The average Exakta found now is anywhere from 70-40 years old.  Though they were well made, the cloth used in their shutters proved to be very perishable.  They did not age well. Often the original cloth shutters on Exaktas now are found cracking, flaking or totally dried out.  Shutter replacement would be necessary.  It is rather fortunate that the Exakta was not finicky with shutter cloth that went into its shutter.  The shutter mechanism crate is not confined in tight quarters like in a Leica.  It appears that any shutter cloth  material of similar thickness will work in it.

I. THE CAMERA

This is an Exakta VX made in 1955.  The VX is the USA designation is for the “Varex” model.  Ansco had registered “Varex” for themselves so Ihagee (or the US Exakta Camera Co) could not use  it for their cameras anymore.  This is the second variant of the VX- it uses the standard PC (Prontor Compur) flash contacts.  All the previous Exakta cameras used two-pin contacts which required the use of either Exakta flash contacts or a PC adapter.  There are two here- “M” on the left is for expendable flashbulbs, where the circuit closes a bit earlier than the opening of the shutter to allow the shutter to synch with the peak of the flash burst.   The one on the right marked “X” is for electronic flash, where no delay is necessary.  The Exakta had no flash shoe, so using electronic flash with it necessitates the use of PC cable connectors.  Make sure that the flash is plugged in X, otherwise, there will be  no synchronised flash exposures.  Another quirk is that the flash circuit remains closed when the shutter remains uncocked.  So plugged flash can fire spontaneously until the shutter is cocked again.

Speaking of the shutter, the one on this Exakta was really shot.  It looked cracked and dried out.  The cracks and holes no longer made the shutter blinds light-tight.  Light breaching through the holes will produce ugly light leaks on the picture.  These appears as white marks in the photograph.  Someone attempted to ‘fix’ the shutter by over-coating it with some form of  paint.  The paint appeared to have ‘melted’ the original curtain coatings somewhat, making the situation worse.  Aside from making the camera look ugly, it also appears to be slowing down the movement of the shutter.  Not good for accurate exposures.

The camera worked fine.  If this Exakta was to shoot again, it will have to be given new shutter blinds.

II. CAMERA DISASSEMBLY

Using Rick Oleson’s Exakta Shutter Replacment Guide from his Camera Tech Notes site, I decided to try to do the shutter replacement myself.  As far as I know, there are no longer  any camera repairmen around in Manila who are still able to work with Exakta cameras.  Even back in the day, I doubt if there were many who could.  Exakta cameras were never common here.

1. Remove the Front Plate. Take out screws marked 1, 2, 3, and 4 to remove the lens mount. Then screws A, B, C,  D, E, and F. Screw D also holds the shutter button “safety” lock. Do not remove the other umarked screws.

2. Lens mount and front plate removed. Two more screws to remove, found in positions marked A and B.

3. Stamped on the back of the front plate is “9 März 1955”- 9 March 1955. This probably the camera’s date of manufacture. If not it certainly means that the camera dates from 1955. I was careful in cleaning this part. I made sure that I did not erase the mark with cleaning solvent. The mark is of delicate ink.

4. Removing the dials and the cover plates. The advance lever, the fast shutter speed dial, and the slow speed dial are all fastened with large headed screws. These screws have a peculial slot- they are cut deeper at the centre, in a concave manner. The ordinary flat head screw driver may be used, but its better to use those whose heads have been modified to conform to the shape of these slots. These are, I think, the only Exakta parts which need a special tool. Remove screws A, B, and C. The shutter dial can be lifted out when its screw is removed. However, the advance lever and slow speed dial have additonal retainers which also need to be removed. The top plate is really in two pieces. They are held in place by screws 1 and 2 (concealed under the tip of the advance lever) on the left; and screws 3 and 4 on the right.

(NOTE: THE SCREWS SECURING THE ADVANCE LEVER, SHUTTER SPEED DIAL, AND SLOW SPEED DIAL HAVE A CURVED SLOT. USING AN ORDINARY FLATHEAD SCREWDRIVER CAN DAMAGE THESE SCREWS’ SLOTS.  SEE http://www.zorkikat.com/a-simple-tool-substitute-for-exakta-repair/665/ FOR A POSSIBLE SUBSTITUTE TOOL.)

 5. The Shutter Dial removed. Under the screw is a thick coiled spring. The shutter dial is a big piece of milled aluminium. Be careful not to distort it.

