Plaubel Makina 67 ... deemed unrepairable ... decisions, decisions

Godfrey

Godfrey

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I purchased a Plaubel Makina 67 from a Japanese seller in November of last year. When it arrived, although it looked great cosmetically and everything else seemed to be in spec, the viewfinder had a dark occlusion covering two thirds of it. I wrote the seller, after talking to my usual camera repair guys, and the seller refunded me the cost of a service; I sent the camera in for service and repair.

With the holidays and the usual hubbub of camera repair shops, I received a note from the shop on Friday. The issue with the viewfinder is that the RF prism has become uncemented and damaged, it needs a new one, and they have no supplier who can get one for them. Ugh. I wrote back to the seller and explained what the situation is, and the seller is going through the motions to get me a refund and have me ship the camera back to him, on his dime. So that's in process...

Well, I'd already sent queries to a few other shops. And a vendor on EBay named "wizcam" has asserted that he can repair the camera.. The price would be 1/3 again what I paid for it...

So I debate with myself ... Do I risk sending it off to him, which will nix the notion of a refund with the Japanese seller, or should I just be happy with the refund and let it lie as a sad moment, move on? Of course, I do not need another camera (LOL!), the heavens know I have way more cameras than I can ever put to serious use at this point. But I was always curious about a Makina 67 ... It's a pleasant oddball that appeals to me. 😉

What would you do? Or have done? In a similar situation...

G
 
See if the seller will refund you the cost of the repair. If so at the end of the day there will be another functional camera in the world.
Joe
 
Too many unknowns for me, I would return it and find one without problems, even if I had to pay more.
But once I've got the itch, yes I would definitely buy another, always fancied the wide version myself, but we all see differently.
 
If you want it, have the work done, and keep it.

But be sure to check out that Ebay vendor first. Is this someone you know and/or have done business with before? A Makina 67 is one expensive (and nice) camera to ship to a stranger and then lose.

The seller has already refunded you the cost of a service. Showing good faith in the transaction. I for one would be reluctant to do as someone suggests, and hold your hand out for more dosh.

Me, that's very much the type of seller I like to do business with.
 
You've all together articulated all the thoughts I had, thank you.

What I've decided, at least for the present, is to let the seller work his way through the return process while the camera gets back to me, and accept the refund, send it back to him. I thought about asking if he would split the repair cost with me, but I don't really know this service vendor to be sure that he would do a decent job, and trying to coordinate that across the US and back and forth with Japan is simply too complicated to want to deal with, for me.

There are a number of these cameras available on Ebay ... Sadly, though, most of them have a fault or two due to their age and/or a great deal of use. But who knows? Maybe I find another without a problem, or at worst with a bad meter ... that I can work with.

onwards,
G
 
Great camera, one I have always wanted. Like many of the era underbuilt, so it hasn't aged well.
Parts are no longer available. Few sold so there are few broken ones out there to part out.
I agree you should return this one for refund and keep looking for one that works 100%.

Chris
 
I personally have had my Makina fixed by wizcam, and he is indeed a very competent specialist of the camera. He has repaired many fellow owners too, and there is a certain peace of mind knowing that you aren't handing it over to just another fix-everything camera repair person.
 
The situation appears to be similar for many cameras. Alas, no parts available and few service technicians.

I'd try to get it repaired, have no extensive knowledge of the Makinas but I read there was a Plaubel (or themselves) workshop that repaired them until recently. However, I vote as well to have some patience and find a new unit.
As of not needing another camera, I'd gladly take over yours. Ha! A 6x7 RF good for travel.
 
Update:

Returned home from my trip...

I talked with the guy I bought the camera from: He wanted to give me a refund and return deal ... Ebay has aged out the transaction so he couldn't do that without losing all his Ebay seller fees as well. I told him I'd found 'wizcam' (F. Binder) who can repair it at a modest rate, and asked if he would consider contributing to the repair costs. I'd get a working camera at a modest increase in price, he would lose only a little money and not have a broken camera on his hands... He said, "That would be great!" and forwarded a little more than half the repair costs.

The Makina 67 is on its way to F. Binder now to be repaired. 😀

I bought it at a reasonable price, if it was in full working condition. The seller has refunded one quarter of that to me, and the repair price will be just a bit more than that. So I'm out of pocket about $100 more than I'd originally planned to spend, which is still well within the usual selling price of these cameras in good condition. A good deal.

G
 
As I've learned from much past experience, 9 out of 10 cameras deemed "unrepairable" really means the repair centre or person would have to put in more time and effort to fix them than it's worth to them. So they pass judgement on it and off it goes to the knackery.

Or they make a bottom-feed offer for it, they say for parts, which has happened to me before.

I've yet to accept any such offer as I 'm cynical by nature - to expect the worst from everyone and everything has often meant I was pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong, but well - I'm good at rat-smelling...

A Plaubel Makina is a camera I would rate as higheon the scale of quality gear. Well worth the extra $100 you had to cough up to get it back on the road and pushing film. So yes, a good deal.
 
