OT: Meopta with hard focusing.

[Stephanie Brim]

I need to take my Meopta Flexaret VI apart. The thing's focusing needs cleaning/lubrication and I'd dare say that the shutter needs a good cleaning as well. If anyone can point me in the right direction I'd very much appreciate it.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I'll try and update this as I go along.

I figured out how to actually start dismantling the camera...you have to pull the leatherette off the front. I've done that and unscrewed the front plate...now it won't come off the camera. Seems to me as though you may have to take the lenses off before you can actually get to anything, which would be a big pain in the ass.

If anyone knows anything, let me know.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Going to have to wait on this one. Good news, though...tore down the Canon Demi and the Pen partly. The Pen EE seems to be dead, so it's probably no good to someone who can't use ISO 50 film in daylight. The Canon Demi, however, works well...the meter is spot on. It looks a bit rough around the edges (even after being cleaned up a bit), but it seems a serviceable camera. Now if only I could find a batter to test the MG-1 with.

 

[the_other_dirk]

Hi Stephanie,

I've got a Flexaret IVa. No need to take off the lenses to clean the shutter on this model. Just turn the taking lense to the left (unscrew it), you can work from there. I'll check my other PC to see if I have any digicam shots left of that adventure. I also once opened the side of the camera to work on the film advance/counter mechanism... these babies need some work every now and then 🙂

dirk

 

[the_other_dirk]

Okay, got some pics (i hope the'll upload properly)

step 1: get off the taking lense, just turn it counterclockwise
step 2: on my model, there is a retaining ring (see picture 1), unscrew it
now you can take off the "protection" plate. You might want to do this carefully. Although I didn't get any springs in my eyes, you never know what will jump at you from under that piece of metal (pic 2)
step 3: clean the shutter. I just used a bit of alcohol. I'm not sure how it's called in English, but it's called "was benzine" in Dutch..., I saw that that translates to "benzine", but I'm not sure. Check the Rick Oleson web site for more info on this.

I placed that alcohol where the red arrow points in pic 3 (on the little gears). This worked for me (I think it got rid of some dirt and worked again). I read on several places on the web not to lubricate a shutter with common oil. I think it may be even better just to clean it -- and leave the lubing for when you're sure that your product is okay for the job.

hope this helps a little

(oh yeah, I don't know the reason why I took pic 4, but I'm just uploading anyway. may come in handy if you remove everything and later on don't remember where everything went... :bang: )

dirk

 

[Gordon Coale]

My Flexaret is a Va but it looks like it was put together pretty much the same as the VI. Any clue as to how to remove the ground glass for cleaning?

 

[kaiyen]

Stephanie,
Have you considered putting this in a blog? It might be more useful in the long run for anyone that wants to read up on your experiences.

allan

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I will. For right now I'll keep it here.

I'm going to work some more on it tonight. I'm also going to have to get some new clothes for it...I'm thinking red leather like the rest of my cameras will be as soon as I get things ready to go. Whoever gets the Meopta after me is going to have one nice camera. 😉

And for those with models before the VI...this one doesn't seem to be built like that. I can't even get the taking lens to turn.

 

[pshinkaw]

I think the Flexaret groundglass comes off by removing the nameplate on the front under the focusing hood. That should give you access to the underside of the hood. When the hood comes off the glass comes with it.

The screws are very brittle, be careful and don't break them.

-Paul

 

[Stephanie Brim]

If anyone else can give me any type of clue as to how to go about the dismantling of the thing I'm going to do it on Friday...I'm off work and I have nothing more to do that day but sit around and play with cameras. I'm going to do some shooting as well, but I'll be messing with fixing a couple for the most part...including my Canon Demi. I'm also going to get the Yashica working since it seems to be a really easy one.

 

[Gordon Coale]

pshinkaw -- I figured the nameplate might be the key but I can't figure out how to remove the nameplate.

 

[the_other_dirk]

Gordon,

on my model, there are two little screws holding the nameplate in place. I unscrewed them, off came the nameplate. Then, I had to remove a small metal piece that was retaining the GG. I could now move the GG up and down a little, but it was still fixed at the rear end. Couldn't get that loose; but then tried something else.

I unscrewed every screw on the front of the camera (except two which don't want to move), and guess what: the entire thing moves a bit, so I guess if I could get the two remaining screws unscrewed, I would have the "lensboard" + groundglass + viewing hood (or whatever that's called) in my hands giving access to the rear end of the GG.

Pfew... what an explanation... anyway, I figure maybe you have to remove the entire front of the camera just to get to the GG.... not something I'd like to do unless it's really really necessary. Good luck and let us know about your adventures!

dirk

 

[Hamster]

I just took apart my Flexaret (no idea what model) this afternoon, if you remove the front leatherette, you will find 8 screws. The top 4 attaches the vievfinder to the front panel, and the bottom 4 attaches the from panel to the main casting.

Once you get the front panel off, if you turn the focus to infinity, you can have access to the inner focusing helicals. Maybe this is as far as you want to go for lubrication.

This is as far as I managed to get. I am now stuck at the point where I cannot figure out a way to remover the shutter/lens assembly. I don't have a lens spanner and the retainer ring is very stiff.

Anyone got a clue from here onwards?

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Yeah, that's where I got stuck, too. ANY ideas (other than the ones mentioned) would be helpful, but I think a spanner is going to be needed.

 

[darkkavenger]

To remove the shutter/lens group, you should try to turn the front lens element counterclockwise (and to give it a hard counterclock turn/screw...) push hard and it should unscrew by itself.

 

[Hamster]

Darkavenger, I tried what you suggested but that didn;t work for me, I managed to unscrew the front optical group, but that's as far as I can get. I think my flexaret is a wired one, it had a Prontor-SVS shutter rather than the more usual Metax shutter.

BTW, OT question, did you see that camera room at the Czech Technical Museum in Prague? Quite strange to see what you use everyday being put behind protective glass in an museum.

 

[r-brian]

Having a old Rolleicord in pieces right now and having just taken apart and reassembled a Crystar Flex, I'd probably say there is a retaining ring on the back of the lens assembly that needs to be removed to separate the lens assembly from the camera. All the leaf shutters I've seen are mounted like that. It is really hard to work on a camera without the right tools. Some sort of spanner is critical.

Take a look at this site. It should help you.

http://daniel.mitchell.name/cameras/

Good luck.

Brian