 6. Under the winding lever screw is its retainer. The retainer has two holes to accomodate a spanner wrench. Take the retainer off to lift off the advance lever. Before removing both retainer and lever, make sure that the shutter is wound. Be careful not to upset the spring-loaded frame counter mechanism. It is rather complicated to restore to proper position and timing. Remove the two fastening screws on the cover plate. The cover plate can now be lifted off.

 7. The counter disc should not be removed. Do not allow this to lift from its spindle. There is a tiny flat thin metal spring-like catch which is critical to the counter disc’s operation. Do not break this spring. The gears in this camera is rather dirty. The big gear with holes on the right is the shutter speed control. The holes are where the dial setting pin engages. They are arranged in a way that will give the shutter blinds a certain variable gap sizes needed to achieve the specific shutter exposure times. Cleaning the gears can be done by gently brushing them with, or flush-cleaning them with lighter fluid or benzine. There is also a “7” pencilled on the chassis. This is probably a code for the person responsible for this part of the assembly.

  8. Replace the winding lever and the shutter dial. The dial must be restored in its correct position relative to the winding action. Put its retainer back, but do not tighten it too much. The shutter dial must also be replaced. Make sure that the index dot lines up properly with the proper values engraved on the dial. The winder and dial need to be in place to allow the winding and shutter cocking during the repair procedures.

  10. This big knob is the slow speed dial. The slow speeds range from 1/5 to 12 seconds. The red values mark the settings for delayed action release, with the numbers representing various delay lengths in seconds. After removing the big head screw, the retainer which holds the dial in place can be seen. Remove this with a spanner wrench. MAKE SURE THAT THE SHUTTER IS COCKED BEFORE REMOVING ANY PART OF THE DIAL. Disassembling this component with the shutter uncocked will require extra work to synch the gears and pins back. This can be a very difficult process.

11. With retainer off, the first part of the dial will pop out. There is a big spring underneath.

12. Lift off the main dial. Remove the screws marked A and B. The cover plate can now be removed. Replace the main dial, and restore its retainer.

   13. Do not upset the positions. The disc with the big red X on it is the VX’s film loading check. This X’ed disc must turn each time the film is advanced.

  14. At this point, it will be good idea to remove the camera’s back cover. In the Exakta VX (and the succeeding models), the back is hinged, but can be removed as well. It is secured by a long hinge pin which can be pulled out to separate the back cover. The hinge pin has a knurled head protruding on the side hinge. Pull this out and the back will separate.

  15. On the take-up side remove the screws marked A and B. This will release the cover plate.

  16. When the coverplate is removed, there are two more screws which need to be removed: The fastening screw A, and the large headed screw B. “A” is a simple fastener. “B” however is more complicated. It fastens the spool advance gear to the sprocket shaft gear. It is also spring loaded- when the rewind button on top is pushed down, the spring also descends to free the sprocket gear for rewinding. Furthermore, screw B is also attached to another slotted screw on the other side, which makes the removal process also quite complicated. Putting these back again during disassembly is even more difficult: narrow spaces, holding one spring loaded screw in place whilst lining up the other on the opposite side, and then making sure that the parts engage. That’s just the start of it. Threading the screws together is another ordeal. Reassembly of this part took me about an hour. (NOTE. Many of the screws in the Exakta are made from soft brass or aluminium and can break rather easily.)

  The linking gear described above, showing the large headed screw, the gear, and the spring loaded upper screw.

17. Over at the other (Supply) side, only screw A needs to be removed. The film cutting knife blade (more like a hooked cat’s claw) is seen on the left. This feature is unique to Exakta cameras (copied in the Soviet “Start” SLR), and this allows to cut film in partially exposed lengths or for spool to spool loading that dispenses the need for rewinding.

  18. Two more screws, A and B, found under the finder base, need to be removed before the shutter crate can be separated from the chassis. The entire shutter crate lifts out neatly. But the fit can be tight. Also watch for the shutter release button and its washers . These are not fastened by any retainer. They will fall out freely. Take note of their positions for correct disassembly later.

   19. The shutter crate removed from the chassis. The shutter button (though loosely) and the M and X synchro contacts remain on the chassis. Everything else: the shutter timing mechanisms, the shutter spring rollers, the mirror mechanism, and the shutter itself are all assembled on the shutter crate.

