Exacta V with mirror desilvered

[farlymac]

I was wandering around a small town the other day looking for a good vantage point to take a photo of the county courthouse when as I turned a corner, I spied a shop with some cameras sitting on a table. I didn't think it was open, and was looking through the front doors for a better look when the owner popped up from his desk, and let me in.

There were several rooms to look through, with cameras scattered all over the place. On my way out of one room I saw an Exacta in its leather case, and inquired about the price. It was reasonable, for what I've seen them go for on auction sites where you don't know what you can be getting, so I bought it.

Got it home, and began exercising the stiffness out of it, while perusing my guide book by Abel and Tydings. All the functions were working, but the viewfinder was very dark, which surprised me quite a bit. I took the prism finder off, and saw a strange site, what looked like a cracked piece of glass with some pencil markings on the other side.

I took the lens off, wound the camera, and then realized someone must have cleaned the living crap out of the mirror while it was in that upward position with the finder removed, as there was only a thin strip of silvering left where it rested against the mirror bounce pad.

Things is, I can still use the camera as is, because the center split-prism rangefinder is very visible. But some day I may finally attempt to remove the mirror, and replace it with something newer.

Heck, I've even got a set of Schact extension tubes around here somewhere, but that would just be asking for a headache trying to use them with such little light reaching the viewfinder.

I've always wanted one of these left handed beauties. Love that deep engraving on the front.

PF

 

[johnf04]

Sounds like one of those shops, that you can never find again.

 

[Bhpeck]

It seems that the silvering on these is rather delicate. My 1956 Exa's mirror is worn but still quite usable. I thought about replacing the mirror but am not sure about how to go about doing that. I imagine that any replacement would have to be the original thickness as well. If you find a solution I look forward to hearing it!

 

[tunalegs]

If somebody used windex on it, it will strip the silvering right off. If you use ronsonal you can clean it very gently without removing the silvering.

The silvering on the early cameras doesn't age well, so I think some of them get ruined when people see splotchy silvering and think they can "clean" it up.

 

[BernardL]

It is in principle possible to do chemical silver plating at home. But (a) prior cleaning of the glass is essential; (b) the chemicals are potentially dangerous. I'll let you do the searching, but nevertheless advise, if you embark into this, to wear eye protection.
Replacement with another mirror: easier if the mechanical reference is the front face; then find a junk donor SLR. Or find the mirror position adjustment.

 

[blumoon]

I have an old Exakta. Not sure what model (V ?) as the face plate is gone.
Looks like someone used it for parts, but the mirror is still in it and looks fine.
I don't know how difficult it would be to remove.
If you want it, you can have it for whatever the shipping cost would be.

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[/url]DSC08739 [/IMG]

 

[sevo]

The more common versions of the Exakta are cheap, and the mirror should be interchangeable.

 

[ray*j*gun]

That is really nice Blumoon. One reason I love this forum!!

 

[farlymac]

I have an old Exakta. Not sure what model (V ?) as the face plate is gone.
Looks like someone used it for parts, but the mirror is still in it and looks fine.
I don't know how difficult it would be to remove.
If you want it, you can have it for whatever the shipping cost would be.

[/URL]DSC08741 [/IMG]

[/URL]DSC08739 [/IMG]

From what I can tell, that is a VX. PM will be on the way.

Thanks so much.

PF

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

I have an old Exakta. Not sure what model (V ?) as the face plate is gone.
Looks like someone used it for parts, but the mirror is still in it and looks fine.
I don't know how difficult it would be to remove.
If you want it, you can have it for whatever the shipping cost would be.

[/URL]DSC08741 [/IMG]

[/URL]DSC08739 [/IMG]

I'm no particular expert on Exaktas despite delving into a Varex IIa quite deeply. But I suspect that may be a Varex IIa/VXIIa, because I think later on during its run, they omitted the 1/150 speed that was used at least up to the early IIas if my memory is not mistaken. And this example does not have a 1/150 speed on its dial. With the introduction of the IIb, apart from several other changes (no prism lock, badge, etc) they also went to a new type of knob for the slow speeds/self timer. This example has the older type of knob, used on IIa and previous models. So I'm inclined to think it may be a middle to late IIa? Maybe embossed, originally?
Cheers
Brett