Notes on fixing prewar Contax II shutters

[Philip Whiteman]

I have now successfully resurrected two Contax IIs, and cleaned and lubricated a three similar Kievs (but failed to fix light leaks in two of these Russian 'copies'!)

Both Contaxes had suffered broken shutter tapes. The originals - either from new, or as serviced by Zeiss - were pale grey in colour and secured with blue thread. I replaced the broken ribbons with that famous Japanese Aki Asahi silk tape, which appears to have a finer weave and is thinner than the original material. I made no adjustments to the slots the tape runs through (some have advised that when using thinner tape the lower curtain hoops should be closed to give sufficient friction for the shutter gap not to close at high shutter speed - I was sceptical of this).

I set the shutter tension on Contax no.1 by trial and error, comparing the visual impression with a vertically-travelling electronic SLR shutter or known accuracy (and trying to ignore the very different shutter sound!) The net result was a shutter that worked at all speeds, gave even exposure across the frame and - perhaps as luck would have it - gave accurate enough exposure to get spot-on results with transparency film, using one of those rather lovely, if expensive Voigtlander clip-on meters.

I was a bit more scientific with no.2, which was working when I got it, but soon broke. The measured tension on the lower blind was not much more than 100g, which was a surprise as both the Tooke Contax repair book and online advice seem to agree on around 160g as the starting point. After cleaning the escapements and lubricating the pivots, and replacing the ribbons I reset the shutter to the same tension... and it worked perfectly, exposure accuracy being verified with test films. Going back to camera no.1 and making the same suspended dead weight measurement, my first time round 'trial and error' shutter tension appered to be almost exactly the same - 100g.

I simply set these things out as something I have found. I don't claim to be an expert, but I will admit to a little pride in having brought back to life two cameras that would otherwise have survived solely as shelf candy. I am very interested in others' experience with these lovely mechanical devices.

Oh, and one bit of Contax II/III & Kiev lore I can confirm - not one of those I have come across has the slightest rangefinder misalignment or inaccuracy. Fantastic for rangefinder cameras that have had considerable use over anything up to ninety years

 

[pauld111]

I have now successfully resurrected two Contax IIs, and cleaned and lubricated a three similar Kievs (but failed to fix light leaks in two of these Russian 'copies'!)

Both Contaxes had suffered broken shutter tapes. The originals - either from new, or as serviced by Zeiss - were pale grey in colour and secured with blue thread. I replaced the broken ribbons with that famous Japanese Aki Asahi silk tape, which appears to have a finer weave and is thinner than the original material. I made no adjustments to the slots the tape runs through (some have advised that when using thinner tape the lower curtain hoops should be closed to give sufficient friction for the shutter gap not to close at high shutter speed - I was sceptical of this).

I set the shutter tension on Contax no.1 by trial and error, comparing the visual impression with a vertically-travelling electronic SLR shutter or known accuracy (and trying to ignore the very different shutter sound!) The net result was a shutter that worked at all speeds, gave even exposure across the frame and - perhaps as luck would have it - gave accurate enough exposure to get spot-on results with transparency film, using one of those rather lovely, if expensive Voigtlander clip-on meters.

I was a bit more scientific with no.2, which was working when I got it, but soon broke. The measured tension on the lower blind was not much more than 100g, which was a surprise as both the Tooke Contax repair book and online advice seem to agree on around 160g as the starting point. After cleaning the escapements and lubricating the pivots, and replacing the ribbons I reset the shutter to the same tension... and it worked perfectly, exposure accuracy being verified with test films. Going back to camera no.1 and making the same suspended dead weight measurement, my first time round 'trial and error' shutter tension appered to be almost exactly the same - 100g.

I simply set these things out as something I have found. I don't claim to be an expert, but I will admit to a little pride in having brought back to life two cameras that would otherwise have survived solely as shelf candy. I am very interested in others' experience with these lovely mechanical devices.

Oh, and one bit of Contax II/III & Kiev lore I can confirm - not one of those I have come across has the slightest rangefinder misalignment or inaccuracy. Fantastic for rangefinder cameras that have had considerable use over anything up to ninety years

Hi,

What are your observations regarding Contax vs Kiev? Is there much internal differences, tolerances. Externally, does the Kiev feel like a cheap copy of the Contax?

Cheers

Paul

 

[Philip Whiteman]

Early Kievs - I have a 1953 Kiev 2 - are near identical to the Contax II & III and certainly the chrome plating of mine example is more 'Leica-like'. The engraving is almost as good as Zeiss's was and the internals are pretty much as well finished as a Contax.

I have a late 1970s Kiev 4 and a 1980s 4M. The seventies camera is OK, but not nearly as smooth in operation as the Kiev 2 and Contaxes. The 80s 4M feels like a pepper grinder to operate - and inside the shutter crate castings are distorted (old dies?) and parts of the gear train are misaligned.

If you can find a good 40s, 50s and perhaps early 60s Kiev, I would imagine you might buy with reasonable confidence of getting something that is worth having. Later Kievs are of limited use, even as a source of spares for Contaxes...