III. A TOUR INSIDE THE EXAKTA

   Looking inside the Exakta chassis. The chassis has solid reliable casting. Its silhouette cannot be mistaken for anything else as only Exakta were made this way. The shutter button is loose and is just fitted in its hole. Take note of how it was installed during reassembly. Other than the shutter button, all the other parts left in the chassis but not part of the casting are secured by screws or retainers.

  Dried out curtains which flake and peel- the scourge of Exaktas. The shutter blinds appear to be made of cotton fabric coated with rubber to make them light proof. The rubber coating did not age as well as the camera. Many Exakta are found with deteriorating curtains. The ugly smudgy portion of the second shutter blind indicates a quick but non-binding repair procedure for flaking curtain cloth: paiting it over with acrylic paint. Small pinholes can be patched, but if the damage spans across the entire frame already, shutter cloth replacement is the only wise, long-term remedy. Painting over a flaking surface will cause the new layer to peel away too, with the old. Since the old no longer has an affinity for the cloth base, whatever goes on it will go as well when it peels off. Painting over can also make the fabric less supple or become too thick for smooth and proper operation.

  The mirror box, the two posts which reel in the shutter during cocking, and the X-synch switch. The Exakta used a four-post system, instead of the two post and cocentric drum scheme found in Leica and similar cameras. This made it easier to assemble. The shutters found in many Japanese SLRs with cloth shutters also used the same system. The flash switch looks so foolproof with its big chromed metal contacts. This is true, but the plastic insulating bar they are attached to is rather delicate. In this camera, this plastic part broke into two. East German 1955 plastics must not have been so good…. Another quirk of the Exakta is that once the switch closes the flash sync circuit, the circuit remains closed until the shutter is cocked again. A flash connected to the camera will fire continuously when it charges. Winding the shutter or unplugging the flash from the camera would be the only ways to prevent this.

The two spring loaded rollers, the first curtain, the second curtain ribbons, and the slow speed mechanism. The spring loaded rollers power the shutter. These rollers are tensed each time the shutter is wound; tripping the shutter button releases the blinds to travel at timed intervals to accomplish the different shutter speed durations. The first (wider) blind is attached to the inner roller, and the second (narrower) blind is attached to the outer roller through its ribbons. The outer roller shows a lot of dried oozed glue. This meant that the person who glued the ribbons and blinds to the rollers was not very fastidious. Also, the bits of ribbon stock were also found within the glued coils of the ribbons themselves. This was used to correct slight misalignments in the glued ribbons to ensure that the gap between the blinds during exposure was parallel. Either would indicate poor assembly methods if the assembly is still original. Doesn’t speak much of the touted ‘German Quality’.

 The slow speed mechanism, mounted forward of the rollers, is a clockwork train of gears which timed the slow speed (29 shutter speeds in all: 1/5 to 12 seconds + the ‘fast’ speeds !) as well as the delayed release exposures. Exposing at slow speeds on the Exakta was a two step tedious process. First the shutter was cocked and set to Z or B. Then the slow speed dial was wound as well, and then set to the desired ‘slow’ speed. Then the exposure was made. This two step winding process had to be repeated for each ‘slow’ exposure. 1/25 sec was the slowest on the ‘instantaneous’ dial; the next slowest speed was 1/5 sec. No 1/10 sec, as expected from the usual scale progression. The process worked this way: the shutter had to be set at B or Z first. When the exposure was made, the first curtain opens. The slow speed mechanism times when the second curtain should be released. If 1/5 sec was selected, the timer released the second curtain 1/5 second after the first curtain opened. At 12 seconds, exactly 12 seconds were made to pass before letting curtain number 2 go. Why go all the way to 12 seconds? Using Z or B for these really long exposures would have clinched the trick. The Exakta designers must have some reason which is now lost.  (The dial has two sets of numbers: the black numbers are the slow speed values, and the red, the delayed mechanism’s timing.)   The slow dial must neither be wound, nor set to any ‘slow value’ when the main shutter dial is at any speed other than B or T.  The conflicting dials can ‘confuse’ the shutter mechanism and damage it.

 The first step to curtain replacement: removing the old blinds. The spring rollers are liberated from their yokes by unlocking the tensioning pin locks on the top plate. That also releases their tension. The narrow second (closing) curtain is shown here. It had been painted through the film gate to patch the cracking vulcanised coating. The paint made its way to the film gate too.

