Source Contax II / III Shutter Ribbons?

A lot of people seem to go for the aki-asaki ribbon. I have some, but haven't tried it. It does seem very thin though, about .005" compared with .010" original.

My next planned Contax repair is ribbon replacement. I've been looking for acetate or polyester ribbon (without success yet) and I've been doing some searches for 3mm or 1/8" silk ribbon. All I have found is this stuff . You can't see from the picture what sort of weave it is (and obviously it would be no good asking the seller to check the thickness with a micrometer!), so I was going to send for some to see if it might be a possibility. I think the bronze might not look too dolly!

Has anyone out there investigated it?

Steve.
 
Pioneer said:
I bought some ribbons from Fedka.com http://fedka.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=315

Made for the Kiev so not sure that they will work all that well. Have not tried them yet.
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Unfortunately, they won't, because they're too thick for the Contax shutter.

Some years ago there were many good threads on this very forum which clearly explained which kind of silk ribbon had to be used in a Contax shutter, from whom to buy it (i.e., Aki Asahi), how to stitch it, and how to adjust the shutter curtains clutches to obtain the proper friction so that the shutter was accurate.

With many pictures and instructions. ;)

I have used some 3mm regular acetate ribbon (very likely to be the same as the one Grytpype sourced, albeit called "silk ribbon" by the seller) with no problem in several prewar Contax shutters, and, in case, have stocked some Aki Asahi genuine silk ribbon to fix my own camera after its next ribbons break-up.

overhaul79.jpg
 
I'm still looking. I did order some "100% silk" from the US, but as I suspected, it is VERY thin (.004" on a 1" micrometer - even thinner than the aki-asahi), and it is actually over 4mm wide - a lot more than the 1/8" advertised!

The Contax and the Kiev ribbons are a weave described as "grosgrain", so I am concentrating on that. It is said to be stronger than other types, though it's hard to see why. I ordered some of this polyester and it measured .0125 thick, which is near enough acceptable, and I thought I had cracked it, but when I got the ruler out it proved to be about 3.7mm wide - too much.

There are a couple of "1/8" grosgrain possibilities in the US, there is an Offray ribbon, but it seems very hard to find online, and this Schiff ribbon. Has anyone over there checked out either of these already? I'm reluctant to invest in more international postage on the off-chance. I may just have to attack my Contax curtains with a needle file to make room for Kiev ribbons!
 
Grytpype said:
There are a couple of "1/8" grosgrain possibilities in the US, there is an Offray ribbon, but it seems very hard to find online, and this Schiff ribbon. Has anyone over there checked out either of these already? I'm reluctant to invest in more international postage on the off-chance. I may just have to attack my Contax curtains with a needle file to make room for Kiev ribbons!
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The Offray ribbon works in the Contax shutter but it is very thin, isn't rigid enough, and will fray very quickly after a few shots.

The regular acetate 3mm ribbon I have shown above is the perfect fit.

Yet, it won't last as long as the Aki-Asahi silk ribbon, which is definitely THE ribbon you need to properly service a Contax shutter.
 
I found some polyester ribbon of the correct size. It is "Berisfords Double Faced Satin Ribbon" (a UK brand) and looks a lot like the type shown above in Highway 61's picture. It's 3mm wide and measures .010" thick (.25mm) - spot-on. Cost 1.28 GBP on eBay for 5 meters - including post! I'll try this for now.

berisfords.jpg


Unfortunately, I have far too many cameras, so it is unlikely I will ever use one intensively enough to determine the durability of this ribbon - unless it fails very quickly.

I've been browsing through the older issues of the Zeiss Historica magazine, now available online. There is an interesting quote in an article in the Spring 1988 issue from a repair technician regarding the problem of shutter tape failure: "Tapes made from newer fabrics like nylon and other synthetics will far outlast those of the 1930s, and prove the shutter's durability and accuracy". Only one man's opinion, but food for thought!

