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Post by sevesteen on Jun 15, 2015 19:06:43 GMT -5
Google: varda stakeout 6000 hits. And the first 4 pages of Google results are irrelevant to the camera. Adding camera to the search string doesn't help. Maybe there's a gem in there in the 5,000th result, I didn't wade through all of them.
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Post by sevesteen on Jun 14, 2015 20:37:22 GMT -5
Found this on Ebay, at a reasonable price for the Chinon alone--Varda company Stakeout camera. Apparently Chinon had one of the more advanced winders of the time, with the ability to set a variable number of shots, with a variable delay. Varda's box plugged into a jack on the winder. What little I've been able to find leads me to believe that the Varda box was in turn plugged into an alarm system sensor--VARDA stands for Voice Activated Radio Dispatch Alarm, The company has a web page rather than a site--a single page with nothing more than basic non-internet contact information. Not sure about the Varda box, but the camera and winder needed some corrosion removed, seem to work fine after that. On the off chance anyone knows more about the Varda part of this, I'd love to hear from you. I am kind of curious about where this would be used--Seems that it would need to be secured somewhere, otherwise the perp would be likely to hear the camera
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Post by sevesteen on May 30, 2015 22:44:00 GMT -5
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Post by sevesteen on May 28, 2015 21:14:19 GMT -5
I've known the various brands in this story--but I've generally had a much easier time finding the original version of a private branded camera.
In the mid 90's when Woolworth's went out of business I bought a Vivitar 135 lens for my SRT101 for somewhere around $30. Had to send it to Vivitar for asticky diaphragm, while there I asked how old the lens was. They said "we don't know, our records only go back 10 years"....which explained both the sticky diaphragm and Woolworth's financial troubles. I remember being oddly disappointed to find that they were only a distributor.
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Post by sevesteen on May 28, 2015 16:43:57 GMT -5
I found this Revueflex T on Ebay. Google research told me it was Cosina or Chinon made, and from somewhere around 1971--but at first I couldn't find a matching non-Revueflex model. It has controls similar to the Ricoh Singlex, Cosina Hi Lite and Chinonflex TTL--but the body and top plate were significantly different shapes, especially the corners. I finally ran across a picture of a Vivitar 220/SL with the same body and top shape...except with a top mount shutter speed and hot shoe. Looking up that up on Google Images, I spotted a camera with both the right shape and control layout--a Cosina with the model name SLR. anusf.anu.edu.au/~aab900/photography/cameras/pics/cosina-slr.jpganusf.anu.edu.au/~aab900/photography/cameras/vivitar.htmI think I've found a match, other than some cosmetic items this appears identical. The model name makes it surprisingly difficult to find information, it's as if Ford had a model called Car.
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Post by sevesteen on May 27, 2015 17:00:13 GMT -5
I've also got a Penta J with similar issues, plus a loose mirror, plus a bad shutter plus someone else's obvious repair attempt where they've damaged the leatherette. Since it isn't a precious gem and I can't really make it worse I decided to try on it first.
It appears that to get the shield off you have to peel the leatherette and remove the snout or whatever the part between the lens mount and the main body is called. 4 screws under the front leatherette. I had already taken both covers off before I peeled the leatherette, didn't need to take the bottom cover and probably didn't need to take the top. I'm not yet comfortable on peeling the leatherette back on a camera that's mostly for display, so replacing the foam on the J-5 will have to wait.
...and after fixing the loose mirror I found the cause of the shutter issue on the Penta J, the bottom tape on the leading curtain isn't attached to the shaft like the top is. That's more than I'm willing to fix for the sake of this camera, although someday I may attempt it for the sake of knowing how.
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Post by sevesteen on May 25, 2015 16:02:22 GMT -5
I already tried removing the screws to the cover plate--that lets it wiggle a tiny bit but it is still held on by the lens mount, without enough slack to get at anything underneath. No visible screws on the mount. My next step on my own would be to take the bottom plate off...but the door release lever on the bottom has a nonstandard screw--2 slots about half a mm wide, about 1mm deep on the outer edge, takes a spanner I don't have and don't know where to get.
But my actual question has been answered, even if it isn't the answer I wanted--there doesn't appear to be a generic way to replace the foam like this without disassembly.
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Post by sevesteen on May 23, 2015 17:53:07 GMT -5
I've got a couple of cameras that desperately need new mirror foam, but they have a shield in the way--like this Yashica J-5 Is there some better way of getting to this area without major disassembly?
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Post by sevesteen on Apr 13, 2015 15:14:06 GMT -5
I just bpught a Yashica J-P with an Asahi Opt. Co Super-Takuma 1.8/55 lens that appears identical (other than the missing R) to a Super Takumar currently on my Pentax H1v. The lettering is engraved, so it doesn't seem plausible that it' came off, but it seems like an unlikely defect. Is there a difference between Takuma and Takumar?
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Post by sevesteen on Apr 6, 2015 16:09:56 GMT -5
My guess is that something different is required because the SRT mirror isn't just a simple pivot, it moves almost straight up about 5mm before pivoting. If I understand what is going on (hard to see behind the mirror during travel) the cloth bit slides along the back of the mirror while it goes up, then gets trapped in place when the mirror is in the up position.
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Post by sevesteen on Apr 2, 2015 18:31:52 GMT -5
Got a roll of film back from one of my SRT-101's. Every shot had a horizontal dark bar across the bottom of the picture. When i looked closer at the camera, it's something I should have caught before I ran film through it--a piece of cloth dangling from the top of the camera. I've got no shortage of SRT's...so I looked at another to see how it should go. That actually delayed the repair by a bit, because while I could get the cloth under the tabs where it should go, I couldn't see how to get it tucked under the bar going across the mirror. Fiddling with the mirror lockup showed that the bar moves away from the mirror at some parts of the cycle. If the cloth is tucked into its tabs, it will land where it needs to go and be trapped by that bar as it should when the mirror cycles.
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Post by sevesteen on Apr 1, 2015 20:34:54 GMT -5
I just picked up a Nikomat FTn. First inspection isn't showing significant faults except for the meter--with a zinc air battery that works in my Nikkormat FTn, when the meter is on the needle goes to max scale with an audible click. This is even with a lens cap, shutter at 1000, aperture at f16 and ASA at 25. Where do I start looking?
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Post by sevesteen on Mar 21, 2015 20:05:30 GMT -5
Took a newly-acquired Canon FTb for some test shots. About half turned out like this:  I assume this is some sort of shutter issue. Unfortunately I did not keep track of what speeds I shot at, but shooting without a lens at a white light it appears that the problem is at higher speeds--500 and 1000 appear to cut some of the left side viewed from behind (closest to the rewind crank) 250 appears to be OK. Is this something I might be able to repair without specialized tools? (I've also decided that I need a more disciplined method of initial film testing cameras)
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Post by sevesteen on Mar 15, 2015 13:50:02 GMT -5
Update--Set screws in the mount, depth of field scale and focus ring let me remove each in turn to get to the set screws in the preset ring. Tightening those fixed the problem, and I was able to get the lens back together with no parts left over, and appearing to function properly.
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Post by sevesteen on Mar 13, 2015 21:25:42 GMT -5
While still debating what to do about my S1a, I found this H1a with meter. No obvious mechanical faults. Installed a zinc air battery, and the meter agrees with my K-x. Probably run a roll of film through it tomorrow.
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