Ranchu
Veteran
Send it back, it wasn't that great a camera to begin with if mine was any indication. Ebay sucks, almost every seller is lying by omission or simply ignorant. If you get something usable, you're a rarity. Sorry, man.
How do they wind up with a 99.4% positive rating?
Ratings are a "I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine. Noone wants neg feedback which is often the results of giving a buyer/seller bad feed back. Even though a buyer may not do anything wrong and get a bad deal - if that buyer leaves bad feedback - he'll get it in return. And with some sellers of some rare goodies - bad feedback can count you out of the bidding.
Very rarely have I gotten a bad purchase off Ebay. My last camera purchase was a Voigtlander Perkeo II - it was better than described. Quite pleased at the low end price I got it at. Have bought a Bessa R, Canon 7, Yashica GSN, Yashica Lynx, Mamiya M645 1000s, all from Ebay and recieved nice clean working cameras. I think part of the solution is taking your time, asking questions, and going over the item photos with a fine tooth comb.
As for looks I have, in the back of my mind, a picture of it with the top and bottom plates black powder coated and black pigskin replacing the Vulcanite. I have the pigskin, and there is a guy in town who powder coats small items. But before that can happen I have to have a properly working camera. Since I have read posts by guys who claim their camera works properly, I have to believe that a properly serviced Iskra will do so.
It is not black but I like the skin I gave it. Small drops of oil in the focusing helicoil and turning it back and forward did wonders on my Iskra, bought without a CLA.
I cleaned the lens and rangefinder part. Added a -3 lens in the eyepiece from the inside. Later on I noticed a site with pictures of a disassembled Iskra somewhere.
http://www.pigment-print.com/Fotografica/Iskra/target0.html
Very pretty. The diopter lens, is something I shall have to look into.
Thank you t6un, I will have to look into that.
I have run that roll of film through, although not yet developed it. It ran smoothly worked just like it should.
After removing that roll, I took the open camera out in the sunshine and looked it over paying especial attention to what was going on with the helical. It certainly not old grease causing the problem, the helical has very little, but fresh, grease in it. There are a few brass filings inside the camera, maybe one of them got down inside the helical, wiping it down smoothed the focus up, but it is still stiff. I am beginning to think a bit more grease is what is needed.
Anyway, the camera shows signs that it had been properly serviced. So, the seller was honest about than. There is fresh sealant around where the bellows meets the film mask, so it looks like a fairly thorough job.
Some photos of the camera taken by simply holding the digital in macro mode with my elbows on the arms of the desk chair:
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