One of the best

The above photo is the camera mentioned at the beginning of the thread post-overhaul. For some reason this overly-complicated-to-use and ridiculously buggy forum deleted the photo from the start of the thread, and of course one of it's fascist features is not letting you edit and fix past threads. Not to mention when logging in I often have to try more than once to get it to work, and all you have to do is be idle for a minute or two and it boots you so you have to log in yet again, and that is if it has not already booted you for some other inane, imbecilic reason.
 
Correction, the last photo is pre-overhaul, because although I used the feature to browse my computer and use a photo from it, this shitty forum software would not let me and said a URL for the photo was missing, even though it was not a photo from a URL, so it used the URL of a previous attempt to use a photo from a URL of the camera pre-CLA and put that up instead. Hilarious.
 
Gben said:
Correction, the last photo is pre-overhaul, because although I used the feature to browse my computer and use a photo from it, this ****ty forum software would not let me and said a URL for the photo was missing, even though it was not a photo from a URL, so it used the URL of a previous attempt to use a photo from a URL of the camera pre-CLA and put that up instead. Hilarious.
Click to expand...

How long did you wait 'in line' to get your Contax serviced?
 
I need a good Contax II or III repair shop. Before I use a hammer on this 1937 III. Adjusting the shutter has got me.
Thomas Shafovaloff
 
I got a III some years ago that had been serviced by Oleg Khalyavin (OKVintageCameras). Works well. I would contact him -- he'll replace parts with Kiev stuff, most likely, but it will work.
 
I have worked on the Contax I, the (e) and (f) versions. The (e) version needed a mainspring [center spring and at both ends] transplant from a Kiev 4. That took time but it worked. I found that a prior repair person had mispositioned a "brake pad" and after looking at photographs on the webb was able to correct that. I have a few repair suggestions. The first is to take TWO spare screws from the top shutter curtain roller from a parts II or III and replace the TWO screws holding the spring adjusting plate on the Contax I giving more threads to work with on the Contax I. You may also have to put in a small thin washer to hold the pin against the plate but you will be able to adjust the tension without worrying about flying tiny screws. The second suggestion is to get a Kiev 4 and use the parts from the main spring unit to replace those on the Contax I if the main, center spring, is done for. The process is tedious to transplant the parts but doable.
Thirdly, wind the ribbon about 1.5 times around the pullies on each side to provide some initial tension before threading through the clutches and attaching to the upper, 2nd curtain. You will wind about 5 times to take up the ribbon on the spools and then ~4-5 times to fully tension both springs. [Note: the center spring will tension about 4 more times than the outer springs but it is only one spring and smaller so you might expect that.] Using the 0 .1mm ribbon should give you the slow and sport speeds. If you use 0.15mm ribbon your slow speeds may be 1.3X the slower speed indicated but the sport will be right on. My guess is that the 0.1mm allows very little resistance to the clutch so the slow speeds are just right but then you could have a sport speed problem. I have not seen a repair manual for the Contax I but l bet during assembly originally the design was that the 0.1 ribbon was a guide at sport speeds which have the slit or gap set when wound to the top roller. I originally had a capping problem on the (e) but have that resolved TYG!
 
By the way I use a cathode ray tube TV to check the shutter operation, though I have to turn the camera [or TV] 90 degrees to vertical to use that process. I found the CRT TV procedure on line to check horizontal moving Leica type shutters. Just get a known working Leica type and set it a 1/1000 and look at the image through the back of the camera with no lens. It should be about 1/8 inch wide and at a slant top left to bottom right at about ~ 25 degrees with all the sides parallel. 1/500 should be double that width, 1/250 double that and 1/100 double that though that is so wide it is difficult to check. On the Leica type manual cameras there may be some curves and different distances between front and back of the parallel lines. If you locate the procedure it will tell you how to tension the springs and ensure that both curtains operate at same speeds by slight spring adjustments. I have found that the Contax are right on. I think this is because the three springs are tensioned at the same time.....kinda. Try a manual OM-1....for some reason they are typically right on too.
 
I tried to imagine how the Contax I was assembled at the factory which would typically want a simple design process with as little adjustment as can be necessary including the way the ribbon is attached, I thought, would be without a lot of tension before attaching to the 2nd curtain as that would involve holding everything together for the sewing. So, I imagined, well, the spring for the 1st curtain is smaller than the 2nd curtain end springs on the main roller, and so winding up the ribbon on the rollers would provide initial 1st spring tension and then the larger, more turns, end springs when wound an additional 4 or 5 times would equal all the tensions so on shutter release the accelerations would be uniform. [The center1st curtain spring is more delicate and smaller than the 2nd curtain end springs so the tensioning design was designed to arrive at equal tension considering this.] I think that is the reason the CRT images are so consistently uniform, left to right leaning, thin rectangles.
 
I made a major error in my above curtain spring descriptions. The end rollers and springs pull the 2nd curtain down and the middle spring is for the first curtain movement.....sorry. These springs are inside the bottom tube enclosing them around which the top curtain, 2nd curtain moves down to and and 1st curtain winds up on when the shutter is tripped ....my apologies. I have made the correction changes in the above referenced which should be self explanatory.
 
Nick, there is a lot of information published about the Contax II and III but what you can find about the Contax I has a lot of conflicting information and not a lot on how to tension the springs right. I want the Contax III operational as it is beautiful engineering and condition and with it I have come to the end ....could be just an overtensioned shutter but maybe need someone more professional.
 
Dralowid/Michael, I have had the benefit of Erick's posting and it was enlightening as was your reference citation back to the location. I have many pictures from my own experimenting including the transplantation of the springs. However there is still too much uncertainty about the tensioning and ribbons. I may give it another go on another Contax I. I have a second one from Belgium fully working, possibly a serviced original. In the winter it is easier to spend the time to get things just right. Wish I spoke German so could find if the assembly process is still available. I may check for the patents to see if I can get more information which I did most recently for a Rectaflex with some success.
Presently I am toying with the idea of cleaning the rangefinder but since it works and only needs cleaning am not so anxious to take a chance to strip a thread of something like that.
 
Re repairs: I thought I had lubricating shutter escapements and installing new ribbons.... er, taped until I tried fixing my Kiev 2 and latest Contax II, both of which had gone all out of sync due to the broken shutters being wound on/reset. I think I am there now, and the brilliant Maizenberg was the get out of prison card, in that he shows the correct position for all the parts of the mechanism/speed settings - so useful!
 
Very much so - his wonderful book covers the repair of all the Soviet cameras, among which the Kiev 2 is of course a rebranded Contax II (and in its early form, very nearly as beautifully made as the German original). In the book, the cam and winding gear positions for each shutter speed/set of speeds is shown. With this information, you can reposition the blinds correctly when repairing the shutter.

There's no problem if one of the ribbons has broken and the shutter's not subsequently been operated/reset - following the useful advice to be found elsewhere on RFF I have now fixed several Contax IIs, using the Asahi ribbons available through eBay etc (they are thinner than the ones originally fitted but in my experience work perfectly and give perfect exposures).
 
If it were me I would use it, but I can see your issue, thankfully most of my cameras are cosmetically challenged and therefore get used. Good luck in your quest for an answer, if you display it you have a very nice camera to look at, if you use t you have a very nice working tool.
 
I should add that replacing the ribbons and simply lubricating the works is one thing, but understanding how that shutter really works and properly servicing the thing is quite another!
 
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