Seagull Rescue

[clintock]

Hi-
I like seagulls. The cameras that everybody instantly tells you not to buy because you can get a Rolleicord/Diacord/Autocord/Minicord/Yashicacord/Younameitcord instead.
Still. Same could be said for the Fed2.
Like the Fed2, the seagull has a certain charm, that on-the-brink-can't-believe-it-works thing.
Anyway, I'm getting better and better at fixing them, so if anyone has one they can't bring themselves to throw away, but cant stand to pay multiples of the camera's value to fix- I'll have a look if you want. Trade me some film or paper, whatever.. just a hobby, but I used to be pro (fixing things, not photographer)..
So far I've fixed : Infinity not really infinity,
Counter not counting,
Shutter not shuttering/self timer not self timering.

 

[clarence]

I take it personally as an insult to FED-2's.

Clarence

 

[clintock]

I take it personally as an insult to FED-2's.

Clarence

Indeed, change that to Fed-5.

 

[rbiemer]

I am a happy 4a-107 user so I suggest changing

Like the Fed2, the seagull has a certain charm, that on-the-brink-can't-believe-it-works thing.

to something like:

Like the under appreciated but fun FSU cameras, the seagull has a certain charm, that on-the-brink-can't-believe-it-works thing.

😀

I will keep your offer in mind, should I ever require anything like that.
Rob

 

[rich815]

I lived in China for a while and used about 4-5 Seagull TLRs. Two I had were very nice and very sharp. One of those sharp ones I sold when I got a hold of a Rolleicord. The other the shutter sprung off into about 12 pieces all across the room. The others were quite soft, the lens quality inconsistency was very frustrating. And one of those the shutter sprung off too. Another simply locked up. Good thing I was getting them for only about $25-40 USD a piece.

The cameras that everybody instantly tells you not to buy because you can get a Rolleicord/Diacord/Autocord/Minicord/Yashicacord/Younameitcord instead.

The only reason I say this is while it's nice to have someone like you around to fix them I want reliabilty not a camera that is inconsisent in it's lens quailty or has such widely reported problems. Last thing I want is such things to happen while I'm out shooting. Besides how can it be worth to fix a camera with such shoddy workmanship in the first place? I've obtained Rolleicords for $50 USD and Rolleiflexes for $100-150 USD. Built like tanks. And when repaired or CLA'd (if needed) they stay repaired because of the quality of the design, workmanship and parts in the first place.

 

[clintock]

I can't argue that most TLR can surpass the seagull.
The seagull has one advantage, despite it's shortcomings.
It is still being produced.
Word is out on all the classic tlr, and the used prices reflect this i've found. If you can even find a Diacord, you'll pay dearly.. Autocords? Fugit it. Yeah ten years ago different, but now?
I guess it's six of one, half dozen of the other- get a camera with poor quality control that has all new parts, or get a decades- old camera with good quality control that's been in the basement, the closet, the garage, the smoke filled bedroom, the beach, two moving vans and a ups truck..

I think it's worth it to fix them for about the same reason I put aluminum cans in a separate bin each week. It's wasteful not to. Plus, so far it's been easy and fun on my grand total of three data points. In two instances the problem was loose screws, in the third, it was screws that were too tight! No need to toss an otherwise fun camera just because of some loose/tight screws.
Both rollei I have also had loose screws somewhere, but it took about fifty years for them to get that way!

 

[NickTrop]

Does your offer extend to fixing and CLA-ing a Seagull 203?

 

[clintock]

Does your offer extend to fixing and CLA-ing a Seagull 203?

I'll try- I don't have one myself, I've only played with one at a camera show..
As long as all the parts are there I can probably do some good..
Oh and there's no holes in it. Not big ones anyway..

