[rollei_list] Re: OT: SM Leica Restoration (was OT:Contax II and Eddy)
- From: "Raid Amin" <ramin@xxxxxxx>
- To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2009 08:39:58 -0600
I was chatting yesterday with Eddy Smolov about cameras, lenses, and repair of
cameras. He told me that there are 177 parts in a Contax RF camera that need to
be taken into account when fixing such a camera. His experience goes back to
when he worked for Kiev, which of course are copies of Contax cameras. Eddy is
70 years old, and he has the spirit of a younger man. Eddy is about to launch a
website for his services. He repairs any mechanical camera of any brand. In
fact, his complaint to me is that some people seem to advocate that he only
fixes Contax and Leica cameras. He loves working on Rolleiflex TLR cameras, for
example. I have a 3.5F that arrived to me through ebay in a broken condition
several years ago. I mailed it to Eddy six months ago, and he has been finding
spare parts here and there. In the end, I was told that the front of the camera
is not from that camera! He somehow managed to make the camera function, but he
got my blessings first to disengage and I had to disengage the self timer [for
some reason]. He needed a film transport mechanism for the 3.5F, which I got
for him from Krikor. Now, the camera functions beautifully. If you call Eddy to
inform him that a repaired camera is not functioning well, he will tell you
immediately: "send it back".
Raid
-----Original Message-----
From: rollei_list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:rollei_list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Marc James Small
Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2009 11:19 PM
To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [rollei_list] Re: OT: SM Leica Restoration (was OT:Contax II and Eddy)
ELNY quit working on LTM cameras in the early
1980's. I believe that Sherry Krauter then
bought their remaining stock of parts. I am
surprised to hear that she gave poor service on
an LTM camera. I believe that Sherry worked for
Leica as an LTM repair person and only left them
when they ceased doing LTM cameras. Caveat: I
have only had professional dealings with her and
have never had her repair or rework any of my
cameras. And my dealing with her were almost twenty years back.
For LTM repairs today, I would suggest Eddie
Smoloff. He redid a IIIf RDST one time which
came back, in ten days, better than it probably
was when it left the factory. That was during
the spike of IIIf RDST prices in the middle
1990's, and I sold the camera for three times
what I had paid for it and paid Eddie to overhaul
it. If any of my LTM cameras went belly-up on
me, I would probably send it off to Eddie. (I
currently have not a single FED, just a IIIc, a
IIIf RDST, and a IIIg. Wonderful cameras, but I
prefer the IIIc. But, then, I paid $3 for an
APDOO self-timer at a camera show and swapped a
LF lens of some sort for a Geiss Kontakt IIIc
which allows me flash, at another camera show. I
have no money at all in my camera collection,
just a lot of sweat in judiciously buying and
selling and knowing the market. This is the
first year in which I've not gotten a card from
Nishizawa for the Yuletide. That is sad. I hope
nothing bad has happened to him: he made me a
LOT of money back in the Longago!)
John Van Stelten at Focal Point also does
magnificent work on LTM cameras. He is swamped
so there is a long line to wade through, but his
work is grand and the price of admission, while
more than Eddie's, is still reasonable. John
overhauled my original Leica, a IIIc which will
have to be peeled away from my cold fingers after
my death as this is ONE camera I will almost
certainly never sell while above ground.
My personal favorite repair guy is Ken Ruth at
Bald Mountain in California. He will talk your
ears off on the Dameche, but his work is worth
it, albeit he charges an appropriate fee for
top-of-the-line work. There is an
extraordinarily long wait but, then, I might be
able to run some interference with John or Ken if
necessary, as I have praised both in my LTM book
and they owe me a few favors yet.
Kindermann in Canada is also VERY highly praised,
though, again, I have never used their services,
though they did unsnarl a technical query for me
some years back on a Leitz part number when Leica
New Jersey would not respond, as is generally the case.
I am the only person to have ever had a bad
experience with Essex Camera in New York, highly
praised by List Member Ed Meyers, but that only
involved the preliminary discussions with a
fellow whose command of the English Language
needed some improvement, so I cut them some
slack. Essex also seems above the mass in terms
of a fine mix of speed, quality of work, and price.
I am not certain whether Goldberg works on LTM
cameras but he is another possibility. I have
never met "DAG" nor had dealings with him but,
again, I've never heard a bad word about his work or cost.
All of my Rolleiflex work, at least for the big
TLR's, goes to List Member Harry Fleenor, and I
recommend him without reservation. His work is
impeccable. He did my Rollei 35S in record time
and must have undercharged me, given the great
quality of his work. And his work on my Automat,
Type 3, is beyond any criticism.
Richard Knoppow can advise for repair sources for
the Speed Graphics. I picked up a Baby Speed
Graphic and followed his suggestion and the
camera came back in magnificent
condition. Unfortunately, I've yet to use it, as
I seem to have to either mutiliate the back to
fit a 6cm by 9cm 120 film thingy or else to cut
down film in a dark room to fit the plate
holders. Once I get my dark room up again, you
guys better watch out! <he grins>
Marc
msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Cha robh bàs fir gun ghràs fir!
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