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Alex
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, September 19, 2005 - 04:14 am: | 
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I’ve got hold of an old Zeiss Nettar 515/2 with Tessar 4.5 in Compur-Rapid shutter. Another Ebay folly, I’m afraid. I’m more interested in getting this restored to being a working camera than a collector’s piece, and this one looks like it’s going to need quite a few nights worth of attention. (I need an excuse to give to my wife for why I haven’t got the time at the moment to go and put shelves up in the garage.)
The lens I can clean up, but although the shutter is working reasonably at speeds 1sec through to 400, I can’t cock the shutter when it's at T or B settings. There’s a little knob at the top of the shutter housing, but moving it doesn’t seem to affect the shutter in any way.
The leather covering is dimpled quite a bit all over, so I guess there’s corrosion underneath, and it’ll all have to come off for cleaning. This is something I’ve never tackled before. I don’t know what kind of adhesive holds it on, and I’d be grateful for some pointers on how to get the coverings off (in a re-useable state), and what sort of adhesive I should use to put them back on again. I don’t want to start off using any organic solvents in case there’s a recommended method for this age of camera.
Some of the paintwork around the trim is also blistering, and once again, is there a recommended paint type or method for restoring this?
Any pointers will be gratefully received by me, if not by my wife. |
Winfried
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, September 19, 2005 - 06:53 am: |
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If your camera has a Compur shutter you cannot cock it when set to T or B... and you don't need to, the shutter will open and close WITHOUT cocking on these settings.
The leather trim on these old cameras usually is very thin. If you get it off without ripping it you can reglue it with virtually any household glue. I use a non-solvent free household glue (UHU). You can also use contact cement but with this thin leather trim it will not be necessary to use a strong glue.
If there are 'Zeiss bumps' (i.e. corroded heads of rivets) beneath the leather trim you should scrape off the corroded stuff. A glass fibre erasor can be used for this purpose.
I have heard that black paint can be restored with a paint marker from Micro-Tools. I bought one of these but did not use it yet. |
Alex
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, September 19, 2005 - 01:20 pm: |
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Thanks, as ever, Winfried. I feel such a fool now that I see how the T & B settings work. Funny how it's only obvious after someone tells you!
I have managed to get the leather off the back of the camera and the two smaller pieces at the front on each of the baseboard, in re-useable contition. These 'Zeiss bumps', what a mess. There were white powdery deposits everywhere, and the old glue was a terrible mess too. Some came away with the leather, some stayed behind, and I had to use gentle sanding to get it all away. Took me about three hours, and there's probably a good few hours more for the rest. The leather at the ends where the viewfinder is, and the opposite end, were too thin to come off intact and they just ripped, so I'll need to make replacement shapes. Time to raid my wife's craft box.
Thanks for the Micro-Tools tip for paint, I'll have a look, I see there's a European outlet.
The lens is in fairly good shape, just a small patch of fungus which has come away with vinegar, and the shutter seems good too and the slow speeds sound about right. It's probably going to be way more effort than the camera's actually worth, but the challenge of getting a working camera, and getting it looking as well as it can be made to look after sixty-odd years, it just has to be done!
Thanks again. |
Winfried
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 12:07 am: |
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I don't know whether anyone has experience with that issue but maybe covering the (brass) rivet heads with some water resistant paint could keep them from corroding further or showing new 'Zeiss bumps' over time. |
mike kovacs
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 04:51 am: |
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Winfried is on the right track - I give the brass rivets a quick brush with my wire wheel dremel, clean them with alcohol, and apply some black nail polish.
If you don't, they will come back. (quickly!) |
Alex
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 05:18 am: |
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Thanks for the tip Mike. I've done the wire wheel cleaning and I'll try the nail polish technique. I've already raided my wife's craft box for stips of thin leather, but I expect rather more serious questions from her when she finds me raiding her make-up box! |
Mike Kovacs
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 09:07 am: |
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BTW, don't ever force the shutter into B or T when its cocked. You have to fire it first, a good reason not to cock the shutter until you are certain that you know your exposure.
I just finished a job recently of a mangled Compur Rapid B,T 1-1/500 shutter in a Rolleiflex Old Standard. It works now but required a lot of bending and filing to do so after some ham-fisted operation by a previous owner! |
Rob
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 25, 2005 - 05:47 pm: |
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With respect to the corroded rivets, they may actually be easier to replace than to clean up. It doesn't matter if they are brass or soft aluminum. As long as they hold. In a worst case scenario, you can drill them out and go up a size. |
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