 

[rbiemer]

I was looking at Mike Butkus' site for something else and found that he has a pdf of the Seagull manual.
Here:http://www.butkus.org/chinon/seagull-4a/seagull-4a.htm
I bought mine new and it had a single page instruction sheet, really all the info needed is included on that sheet but looking at the manual at Mike's, I noticed this line: "For shutter speed lower than 1/15 second, tripod should be used."
Gotta love them leaf shutters!
Rob

 

[clintock]

The shutter is smooth enough, but the shutter button is a little bit of work to press smoothly..
When the things are all working, the 4a series is pretty sweet, crank advance, auto counter, cocking with advance, parallax compensation, 2.8 bright as heck viewing-..
Plus they feature the same built in meter system as the Leica M2, M3, M4, M4-2.
I found a great way to get rid of the slightly darker corners produced by the three element lens when used too open- Crop the corners off when you print or scan!

 

[jfen]

Rescued Seagull!

Rescued Seagull!

Hi All. After reading this post I sent my Seagull to be rescued. A friend gave me the camera (Seagull 4B1) after many years in storage. I didn't know anything about the camera so I took it to a camera shop and they told me the shutter was not working. They referred me to a repair shop but the price to fix it was going to be $100.😱 I didn't want to put that much into it since I have a Mamyia C220 that I had just gotten. So it looked like the Seagull was going back into storage or the Garbage. But after searching for info on the web...I found this Seagull Rescue Post. So I sent it to Clint, who worked very hard on it with much faith that it could be saved. And a week later it is back in my hands BETTER THAN EVER! The shutter works accurately at all speeds, all controls are smooth, and BOY is it CLEAN! I haven't put film in it yet but can't wait to try it out. So if you have a Seagull that needs some repair or TLC I would not hesitate to send it to Clint! Feel free to PM me if you need more reassurance. Thanks again Clint. 🙂

 

[kully]

I sold my Autocord but kept my Seagull 🙂

It has sentimental value as I bought it from Beijing while I was there, as an aside if you are after one of these (and you find yourself in Beijing) go to "Camera City" - one of the little shops in there is inhabited by an old bloke who sorts out and sells these crap yet joyful machines. I paid £20 for mine and that included the never-ready case.

I'm not sure which model I have as all the writing is in Chinese but I was told it is late 70s vintage and it works a charm with some lovely soft images and nice bokeh.

 

[jfen]

Once again...a big Thanks to Clint. After he did such a Great Job with the Seagull (still working marvelously!) I sent him a Mamiya Twin lens that had fungus in one of the lenses. He cleaned it and the photos are very sharp...no distortion visable. This man has Rescued several fine pieces of equipment and saved their owner much $$$.😀 If you have equipment that needs some TLC, he's the MAN!
Thanks Clint!

 

[clintock]

Thanks Janet-
It's really only a hobby though- but then the Seagull and old Mamiya TLR gear is only a hobby too I suppose.
I see the seagulls vary widely in quality of final inspection-
but once sorted out they do fine enough.
I'm glad the Mamiya lens is working, good stuff that Mamiya..

 

[tedwhite]

I like the Mamiya stuff too, Clint, but I found them too clunky and heavy for street use. Studio, yes.

I just realized I've never actually seen a Seagull camera other than in photographs.

Keep up the good Seagull work.

Ted

 

[rbiemer]

FYI, I just discovered that the Leica "fikus" adapter(the thing to put on your 50mm Elmar to be able to use 39mm filters) fits on the lenses of my 4a-107.
Which means I can stop trying to find 34mm filters and I can use the filters I have for my Voigtlander lenses. And the "standard" hood.
I have two 39mm hoods--one for the 50 and a tele-hood for the 90mm Elmar--but I figure the standard makes better sense for the Seagull:
the tele-hood might match numerically but the 80mm lens that the Seagull has is standard/normal for the 6x6 format. When I put the standard hood on the viewing lens, I couldn't see any vignetting, but I haven't got the processed film back yet to be sure about this idea.
I'll post when I see my results.
One other thing:
Tom Abrahamsson's Mini Soft Release makes the shutter release of the Seagull much smoother and it doesn't get in the way of anything.
Rob