What a pity that the Kiev Arsenal made their ribbons just that little bit thicker! Probably this was to improve the durability of the ribbons, and perhaps they succeeded, because it seems quite common to find a well-used 1950s Kiev with good, apparently original ribbons.

Steve.
​
 
This ribbon will work perfect and, yes, unless you are 20 and intend to use one Contax II at a time for 36 shots on a daily basis, it's quite likely that the ribbon won't break before your heart does... ;)
 
Hello,

I remember that the difference between a silk ribbon and a synthetic one, is that the second has a certain degree of elasticity, that affects the shutter's precision.

Is that true?
 
Elmar Lang said:
Hello,

I remember that the difference between a silk ribbon and a synthetic one, is that the second has a certain degree of elasticity, that affects the shutter's precision.

Is that true?
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Theorically, yes.

But practically, with 10.8cm long ribbons (twice shorter than on an horizontally working focal plane shutter), and on a shutter which isn't very accurate at high speeds by itself anyway, no.

For mid-range and slow speeds, this is of no effect, given - again - how this shutter works.
 
What about this?

Looks like the real deal, and the seller seems to be a repairer.

He says he has a limited quantity, so presumably has more to sell, but it would work out expensive if you have several cameras to do.

Anyone want to give it a try?
 
I've a Contax-III just back from the repairman: it's an italian workshop and he buys the tape in Japan (looking through the shutter at "B", the ribbons look identical to the old ones, just more greyish). The complete shutter's repair/control costed 130,- Euro: not cheap, if compared to the average costs, in Italy, for similar repairs, but few are those really able to work on a rf Contax.

E.L.
 
Grytpype said:
What about this?

Looks like the real deal, and the seller seems to be a repairer.

He says he has a limited quantity, so presumably has more to sell, but it would work out expensive if you have several cameras to do.

Anyone want to give it a try?
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Interesting, but, again, the Aki Asahi black silk ribbon works perfect, and people having performed some endurance tests with it reported that they couldn't see any sign of wear on this ribbon after hundreds of shutter actuations, so why bother with something else ?
 
Highway 61 said:
Interesting, but, again, the Aki Asahi black silk ribbon works perfect, and people having performed some endurance tests with it reported that they couldn't see any sign of wear on this ribbon after hundreds of shutter actuations, so why bother with something else ?
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Undoubtedly the Aki Asahi ribbon does work, but it is VERY thin (no more than half the thickness of the original) and I'd really like to find ribbon that didn't need the clutches modifying either way - opening or closing.
 
Given that what leaves wear on the ribbons fibers on every shot (and tears the ribbons out eventually) are the little sharp pins of the upper curtain (so that the upper curtain catches the lower one when both have finished their journey), using a thinner ribbon (at the cost of having to close the clutches a little bit, which is extremely easy to do and at no risk of damaging anything) is a valid option, because those darn upper curtain pins won't rub on the ribbon surface as much as if the ribbon was of the same thickness as the original.

This has been well documented in the past, especially by Zorkikat.

So, using the Aki Asahi ribbon remains the best of the best solution if you want 1/a shutter that will work very well 2/some ribbons durability over time.
 
Highway 61 said:
So, using the Aki Asahi ribbon remains the best of the best solution if you want 1/a shutter that will work very well 2/some ribbons durability over time.
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O.K. You make a good case!

I have a couple of metres of the stuff. I'll probably give it a try.

All camera projects are currently on hold, though, so I will carry on looking, and wasting money on unsuitable materials in hope of finding THE one. I'm sure it is out there somewhere!

Steve.
 
Interesting that Elmar Lang's repairer, as well as 'yotasan9', the eBay seller, seem to have managed to source suitable silk ribbon - so Henry Scherer is not the only one!

No doubt there are companies in Japan that can make this sort of ribbon, but the sort of small business that could turn out 100 metres or so are not likely to appear in a Google search.
 
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