 The second curtain is removed. It becomes the template for making a new one. The film gate has also been cleaned. Good thing that the paint easily rubbed off with some alcohol. The first curtain is removed next. Even though the first curtain still looks good, I decided to replace it anyway. A shutter which is half new and half old doesn’t sound good. The old one will likely give way soon, so better do both replacements at once when its most convenient. Both rollers are cleaned thoroughly before attaching the new blinds.

   One of the spring rollers (there is a coiled spiral spring within), cleaned thoroughly with nail polish remover. No attempt was made to make it ‘cleaner’. The discolouration was on the surface of the metal. Nothing could be scraped anymore, and further physical scraping may damage the metal tube. This clean surface will take on the new cement very well.

 THE NEW CURTAINS. Using the old material as templates and using the data given at Rick Oleson’s Camera Tech Notes about the Exakta, I made these new shutter blinds. I used fine cotton twill, made light proof with a coating of rubber based paint. The process of making the shutter cloth is complicated . It is quite impossible, using my resources alone to duplicate the crimped metal laths which the original Exakta shutters used. So I opted to use the Leica-style wrap-around method instead. The cloth was glued around a metal spine (cut from discarded metal 35mm cassettes, then tempered), and then sewn. Before sewing, the ribbons were inserted through slits at the top and bottom- mimicking the Exakta shutter cloth layout. The stitching was necessary to make sure that neither cloth nor ribbon would free themselves from their spines. Shutter operation- opening, closing, cocking, and opening and closing again, involves a lot of cloth-on-metal-on-cloth rubbing. Getting the cloth smooth (as well as the metal surfaces on the shutter crate where the cloth runs on) to reduce friction will make the shutter last longer.

 The first curtain (wider) is glued to the its roller. This reeled position guarantees full frame opening, and the extra distance from the edge of the film gate cancels out the accelaration effect encountered in shutters of this kind. By the time the shutter blinds narrow down during their traverse at high speeds, the slits will already be out of the film’s area. The ribbons are drawn across up to their reeling rollers for tensioning. Both shutter cloth and ribbons are simply glued.

 The First Shutter at Starting Position.

The second (closing) curtain is installed next. The end of the cloth is glued to its reeling post in such a way that it is able to clear the film gate when fully reeled. The installation should also allow the curtain to fully cover the film gate, with its spine overlapping the spine of the first curtain. The ribbons are then glued to their spring roller in a way that would allow both full opening and full reeling when the shutter closes. The exact positions will not be detailed here- a better reference would be needed.

   The Shutter Blinds Fully Opened: First curtain reeled, second curtain detained. When proper curtain spacing has been achieved, the next step is to tension the spring rollers.

Tensioning is done turning the upper slotted ends of the spring rollers. When the rollers are installed, the slotted ends are accessible through the top plate of the shutter crate. One of these can be seen in this picture, under the left end of the coiled spring. The other roller’s slotted end is concealed by the larger black screw at the centre. Each spring roller is tensed by a certain number of clockwise turns to achieve a particular tension. The amount of tension determines the shutter speeds somewhat. Tensioning the Exakta shutter is more difficult to do, compared to how the shutters in Leicas or other cameras are tensed. In the Exakta, both rollers are locked using a individual pins which are kept in place by a single screw (the black one under the coiled spring). It takes a lot of finger tricks to work on the tensioning. And add to that this area too, is obscured by a coiled spring.  This spring is part of the timing release arm for the second curtain for the long exposures .

The newly installed shutter blinds. After tensing the rollers, the shutter can now be cocked and fired. The values are now tested (using a shutter testing device) and further adjustments can be done to correct the speeds. As a rule, slight deviations are acceptable. On-the-dot values are difficult to achieve with mechanical shutters, and are not really necessary. Discrepancies of about 10-20% off the marked shutter values are acceptable. The shutter may not even expose at the same values from one end of the frame to the other. If it’s not noticeable and the exposures are satisfactory, then the shutter is good enough. This is a good time –when the mechanism and all the parts are exposed- to lubricate the mechanism too. Fine oil for watches can be used. Oil sparingly, and only on the pivots of gears and levers. A dry mechanism makes a ‘squawking’ sound when the shutter is fired.

