros is a considerable amount when you only get 250 euros a month. So (considering the "free time" lockdown provided) I set out to repair it myself.
Repairing it was... kind of an interesting experience!
I had already serviced an Helios lens for the other camera I own (a Zenit 122 found in my house's basement) and in that case I had found a video where assembly and reassembly where precisely shown and detailed, I tried to find a similar video for the Zorki 4 but to no avail.
What I resorted to in the end were a series of videos with different interesting bits and this quite famous CLA guide (https://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33914).
It all took me a while, especially because I continuously wailed to refit the slow speed mechanism (as dumb as I am it took me a day to understand how to do it right and be sure about it).
After the whole ordeal was over though the camera finally worked. For one day.
Being it for me unacceptable to consider tge camera repaired until after some relentless testing of its mechanics I took it again in my hand and noticed two problems:
- the rewind mechanism did not work: turning the shutter disengaging ring did mostly nothing and the film transport sprocket would not rotate backwards;
- wirning the rewind know resulted almost always in going half way and then having the sutter curtains fall back automatically: I could turn, turn and turn without ever cocking the shutter, as if half way through cocking someone came and pressed the shutter release.
This too was eventually solved, I really just disassembled and reassembled the shutter release assembly twice and everything started working again.
Now, the question: do you have any idea why these last problems presented themselves and how I actually solved them?