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The usual issues with most older cameras is either a- the lack of parts availability, or b- too many things to fix to be worth the repair cost. It's rare to be able to convince someone that their favorite old camera is worth x times its cost to repair when others with less issues are available inexpensively.

In this case, the issue is that the beam splitter inside the view/rangefinder assembly has come apart and my usual shop had no access through their suppliers for that part, new or used. F. Binder, being a Plaubel Makina specialist, has a parts stock on hand and/or several donor cameras from which to swap out a usable part. In the extreme case, someone could repair or make a new beam splitter/prism assembly, but that's really a job for a heavy duty specialist as it has to be very precisely made, not generally a job you can do without very precise optical equipment.

G
 
Mute-on said:
I remain intrigued by a Makina 670 available at a local dealer. I’m very interested to hear your impressions @Godfrey
Click to expand...
Mute, they're pretty cool cameras with an incredibly sharp lenses. As mentioned though, there is a small finite supply of spare parts and as a result few people who will/can repair them.
They're a piece of engineering wizardry....very small folded up, very capable cameras, but also (even with the handgrip) not extremely ergonomically friendly. If you're rough on equipment it is pretty easy to bend the struts and have the camera out of alignment, and depending on luck, the wires to the meter might break. I've had 3 of them and they survived, although the first one came with holes in the bellows. They're certainly not as structurally sound as a Rolleiflex and definitely a cult object.
Check out this youtube of Japanese photographer Osamu Kanemura. Unlike most people on this forum, he owns one camera, a Plaubel Makina 67....uses it heavily and repeatedly has it repaired.....

(20x24" print from TMax 100, from Plaubel Makina 67)IMG_1692.jpg0)
IMG_6412.JPG
 
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Not Makina related but I also recently found myself agonising over whether to return something or not; a like-new black early Leica II conversion, sold as fully working. It arrived and the shutter was like mud; I exchanged videos with the seller, a professional, and he showed me one that proved that it was ok when sent. He offered a full refund or to let his tech take a look, but was clear that paying for repairs was not possible; I was ok with this as that is his choice and I wasn’t asking anyway. Finally I let my heart rule my head and just kept it as is, knowing that there isn’t much in an early Barnack that can’t be fixed or replaced, and it was just too beautiful to let go. Stupid I know but I don’t regret it.
 
WoodallP said:
Not Makina related but I also recently found myself agonising over whether to return something or not; a like-new black early Leica II conversion, sold as fully working. It arrived and the shutter was like mud; I exchanged videos with the seller, a professional, and he showed me one that proved that it was ok when sent. He offered a full refund or to let his tech take a look, but was clear that paying for repairs was not possible; I was ok with this as that is his choice and I wasn’t asking anyway. Finally I let my heart rule my head and just kept it as is, knowing that there isn’t much in an early Barnack that can’t be fixed or replaced, and it was just too beautiful to let go. Stupid I know but I don’t regret it.
Click to expand...

Oh, I can understand that. Whenever I buy an old camera, I always assume that I'll have it serviced soon anyway, so add a couple hundred dollars to my estimated outlay. Getting a nice copy of an old camera that needs a couple of mechanical things repaired ... well, it's all part of the 'old camera' entertainment. I've restored many an old junker just for the pleasure of putting another fine thing to rights, the way it should be.

The issue with this Makina was that I knew in advance that many parts have become unobtainium and they're not cheap ... So when something as basic as the viewfinder was awry, I didn't want to lose my shirt on the deal. Luckily, the seller has been great and I think wizcam will do a great job of restoring it, so it's costing me just a bit more than expected and the seller didn't make as much as he'd expected. But a good camera will survive, I'll have fun using it, and the seller doesn't have to deal with a broken camera. Life is good. 😉

G
 
The Makina 67 has arrived back from service today.

In addition to the occluded viewfinder issue (due to a prism assembly coming apart), I'd reported that the meter seemed to be acting oddly and asked wizcam to please check it and everything else. It turned out to need a new meter board if I wanted a working meter, so I approved that as well as the viewfinder repairs. Of course this raised the repair price a bit, but eh? I'd rather have the camera in proper working order.

Wizcam (F. Binder) did an excellent job as far as I can tell. The camera looks and feels in use as if new. I've loaded a roll of film for testing, but I honestly don't expect any issues. The Makina 67 is a camera that I've been curious about and wanted to try since the late 1970s when it came out, and I'm very happy to have a nice example at my disposal to use now.

I've already gotten an original Makina 67 lens hood and a pair of filters (green and orange, my usuals for B&W film), plus a Makina 67 storage box that needs a little refurbishment (the interior flocking has dried out and is shedding, so I'll take out the shaped camera holder, strip it, and either re-flock it or line it with thin leather ... I have some of that I can use left over from the interior work on my Fulvia 😉 ... or make a whole new one... ). Add a tripod adapter and a cable release, and I have everything I want for this kit all together. A small flash unit might also be useful... probably have one or two of those somewhere in the closet.

fun fun fun.
G
 
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