Reassembly is the just the opposite. Insert the shutter crate into the chassis. Make sure that all the parts are back in their respective places. Pay attention to the shutter button- it can go in many ways but only one is correct. Same with the rewind button found on top. The trickiest part to return is the linking gear between the take up and the sprocket gears. Do not overtighten screws or retainers too. Many of the screws are easy to break, and the threaded holes that they go through are also easy to strip. The camera is now then ready to shoot. Do a test roll first to evaluate its performance- old cameras with old mechanisms may sometimes have hidden afflictions which will only show in the photos they shoot. You will then know if your camera can be a shooter or if it needs to go back for further repairs and adjustments.

 The Exakta VX after repair (completed 2011. 4. 19)…

…And what it has shot:

Further Reading

For a quick reference to get inside the Exakta, Rick Oleson’s Exakta Shutter Replacment Guide is a good place to start.  For basic disassembly of the camera for oiling and cleaning, as well as shutter replacement.

Exakta Expert Miles Upton’s book, the “ULTIMATE EXAKTA REPAIR” is the best reference there is for anything about Exakta repair.  It can be purchased directly from him, or from his ebay site “exaktaphile1”.

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Kiev, and the Contax cameras they were patterned after, were great cameras.  Overengineered to give a certain amount of precision that you and your mum would love.  But the complex mechanism, so full of parts and movements, made it prone for more opportunities for failure.  For instance, the shutter.  The metal focal plane shutter used in Kiev had some distinct advantages over the Leica style double cloth type.  It will never burn pinholes.  It will likely to keep its timing better too.  But it had a serious weak point- the shutter run on fibre straps.  Brass slats running, pressing, and bearing on silk ribbons would soon wear the latter out, causing it to break.  Breakage is inevitable- wear, age, and even the climate will eventually kill the ribbons.  And often this breakage happens without warning.  The ribbons aren’t visible, so their state cannot be assessed easily.

It happens quickly too.  One moment the shutter winds and fires ok.  Then suddenly, the winding knob will turn heavier than it did just a few shots ago.  The shutter will fire with a different sound.  The ‘click’ no longer sounds complete- the closing sound that completes the cycle seems to be missing.  All indicators of shutter breakage.  And when you take off the camera’s back, this is what you’ll see- an empty gaping hole where the shutter once was:

The shutter can be wound. But instead of seeing an opening and closing blind, only one set seems to be moving.  Or none at all if the two ribbons broke.

Taking off the shutter cover/film gate plate will reveal what happened.  Expect to find one ribbon- usually the one on the right (next to the large gears), and its break approximately 1 – 3mm from its stitched end.  Sometimes two ribbons break.  Same place too.

In this camera, the two ribbons snapped.  The original material used by the factory – “Арсенал” in the Ukraine- was woven acetate. The two main concerns in ribbon replacement are, 1- the mechanical aspects of repair; and 2- getting the suitable material to replace the broken ribbons.  The latter involves using substitutes such as tailoring or ornamental ribbons, or camera straps from camera repair suppliers.  Many people have reported success with ordinary acetate ribbons.  However, getting one in the right width (3mm) and thickness is not easy.  The wrong size- such as being slightly over 3mm or thicker than what the shutter eyelets can let pass – can result in shutter failure.

The repair can be done without removing anything more than the shutter cover/film gate.  This camera was taken apart more extensively to allow other repairs like Rangefinder calibration.  In Kiev and Contax, the entire shutter assembly has to be removed for simple rangefinder adjustments like vertical or horizontal/infinity alignment.

Closer examination shows that the Ribbons in this shutter failed because of age and wear.

Note and memorise the positions of the original ribbons- where they were attached, and how.  Measure the distance between the folded ends attached to the spring loaded roller at the bottom and the upper shutter blind.  With broken ribbons, this might not be possible.   This is about 11 cms long.

The ribbon material chosen for this repair is a Japanese made material sourced from a camera repair supplier.  It is made of real habutae silk. Not acetate or rayon since the fibres don’t melt and fuse when put to a flame.  It is exactly 3mm wide, just what Kiev or Contax needs.  Real silk is smooth and strong, so it has the strength needed to withstand the shutter’s strain for some years. Silk is one of the strongest natural fibres.  It’s thinner though, but the eyelets on the shutter blinds which ride on the ribbons can be crimped a bit for the grip.

