Maizenberg's FSU Repair book

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boglebadger

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Hi everyone,

I've heard of Maizenberg's book on FSU camera repair, and it seems there's an English version around in PDF. However there's only one link posted (http://cccp.alien-planet.net/maizenberg-cameras1.pdf) that doesn't seem to work anymore - I even followed all the links around the archived site but couldn't find it there.

Anyone know where I can download a copy?

Thanks a lot!

Michael.
 
Then I was just in time to download it. A great, great book.

Does anybody know who this man is/was? His writing is outstanding.

Erik.


This is what I've found online:

"All You Need to Know about Design and Repair of Russian Cameras." By Isaac S. Maizenberg. subtitle, "A Collector's and Repairman's Handbook". Sometimes referred to as Maizenberg.

The late Maizenberg has written several books and was one of the Last true camera-engineers. This is the only known English book he wrote. And it is nothing less than Excellent. There is repair info in this book on all the mainstream Russian Cameras, Kiev, Zenit, Zorki, Fed, and several others. This book however stops before 1965. Before the Zenit-E. Allthough Maizenberg does not mention the E-type he does covers the Zenit Krystall and the Zenit 3M. Which were the E-types predecessors. This book is a MUST for everyone who wants to repair their Russian cameras. It covers the first SLR's, rangefinders and has full info on calibration of rangefinders and lenses. Unfortunatly it is a rare and hard book to find. Number of copies is unknown but it is rumoured to be a 1000.
 
The most exceptionally useful section for anyone working with Kiev or Contax II/III cameras is where he describes where all the escapement levers and cams should be at each speed. It's well illustrated, and an absolutely essential check after a strip-down.
 
Maizenberg's book is a revelation for the patient. There are some reprints around, mine is from the nineties. There is also a book around called 'device and repair of the camera' which I think is an unoffical bootleg.

Yakovlev and Vishnevski also wrote repair books, but those are only in Russian.
 
pulling the curtains

pulling the curtains

Hi guys. Would anyone consider sharing the much sought after book with a newcomer? I am wrestling with the curtains on my disassembled Zenit 3M puzzle, that i am trying to bring back to life.



Does anyone know the reason for the witch hunt on links? Usually this means that the material is being re-released and that there is a financial incentive, but in this case I am a little confused. My wife speaks russian and we are considering translating some of the soviet literature.
 
The Majzenberg is a fantastic work and it's a pity that his heirs never did a reprint or offered the copyright to anyone.

Now, the book is like a Gutenberg's Bible or Shakespeare's "first folio" in the community of camera enthusiasts: yes, the original edition was limited to 1.000 copies and those circulating are those only and many, many more pirate copies, published is sort of... samizdat!

I am happy with my original, hardbound example, bought as new many, many years ago.

On the other hand, the pirate scans of Majzenberg's book regularly appear and disappear, in many of the well-known, not-so-legal web-based libraries.
 
I have one, and I am impressed as much, in addition to the content and illustrations, with with how well proofread the text is. I've maybe found one or two incorrect page references, and the same number of misspellings. An excellent job all around.
 
I just have a handful of pirate loot pages. No idea where they came from and I suspect I didn't know where they could have come from. Can maisenburg be compensated today? Perhaps one of those "fund me" websites?
 
I have his book. If you are serious about Contax II information I would not buy the book. Though there are some diagrams it fails to show or describe how to set up a Contax II or repair the shutter. The exploded diagram of the wind up unit is valuable if you take it apart to clean it and do not make note of how it goes back together. The operational descriptions with the delay mechanism are misleading and there is not any significant description of how the escapements operate or can be adjusted. It is amazing to me that in all the information, even on line, there is a dearth of information about how to set up the 2nd curtain so that 1/1250 can be obtained, with all the rest of the speeds, using escapements engaging at the appropriate times. This depends upon the small gear that the 2nd curtain engages and rotates when winding. In addition the large gear teeth must be set up appropriately. If you are not lucky enough to have just to put new ribbons in, it will take some time to come to this conclusion. Unfortunately some Contax II , when the ribbons break at the usual spot, at the top, have curtains that rolled beyond their normal distance so setting up the shutter crate then becomes a job for a technician. I have operated the shutter crate without the 1st curtain with the 1st curtain springs -(without) roller installed and can tell you that the information on the internet about the disengagement of the escapements is way off. There is compensation for the escapements releasing within the film aperture by way of the spool up of the 1st curtain with a leather strip on the 1st curtain roller which happens to be just about the same number of millimeters wide as the 2nd curtain travels into the film aperture without being released from the escapements.. IMHOP this is done to create accelerations of the curtain to obtain an even exposure. I could be missing something, and I am not an engineer or learned camera repair person, Math and measurement and my own eyes can tell me when a shutter escapement releases in the film aperture. I happen to have worked on several Contax II and Kiev cameras and their shutters all operate the same.

By the way, I have the book in Russian. It does not appear to be a pirated copy. My Russian language skills are not that of a "native reader" but I am able to do some translation, spending time in his chapter on the Kiev/Contax II since that was the only chapter I was interested in.
 
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