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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虎年
with Chinese cameras.
Made in China.

中国 制造

1. GREAT WALL DF-2 ( 长城 DF-2 CHANG CHENG)

Made by the Beijing Camera Factory.  The Great Wall DF-2 was a basic SLR camera whose design was based on the 1930s KW Pilot-Reflex. It was intended to be an inexpensive but slightly advanced camera for the common masses.  It is constructed of steel and has a very basic mechanism.

The Shutter is a basic rotary guillotine type- the reflex mirror is part of it.  Non-instant return, with four basic speeds (1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/200) and “B”.   No flash synch.  The shutter has to be tensed by winding the shutter dial before each exposure. 

Film Advance is by knob wind.  The frames are positioned by lining up the printed numbers on the film backing paper in the red window behind the camera.  Two formats possible:  12 exposures 6X6 cm or 16 exposures 6X4,5 cm.  The latter requires the use of an adapter mask (missing from this camera).  No double exposure or blank exposure prevention.

The lens is a 90mm Tessar type (real four element/ three group, against the common Triplet types prevalent in Chinese cameras).  Front-cell focusing, from 1 metre to infinity.   The lens is removable, but there appears to be no extra lenses made for the Great Wall.  The mount is standard Leica Thread M39.  This was perhaps done as a means to allow the lens to be used in the enlarger for printing.

Viewing and focusing is done through the hooded screen on top. 

2.

SEAGULL 4-B1 (海鸥 HAI OU)

The Seagull TLR is perhaps the best known Chinese Camera.  The Seagull is made by the Shanghai Camera Factory in Shanghai, China.  The model shown here is the most basic of the Seagull TLR family.  This model “4-B1″ is rarely seen outside China.  It lacks the automatic features of the 4B (semi-automatic film frame positioning), and 4-A (automatic frame positioning and crank advance), but otherwise, everything else is the same.  Same Triplet type 75mm f/3,5  “Haiou” lens, same 1-1/300 sec shutter speed range.  Picture quality should be the same in all three models.  Only the efficiency and ease of shooting change accordingly.

Film advance is by knob winding.  The frame is positioned by centering  the backing paper’s numbers on the red windows on the camera’s back door.  Two windows for 12 6X6 cm and 16 6X4,5 cm exposures respectively.  A simple cutout metal mask is inserted on the film gate for making 6X4,5 cm exposures.

The non-automatic Seagulls seem to be the better user types.  There are less parts to fail unlike in the automatic versions.

3. SEAGULL-205 (海鸥 HAI OU 205) and PHENIX-205 (凤凰 FENG HUANG 205)

Fixed-lens, leaf shutter coupled-rangefinder 35mm cameras.  Exactly similar cameras (note same model designation, “205″) but made by different factories:  Seagull by the Shanghai Factory, and the Phenix by the Jiangxi Camera Factory.  The Jiangxi Phenix appears to be made after the Seagull 205 was released.  The 205 appears to be a copy of Minolta or Konica rangefinders from the 1960s.

The lens is a 50mm f/2,8 three-element in three groups “Triplet” type.  It focuses from 1 m to infinity.  The shutter is a leaf type similar to one found in the Seagull TLR and folding cameras.  Same 1-1/300 range, with X flash synch and self-timer.  The leaf shutter is really quiet.

I think the best feature of the 205 is its combined rangefinder/ viewfinder.  It has a projected floating (for parallax compensation) frame line showing the 50mm field. It shows a LIFE-SIZED image, rivaling the Leica M-3 in terms of brilliance and magnification.  The short-base rangefinder is accurate enough for the 2,8 lens.

The 205 is light and quite easy to use.  It is very suitable for street photography.  It has no built in light meter though. 

Even as exact twins, there are some styling detail differences:

Between the two “205s”, the Seagull-205 feels to be heavier and more solidly built.  Its parts also seem to mesh and fit better.  The Phenix-205 feels more tinny and light, but build is clean.  Picture quality -wise, both cameras deliver the same.

4. SHANGHAI-58 II (上海-58II)

The Chinese Leica copy.  The “58″ in the model designation refers to the year 1958, when the “Great Leap Forward” campaign started in China.  The serial numbers of these cameras start with “58″ but they were made until around 1963 or so.  Four variants were made; those shown here belong to the third and fourth.

Made by the Shanghai Camera Factory (as the Chinese characters on the top plate say), which became the Seagull factory.

The first variant is an exact copy of the Leica IIIa.  Separate VF and RF, shutter speeds from 1 to 1/1000 (split at 1/20)  in separate dials, strap lugs, etc.

Then the camera evolved towards simplification.  The VF and RF were combined.  The strap lugs disappeared.  And flash synch was added. The camera borrowed elements from the Canon II and III rangefinders (external styling) and FED and Zorki cameras (internal mechanism).  The combined RF/VF optics were similar to those found in FED-3 or Zorki-5.  The follower cam for the rangefinder was similar to the teardrop shaped cam of the FED-1.

The difference between the third and fourth variants is the accessory shoe style.  In the third variant, the shoe was a spring loaded plate (similar to the Leica IIIc shoe) of about 4 components, and fastened with four screws to the body.   The fourth variant had a simplified shoe- single plate, no loaded spring tabs, and fastened with three screws only (similar to the Leica II or FED-1/Zorki-1 accessory shoes).

The lens (and appears to be the only lens made by the factory to fit the camera) is a 50mm collapsible in standard Leica Thread M39 X 1 mount.  It appears to be coated with a light blue Anti-Reflection coating.  It has a collapsible barrel, lever-set aperture, and locking focusing tab, all similar to the Leitz 3,5/50mm Elmar.  But the similarity ends there, since the lens is a three-element TRIPLET and not a four-element Tessar type.  The diaphragm layout is similar to the Elmar’s though. 

The lens mount will accommodate all other Leica and Canon, as well as Russian LTM 39 lenses.  Unlike the FED or Zorki,  the Chinese workers were more careful in milling the mount- resulting in consistent thread entry points, which in turn lead to a more uniform lens mounting.  The FED and Zorki were so lose in this quality concern.

 Many of these cameras were bought in Beijing, China.  In Beijing there is a sprawling camera shopping mall where all sorts of camera equipment, both new and old are to be found.  Lots and lots of them, at the best prices.  It is located at the Wukesong district:

More detailed articles about these cameras to follow soon.

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