I have read somewhere that the ribbons used by Zeiss for the Contax was made in Japan.  This was before WWII.  The ribbon shown in the picture is described to be suitable for Contax shutters too.  So I added one to the other and tried to see if the ribbon would work. It did.  In my initial test, I actually fired the shutter 200 times.  At around 800, there was no frilling or any signs of deterioration, even when observed at 5X magnification.  Rick Oleson suggested  to me to test a possible material for suitability by firing (the shutter it’s on) at least a hundred times.  This one went through 800 cycles without showing any changes.  Two years later, the Kiev I put it in still works.

(I also used a locally sourced acetate ribbon for some of the Kiev shutters.  This also worked.  But it’s harder to insert it into the numerous shutter parts it has to snake through.  I’m also down to my last 2 metres and I can no longer find the same thing in the tailoring suppliers.)

Cut the ribbon to suitable length.   11 cm is the distance between the shutter blind and the roller, and a bit of extra length is needed for the folded ends.   I cut a small strip of card to serve as the measuring template.  This makes the cutting of this precious material efficient with minimal or no loss.

After cutting, the 10,8 span is marked.  Folds are made on these positions.

The ends of the ribbon strips should be treated with a dopey material like nailpolish or cyanoacrylate glue to seal the ends and make them stiffer for insertion.  The end which will be used for insertion should be tapered a bit.

Once the dope sets, trim to taper one end.  Then bend on the marks.  The folds should be 10.8 – 11 cms apart.  The folds will hook on the roller and the spring blinds at their respective ends.

Insert the ribbons through the rollers, then through the eyelets of the lower shutter blind, and pull out end for attachment to the upper shutter blind.  Make sure that both ribbons have the same length between the roller and the upper shutter blind.

The ribbons need to be glued, and then sewn to keep them in place. Use a figure-8 stitch for all four ends.

Turn the lower roller to reel in the lower shutter curtain and the newly attached ribbons.  The ribbons will wrap around the lower shutter blind.  Use the tensioning screw to turn the lower roller.

Once reeled in, begin tensioning the shutter.  Tensioning is going to be very very fiddly.  The location of the tensioning screw, its size, and the procedure needed can be taxing to your patience and sanity.   On top of that, the camera must be on its side, where there is nothing to keep it in that position.   The tensioning screw is held in place by a locking plate, which in turn is locked by a smaller setscrew.

Once you are able to pass through the hurdle of tensioning the shutter spring properly, you should be able to cock and fire the shutter.   There are actually a lot of parts involved- such as the synch switch actuating lever found on the lower left side (this can detain the lower shutter blind from going up), the catches and the long spring on the lower blind, the curtain separating ramps on the upper part of the film gate, and the large retaining hook on top.

The ribbon should look tight and should pull the lower curtain evenly.  The lower curtain shouldn’t just fall down when the shutter is fired. Instead it should glide on the ribbon downwards.  If it falls too quickly, the eyelets which hold on the ribbons are too loose and need to be crimped a bit.

There is actually more work involved in making the Kiev shutter work properly after the new ribbons are installed.  A lot of procedures in disassembly and reassembly, as well as accessing camera parts have been omitted here.  Such are not discussed in this article.  Refer to the links given above for more information.

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I suspected broken ribbons.  It could however be something else, so the camera had to be stripped to see what really happened..  Getting the Canon P out of its shell was surprisingly easy

Removing the four main screws on the outer shell, the selftimer lever assembly, the lens mount, and a couple more screws under it, will take the shell off.

One of the ribbons which pulled the second blind home had snapped.

Titanium foil was used by Canon for their model “P” and “7″ RFs, in place of the usual rubber-coated cloth.  The titanium foil can wrinkle from fatigue.  Or in this case, stress from being stuck and then being pulled out to be mended.

The top of the camera is very complicated.  This scary looking part has the shutter speed controls, the wind/rewind clutch, frame counter, shutter release, and film advance/transport.

And this is the part which gives the floating framelines.  It’s semi-silvered inside.

The broken ribbon was replaced with a new one.  The intact upper ribbon was unglued so that a new one can be patterned after it.  The shutter was no longer disassembled.  The ribbons were threaded through the rollers, attached to the lath, and the other end reglued to the outer roller. Stitched in red:

Under the camera is the complicated Canon RF flash sync circuit.  Disassembly not recommended!

