Leather strips for Contax I shutter.

Crazy Fedya

Crazy Fedya

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Hello RFF community!
I have a partially disassembled Contax I version f, I believe. When I received it about a year or so ago it worked for about 15 shutter actuations and then shutter ribbons broke. I have disassembled it, not looking forward to ribbon replacement, and found out that leather strips holding lower shutter curtain together are also broken.
I have sourced new ribbons from Aki Asahi, but there is virtually no informations available online for leather strips replacement. There was a topic on manual focus website about it, and gentleman have used thinned out leather to replace them in Contax II.
There was also a mention elsewhere of using fishline instead of leather.
I would like to inquire if anyone have successfully replaced these %#}€*£%<> leather strips, and what material was used.
I believe silk ribbons should be between 10.5cm and 11cm long.
Please feel free to share information and knowledge, for which RFF is famous.
 
Last edited:
As far as I know, there is only a leather strip glued on the spring loaded roller at the bottom. This seems to be the same leather that is used to cover the body. It is probably there to fill up some space between the metal cover of the housing. There are no leather strips inside a Contax I of about 11cm long as far as I know. Only the famous silk ribbons. But I do not know everything.

Erik.
 
Erik,
Thank you for your response. I apologize for not writing clearer. I was trying to ask two separate questions in my initial post.
First question is about thin leather strips that hold slats together in lower curtain.
Second question is about the length of silk ribbons in shutter.
 
Crazy Fedya said:
Erik,
Thank you for your response. I apologize for not writing clearer. I was trying to ask two separate questions in my initial post.
First question is about thin leather strips that hold slats together in lower curtain.
Second question is about the length of silk ribbons in shutter.
Click to expand...

I've never heard of leather strips that hold together the slats. The slats are connected to one another like hinges. But maybe in your version they are. With the Contax I anything is possible.


This is from Henry Scherers site. From this picture you can deduce the length of the ribbons when comparing with reality.

tool1x.jpg


Erik.
 
I recall there are tiny (leather?) straps at both left and right ends of the curtains that keep the slats lines up horizontally. At least on my Contax III there are. I guess fishing line would serve the same purpose.
 
nukecoke said:
That must be a rare sample. All the KIEVs I own and the ones I saw on the Internet have those leather straps.
Click to expand...

O, yes, I believe you. I presume I forgot. I worked on it maybe three years ago. I'll open the camera tomorrow to see what you mean. You don't mean the yak-hair, do you?

Do those straps help with the shutter curtain latching?

Erik.
 
Much as I dislike the bloody site for all the dribble and general stupidity one has to sift through to solicit solid info, there are a couple of threads over at APUG in the camera repair section that talk about slicing new leathers for the slats in the Contax II or III. Whilst acknowledging the I has a different shutter installation it is still one using brass slats, therefore I assume the essential nature of the securing leathers for the slats should be similar or the same. If you cannot find the relevant links post accordingly and, when I'm actually awake I will advise...
Cheers
Brett (who is now taking a nap after being up half the night putting a Contax II back together)
 
This will certainly be useful information. I replaced the curtain ribbons on my contax I(f) a while ago and I also noticed that the leather holding the hinges in place were starting to fall apart. It has been working so far, but maybe one day I'll have to go in again and replace those.
nathan
 
Gentlemen,
Thank you very much for all replies. I have read both threads on APUG and will try to source some monofilament fishline, and I will post results in this thread. My fingers are crossed.

Anyone remembers the correct length for silk ribbons? Is it between 10.5 and 11cm long, just like in Contax II?
 
It's up to you, of course, but if Zeiss used leather, which has lasted up to eight decades or more, in some cases, I'm not sure I'd try to second guess them, myself. I have a shutter here I am going to have to cut some leathers for, (a II) and am not particularly looking forward to it, but have some leather pieces waiting for me to do it with. Having said that I've not done this task yet, myself, what I have read generally suggests that the ends of the slats can be unforgiving, and you may only get one chance to open them up, replace the material and crimp them back before they fail. Bottom line is you need to get it right the first time as you may not get a second. And do not bend the ends back any further than you need to.

Of course, if you do use monofilament and it is a resounding success, we will all be the wiser for it. I'm not telling you not to use it per se, merely offering some cautions about some pros and cons.

One point that I do not think I have ever seen any discussion about, though, in connection with fishing threads, is their durability. I rarely fish these days, so make no claim to any particular expertise with fishing tackle, but I was under the impression that, more and more, lines are now biodegradable over the long term, to minimise impacts of snagged or broken lines on various aquatic life forms. So if you decide to use monofilament, please take a moment to ensure it's not designed to break down in a few months or years, as that would be annoying (to say the least!).
Cheers,
Brett
 
Crazy Fedya said:
Anyone remembers the correct length for silk ribbons? Is it between 10.5 and 11cm long, just like in Contax II?
Click to expand...

