JUTTA
Hi,
Yesterday, an Exakta Varex IIa complete with four lenses arrived.
It actually looked quite nice. The timings were right – everything was running smoothly – then came the shock: when I looked through the camera from the back, I saw that the shutter curtain was full of holes (worn). When I wind it up, the cloth slides to one side and a light-tight section becomes visible. Is it all one piece, or are there two cloths? As there is a light leak, I assume I shouldn’t load any film?
The mirror also looked as though it had been cleaned incorrectly. :)
Does it need replacing?
I don’t think it’ll affect the film?
Question:
Who can fit a new cloth into a camera like this?
Is there a repair shop for Exakta cameras?
Or is it perhaps something I could do myself? Where can I get the replacement cloth from?
Best wishes,
JUTTA
Gast
Hello Jutta,
Doing it yourself is extremely difficult if you don’t want to ruin the camera completely. As the Exakta has been made from a single piece of metal since 1951 (yours is from 1956), you’ll need to unscrew the top cover plates, loosen the internal components (you’ll need tools) and pull them out, then remove and replace the two cloths – there are two of them.
After that, the timing will be off and will need to be reset, so don’t bother.
It’s better to go to Foto Olbrich in Görlitz – they’re real experts. It’ll cost you about 75 euros there, and that’s that; the camera will be sorted and given a full service at the same time.
Besides, if you bought it on eBay, it seems to me you should return the camera and get your money back; it’s unacceptable for someone to conceal obvious faults – that’s not a warranty, it’s a misrepresentation.
But stay nice all the same – you know what goes round comes round...
Gast
Here’s the Fotoservice Olbrich website, before I forget
: http://www.mon.de/dd/foto-olbrich/home.htm
Good lighting
Otto
Gast
Hi Otto,
I’ll get straight on to Mr Olbrich’s address on Monday.
I don’t want to send it back, as my husband bought it for me. He just doesn’t know much about cameras :)
But as it’s a gift from him, I want to pull out all the stops to get the camera back in working order so that it’s a real joy to take photos with it.
He bought it on eBay, of course, with four lenses for just under €100. Well, he wanted to make me happy with it, as I’ve been raving about it for a while.
I started with an EXA Ia, then added a few bits and bobs like new film spools, special focusing magnifiers, extension tubes, a shutter release bridge, micro bellows focusing devices, and the original books ‘EXAKTA Kleinbildfotografie’ from 1955 and 1967 by Werner Wurst. The latter includes original typewritten notes, lists and a price list from the previous owner. So, as you can see, it’s basically everything you need for EXAKTA photography.
As I said, apart from that, it works perfectly.
Many thanks to Mr Olbrich for the tip :blink:
Best regards,
JUTTA
Gast
Jutta,
It’s just occurred to me – you’d best have the lenses checked straight away. If they’re black Carl Zeiss Jena lenses (from 1961 onwards) with a fully automatic spring aperture, the aperture often gets stuck.
Otto
JUTTA
Hi Otto,
They are: Tessar 2.8/50, Pentacon 2.8/29, Pentacon 4/200, Pentacon 2.8/135
The Pentacons are actually clear and clean.
The focus on the Tessar is a bit stiff. The aperture works perfectly, though.
I’ll send that to Mr Olbrich. He should have a look at it.
Best regards,
JUTTA