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It cost about the same, perhaps even more, than the usual, working similar FED model from a later time.  At that cost, those FED even come with a lens.  This one doesn’t even have its lens mount.  Missing just about every exterior fastening screw, and without its pressure plate and pressure plate springs.

This FED has a 5-digit serial number which puts its production year to 1937.  Marked NKVD (НКВД), “Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs” the KGB’s predecessor in Stalin’s time.  This does not mean that the camera was  made for the Secret Police.  It only meant that the camera was made by a factory which was managed by the NKVD.  “FED” after all stood for F E Dzerzhinskij, the founder of the NKVD.

The shutter crate bottom is bent and distorted.  The crate isn’t a single cast part, like in later cameras.  In this one, it’s made of several stamped plates joined together.  The crate looks to have been hand stamped and assembled.

At least the parts involved in the shutter and range-finding operations seem to be complete.  Dirty, but intact.  No broken gear teeth.  Gear trains still meshed.

And despite its damage, the viewfinder is very bright and contrasty.  The rangefinder window is also clear, with a very clear patch showing a snappy moving image.  Better than what I’ve seen in better graded old Leicas!.   The Soviets must have used a different, more corrosion-resistant reflective coating on their RF beam-splitters.

The shutter blinds, made of highly perishable cloth and rubber are totally gone.  The fabric tapes which pulled the blinds to and fro appear to still be doing their work.  In fact the long tapes ( looped on brown coloured brass roller on the right) can be seen still tight, reeling in what remains of the long shutter blind.    The shutter blinds and tapes (ribbons) can be easily replaced.

The Rangefinder Coupling “sensor” (the silver coloured part at the top part of the shutter crate) is oblong shaped, not the small tear-dropped shape found in later FED-1 cameras.  Some references say that cameras of this type should have the tear drop-shaped focus follower.  This one still has the oblong version of the first type.

Somewhere on the shutter crate (in the part next to the film cassette) is engraved “II/11/XII” and “5.42″.  Both sets of figures appear to correspond to date marks.  “5.42″, i.e, May 1942 may refer to a later servicing date since the camera’s serial number dates it from 1937.  Russian date notations use a mixture of hindu-arabic and roman numerals:  roman for months and hindu-arabic for month and year.  The usual order is day-month-year; so 28 October 2009 would be inscribed as “28/X/09″.  “II/11/XII does not seem to refer to a proper date.  Is “II” the second year of manufacture?  11/XII may refer to December 11.  But again, the serial number of this camera, starting with “31″ puts it at an earlier date in 1937 since the number range covered by that year goes to “53xxx”.

Restoration will be done soon.  The works can be cleaned, and the shutter blinds replaced and new fastening screws attached.  However, this FED won’t be functional until it gets a pressure plate and a lens mount.   Something with a standard Leica flange would be great to have, and have this camera calibrated to the correct Leica Standard.   This FED originally had a non-standard lens mount and lens working distance.  Only the original lens which the factory issued with the camera would properly work.   Having neither lens or lens mount means more flexibility in restoring this camera.

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1. The Dead Leica As It Came. Nekkid, no covering whatsoever. The winding knob, counter disc, and shutter dial were removed in preparation for further dissection.

2. The Shutter is gone.  What remained of it were bits of fossilised rubberised cloth. 

It appeared to be suffering from a Very Serious Shutter Problem. Wait, IT IS A SERIOUS SHUTTER PROBLEM!  The shutter blinds and tapes were not the only problems. The lower pulley of the Shutter Drum broke off the shaft. And the Shutter was not its only problem. Its RF mirror was totally clear. Nothing can be seen moving in the viewfinder.

Rust, dirt and old dried grease everywhere. These had to be removed with solvent (I used lighter fluid and petrol for the really tough detritus).  Some parts had to be removed and soaked in petrol.  When clean, the parts were relubed.  Fine oil on the fast-moving small parts, heavier oil on the larger parts, and automotive grease on the slow moving gears like those found in the advance knob.

3. Near-total assembly was required. So many parts…

…and there’s still lots and lots left in their original stations in the camera assembly.

4. Shutter Repair. A (n old) shutter drum was taken from a scrapped IIIc. Good thing that it fit. The shutter curtain and ribbons are totally home-made DIY. That includes the new fabricated metal laths. All made here.Ends are sewn, not just glued. The same I use for FED and Zorki shutter replacements.