I didn't write he length down, but If I remember correctly it was the same as the contax II length. In my one I just pieced together the remnants of the ribbons and used that length.

Regarding the leather strips, I think many times it gets torn during service of the shutter. when I change the ribbons now, I put tape over the brass slats to hold them in place so there is no chance of horizontal movement in them while I put new ribbons in.

And if you accidentally get the gears out of sync while changing the ribbons, I found it easier to re sync them on a contax I then on the contax II.

Nathan
 
Brett,
Thank you very much for your insight. These are thoughts that were going through my brain as well. I did not bend them open all that much, just enough to dig out the remnants of old leather.
I would like to keep all my cameras as original, as it is possible to keep them functioning somewhat properly. The only reason for me to consider fishline is chemical reaction between leather and brass, producing infamous Zeiss bumps on camera backs.
Also, I have received a bunch of leather from Cal at NYC Camera Olympics in January. Some of it is goat skin, but it proves to be too stretchy and very easily breaks, when cut at 1mm wide. I will have to keep looking for leather, that will resemble the one originally used in rigidity and pliability.
I am not much of a fisherman myself, and have no experience whatsoever with any kinds of fishlines at all. All points brought up in your post are valid.
I also have a coule of Kiev and Contax bodies with broken lower curtain spring in them. I will try qto open them up and take a look if there is anything that will give me some ideas.
I have read somewhere that Kiev shutters have used synthetic material to hold these slats together, instead of leather, used n Contax. One of Kiev shutters is from around 1972-1974. Let me see how it looks like, if I can dig it up.
 
Nathan,
Thank you very much for the information. In this case it too late for that piece f tape, unfortunately. I will keep that in mind for any time, I will have to replace shutter ribbons, since I have quite a few Kiev and Contax cameras, and most of them have old ribbons in them.
 
Cal,
Italian goat leather is fantastic, however, not for this application. It is too stretchy. It will be used to recover several cameras, that badly need it. Once again, thank you very much!

As I was thinking more about fishline, I started to wonder how would rigidity of it affect brass tabs that hold it down. Under constant wear and tear, with fishline bending and straightening as shutter is wound and fired, would it start wearing down those tabs?

I thought it has to be softer and more pliable. The minute word "pliable" entered my mind, a second word entered it. That word is "bellows". Thats when I realized that Zeiss designers have used leather for it that was readily available at the factory: same leather they used to cover cameras and make bellows.

Now, I have to find bellows or camera, that will donate its covering in exchange for Cal's Italian Goat Leather suit, to make these leather strips! Whew!!!!
 
Crazy Fedya said:
Cal,
Italian goat leather is fantastic, however, not for this application. It is too stretchy. It will be used to recover several cameras, that badly need it. Once again, thank you very much!

As I was thinking more about fishline, I started to wonder how would rigidity of it affect brass tabs that hold it down. Under constant wear and tear, with fishline bending and straightening as shutter is wound and fired, would it start wearing down those tabs?

I thought it has to be softer and more pliable. The minute word "pliable" entered my mind, a second word entered it. That word is "bellows". Thats when I realized that Zeiss designers have used leather for it that was readily available at the factory: same leather they used to cover cameras and make bellows.

Now, I have to find bellows or camera, that will donate its covering in exchange for Cal's Italian Goat Leather suit, to make these leather strips! Whew!!!!
Click to expand...

Sam,

As you know I have a F3 HP I recovered with that Goat leather that someone commented that I made it into a F3P and the "P" is for Prada.

I only saved a small swatch that would be able to recover the IIIG I own, and in this case the "G" would be for glamour. LOL.

The Dacron offers no give and is of great benefit when Cod fishing when you have a lot of line out to reach bottom. It offers lots of feel because the stretch of mono dampens the sensitivity to biting fish.

Cal
 
Cal,
Thank you for info on Dacron. I can see how it would be beneficial for deeper water fishing for greater feedback.
I remember your F3P. It looks very nice. I have that uncovered IIIc, that I brought to Camera Olympics in January. It is one of first candidates for a new suit, but I kind of like it nekkid. Looks nasty (in a nice way, to me at least)! One of Contaxes is definitely getting it. And one of Praktica FX, too.

I am also toying with idea of using alternative materials for camera recovering, like burlap. Once applied, it should give excellent grip. The only downside I can see is dirt accumulating in little holes. I just have to do it and see.
 
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