[rollei_list] Re: Contax Repair
- From: "Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 9 May 2010 11:40:40 -0700
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jan Decher" <Jan.Decher@xxxxxxx>
To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2010 9:49 AM
Subject: [rollei_list] Contax Repair
Carlos, Hauke etc.
I will reserve my judgement of Eddy's work until I get my
Contessa and Contaflex I back from him hopefully this
week. The Contessa whent back to him because the
latching mechanism on the fold-down lens door was very
stiff when it came back the first time (it was latching
buttery smooth before!). I included the (like new
looking) Contaflex I for a shutter overhaul with some
trepidation. It remains to be seen how he is with Compur
shutters etc. or if his forte is really prewar
Contax/Kievs. He is friendly, calls me to clarify things
(for example, I had asked in my letter to rotate the
distance scale ring on the Contaflex I so that the meter
scale is up, which confused him...) and his pricing is
reasonable.
I agree with Thor that even the best repair(wo)man may not
be able to forsee what might be going wrong with a 50+
year old camera next. Also, I remember even in the 60's
my grandfather's Contaflex Super in Germany was in the
Zeiss/Voigtlander repair shop more than not (repair
prices even then were quite outrageous). Zeiss cameras
are delicate machines. Which is why he eventually made a
happy move to sesible Japanese technology with the Canon
Ftb with lots of Canon and Novoflex accessories. In
fact, my grandfather's experience may be symbolic for
what was wrong with Zeiss by the late 60s.
Jan
On 8 May 2010, at 01:06, FreeLists Mailing List Manager
wrote:
From: CarlosMFreaza <cmfreaza@xxxxxxxxx>
I don't know why Eddy Smolov is not mentioned as Zeiss
Ikon Contax
repairman, except when Marc, Daniel and Raid recommended
him to me
two years ago. He did a great work on my Contax II, I
sent the camera
to NYC , about 20,000 km considering both travels and I
received it
ready to work three weeks later. He did not do an
aesthetic work on
the camera, but shutter speeds, focusing mechanism,
telemeter and lens
came back very clean, and working accurate and smooth
and for a very
reasonable price.....
The Contax shutter is a very complex mechanism. I don't
think there is any truth to the rumor that it was designed
to get around the Leitz patents for the Leica, it seems to
be based on the earlier Mirroflex shutter. However, its much
more complex than the Leica, which to me is an elegant and
very reliable bit of machinery. The Contax also has some
other areas which are more complex than the Leica such as
the rangefinder. Its a very good design which in some ways
makes the leica one seem crude, but, its more delicate. It
is amazing to me that machines like both the Contax and
Leica have survived and are still being used daily despite
some of them being over seventy years old. This is also true
of Compur and Compound shutters, most of which were very
rugged and will work nearly like new with some care in
maintainence.
--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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