PeterW
Lifetime Member
Member has Passed
Posts: 3,804
|
Post by PeterW on Jul 2, 2006 7:35:33 GMT -5
Hi,
Just got back from my usual Sunday morning trip to the local car boot sale. The only cameras on offer apart from a couple of plastic point and shoots and a battered box camera were two Zenits, both cosmetically very good.
Both were model E with Helios 44-2 58mm lenses, one black from 1977 with an accessory shoe on the top, and one from 1969 with a chromium plated top and baseplate and without an accessory shoe.
On the black one I pointed out that the meter didn't work, and after a spot of haggling the price came down from £5 to £1.50.
On the chromium top one the meter worked but the wind-on lever just freewheeled, and the release button was stuck down. "A pound if you can fix it," the stallholder said. I was pretty sure I could so I forked out a pound and put it in my bag.
In the market cafe I sat down with a cuppa and fished out the non-working one. I pushed down on the release button and gave it a twist to free the safety lock ... and it popped up just as KMZ say it should. So now both cameras are working.
So that makes 18 Zenits I've now got. Yes, I know it's a lot but while they continue to crop up at those sort of prices (and no postage) I can't resist them.
Peter W
|
|
|
|
Post by vintageslrs on Jul 2, 2006 9:54:39 GMT -5
Peter
Nice pick up!!!!
Wow!
Enjoy them!
hey let me send you a PM.
Bob
|
|
|
|
Post by doubs43 on Jul 2, 2006 11:00:46 GMT -5
Hi, On the chromium top one the meter worked but the wind-on lever just freewheeled, and the release button was stuck down. "A pound if you can fix it," the stallholder said. I was pretty sure I could so I forked out a pound and put it in my bag. In the market cafe I sat down with a cuppa and fished out the non-working one. I pushed down on the release button and gave it a twist to free the safety lock ... and it popped up just as KMZ say it should. So now both cameras are working. Peter W Peter, you've just proven what knowing your equipment can be worth. Your sharp eye and the seller's lack of knowledge has gotten you a great deal. I've purchased a couple or three cameras from ebay listed as "non-working" because the owner didn't know how it functioned. One is an Iskra-II that won't work correctly unless there's film in it. I took a chance and it's perfect! Walker |
|
rogprov
Contributing Member
Posts: 32
|
Post by rogprov on Jul 2, 2006 11:24:25 GMT -5
Hi, So that makes 18 Zenits I've now got. Yes, I know it's a lot but while they continue to crop up at those sort of prices (and no postage) I can't resist them. Peter W Can you find 18 doors to prop open? Sorry just couldn't resist  |
|
PeterW
Lifetime Member
Member has Passed
Posts: 3,804
|
Post by PeterW on Jul 2, 2006 13:09:53 GMT -5
Hi Roger, Not at the moment, but it's an idea for the competition!! ;D. Peter PS Just you wait. When the supply of Zenits dries up, and all the remaining ones have gone to the crusher, my grandson's going to be the envy of his collecting friends ... always assuming he goes on to collect cameras. At four years old he's showing a lot of interest in them.  PW |
|
|
|
Post by Just Plain Curt on Jul 2, 2006 13:55:07 GMT -5
Nice buy Peter.
I've bought a few E's myself (would you believe I've got 7 but only 5 work?) but not at prices like yours. I know how the Zenit acquiring bug can get under your skin. At the asking price they're quite a bargain. I have 24 so far myself.
|
|
PeterW
Lifetime Member
Member has Passed
Posts: 3,804
|
Post by PeterW on Jul 2, 2006 15:08:59 GMT -5
Hi Curt, Do you know Tom Piel's website Tiger's Lair? If not got to www.xs4all.nl/~tomtiger/Tom's a great Zenit enthusiast and runs the Zenit Collectors Group on Yahoo. He's also a great guy! Scroll down the left side of Tigers Lair to 'Camera articles and info' and have a look at the various bits on Zenit E. If the non-working is just something jammed under the top plate they aren't all that difficult to take the top off. I've done Tom's meter cell swap and it works fine. Anything more than probing under the top plate or adjusting curtain tension, like for example replacing a broken curtain tape, is a bit more complicated in that most of the camera has to come apart. More tricky than a Zorki, but not as difficult as some SLRs if you make lots of notes or take lots of digi pics to guide reassembly, but you do get rather a lot of bits and pieces around on the bench! I've got a couple with broken tapes, a !2XP and an 11, but as I've also got working examples fixing them is on the 'I'll get around to it sometime' list. At the moment, as well as the brass and mahogany half-plate I'm restoring a 1930s Retina I Type 119. So many cameras to fix ... so little time!! Peter |
|
PeterW
Lifetime Member
Member has Passed
Posts: 3,804
|
Post by PeterW on Jul 2, 2006 15:47:59 GMT -5
Hi Walker, you wrote:
Oh yes, knowing the little quirks of some cameras can be a great asset. Pre-war and early post-war Retinas are great for this. Some won't work unless there's film in them to turn the sprockets (or you push them round with your finger) to advance the film counter. On the early ones without a body release the film wind knob jams after every wind, and releases only after you manually advance the film counter by a little lever hidden at the back under the viewfinder.
Others can also 'jam' when you get to 20 and 36 on the film counter (20 was the 'short' film in those days) as a reminder not to pull the film right out of the cassette. Again you have to release it manually.
Finding the rewind clutch catch on some also foxes a lot of people. It's a tiny fingernail-operated serrated lever at the back of the top plate below the wind knob and quite often the tiny A and R symbols have become obscured with dirt. If the last user left it at R for Rewind then nothing works!
Most dealers at camera fairs know these little tricks, but most flea market dealers, and most Ebay sellers, don't. A 'jammed' folding Retina's always worth a second look.
Sometimes when a seller says 'I don't know anything about cameras' he really means it!
Peter W
|
|
|
|
Post by Microdad on Jul 2, 2006 22:11:21 GMT -5
Wow, I don't even own 18 cameras total let alone of just one brand  LOL!! Steve |
|
|
|
Post by doubs43 on Jul 3, 2006 0:44:02 GMT -5
Peter, I just now saw your replies. I have Tiger Tom's site bookmarked because he has quite a bit of good information on the Sniper and I have the Sniper set. I bought it primarily because I wanted a decent 300mm M42 mount lens and it was cheaper to but the set with the Tair-3S than to buy most decent 300mm lenses alone. The set should also retain it's value.
Your list of cameras in need of a little TLC reads like mine and I also have so much to do that getting to9 them isn't easy. I cleaned the lens elements on a Meyer Orestor 135mm f/2.8 pre-set lens today. I'm sure I helped it although the crud on the front element was pretty bad. Now to find time to test it.
You're also correct that when some sellers say they don't know about cameras, they really are in the dark. It's not always easy to know who's telling the truth and who's trying to pass off a bad item. Sometimes, you just have to take a chance.
Walker
|
|
LOL!!