5. The new shutter cloth and ribbons are attached to their respective rollers and pulleys.  The detached part in front is the slow speed mechanism.  It was removed to facilitate the installation of the rollers.

Long curtain and tapes attached to the main drum and pulleys.  Short (“first” or “opening”) curtain and closing tapes still to be glued to their respective spring rollers.

All blinds and tapes attached to their respective drum, pulleys, and rollers. The thin rollers on the right are spring-loaded and power the shutter.  The blinds and tapes appear loose because the rollers haven’t been tensioned yet.

Rollers tensioned.  The mechanism in front is the slow-speed train.  This gives the 1/15…1 sec “slow” range.  It had been removed to allow proper curtain installation, as well as proper engagement of the slow train’s gears with the second (closing curtain).

6. The slow speed mechanism is put back in the crate. The rollers are lightly tensioned to see if the newly installed curtains  can reel smoothly. 

Then the crate is reattached to the top plate.  Reattaching the shutter assembly to the top crate is really difficult.  There are about 5 or so pins which need to be aligned by ‘touch’ alone.  No way to see or poke them to position.  You’d wonder how they ever put the whole thing in the factory so easily.

Then comes the other parts of the slow speed mechanism.  This is one of the most complicated engagements in the camera.  No wonder it (the slow speeds) are among the most common ailments of old Leicas.  The protruding black rod on the right over the main shutter drum acts as the linkage between the lower mechanism and the controls at the top.  On the ‘top’ of the main drum (bottom in the picture) can be seen a silver disc.  This is the main shutter speed control disc.

7. The cover plate, which holds the lens mount and the slow speed dial are restored.  Within, the baffle plates – the metal pieces covering the shutter rollers to prevent light from breaching the shutter blinds- are restored.

The optical components of the range and view finders are covered with tape to protect them from dirt and physical damage.

8. The new shutter seen from the back (focal plane side). The rails where the film is pressed against is exactly 28.8mm from the lens mount flange surface.

Flash PC contact and accessory shoe added. The eyepiece cover is still out.

More parts added: The VF and RF bezels, etc.  At this point, the shutter is tensioned as well to see if the blinds are able to traverse properly and smoothly.

10. The top plate, the shutter dial, shutter release, advance/rewind switch, accessory shoe wind knob, and frame counter were next to be installed.  At this time, the shutter is tensioned according to official specs.  It is also tested (degree dependent on available testing tools) for ‘accuracy’.  I am able to use only CRT screen testing and play it by ear.  Not too scientific and accuracy is suspect.  But eventual exposures reveal that the calibrations are close enough to produce satisfactory exposures….but the camera is still naked!  (In this set, the bezels were removed again…I forget now why I did that)

… The next step is to recover the body shell.  Ordinary vinyl leatherette is used here, the black material the naked camera is sitting on.  Cheap and available from upholsterers.  The right texture and thickness must be used.  Black is the original colour, but you can always recover with whaterver colour you desire.

11.Making a template for the new covering using masking tape.

The tape template is then stripped and used to make a pattern on leatherette. The leatherette used cost about Php 60.00 (for a 1 metreX1,5 metre piece- enough to cover many, many, many cameras) from a local upholsterer’s supply shop. Note the rusty scalpel blade. Actual cost of vinyl leatherette for this camera, maybe Php 2.00 (that’s 5 US cents!)

12. Installing the new leatherette covering. Fine cutting required for proper fit.

13. A close-up of the finished product, with the lens mount. The lens mount flange surface should exactly be 28,8mm (a variation of only 0.02mm is allowed!) from the surface of the focal plane (that’s behind the shutter curtain).  Any deviation will affect the focusing accuracy. From this view, the shutter curtain looks like the real thing- complete with the sewn laths.

14. Back from the Dead. With an American-made copy of the “Industar-22″ (Wollensak Velostigmat Tessar type for Leica) (!)… A lot of effort went into replacing the RF mirror and recalibrating the RF. The shutter speeds were hard to calibrate as well, 1/1000 setting was difficult to set; the adjusting screw cam on that curved thingie near the shutter speed regulator disc was hard to turn. The flash sync is OK at 1/25, synchro dial at 0. But this Leica is supposed to synch at 1/50 (sd at 20) as well, but won’t.

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