I also check with f22 and 1 second shutter speed and observe the closure of the aperture from the front. A common problem is to see the aperture blades stall while trying to close to f22. Cheers.
I think your coverage and instructional videos about the Zeiss Contaflex are by far the very best ever presented on RUclips. Having said that, I have one question that may bring up a disagreement with one detail raised here. When trying to test a shutter at 1/500, how can you see what the aperture iris is? Filmed in slow motion as you have done, it's very evident. But if there is any lag on the blades, inaccurate aperture or sluggishness in the mirror retraction, I fear one might see it by eye only in the more obvious cases. Currently my two Contaflex I's are so grossly in need of service, a test at any speed and aperture reveals their inoperative state. I love these cameras, which is why I have followed your excellent work. I hope to get mine working again, or at least make two into one. BTW: I've been doing these sorts of tests by eye for over 50 years. They are often useful, especially with focal plain shutters. I think the Contaflex presents some challenges in this regard. However, the faults with mine are dead obvious.
Hi, in my opinion the key to test the 1/500 with the eye is a bright light source behind the shutter. This way, at least I believe that I am able to see the difference. Filming it in slow motion is of course also a good option. Good luck for your Contaflex repair!
Hello Piet, Thank you for these instructive videos. I wonder if thre is some way in order to contact you or if cameras can be sent to you for repair. Best regards and thank you
My Contaflex shutter fires with every other shot, giving me a half-exposed roll of film with photos in every other frame. Is this an issue you have come across before? I'm comfortable taking it apart to try the repair myself. Thanks for your highly informative videos!
It doesn’t sound typical for me. The issue might be located in the gear box, but this is just a guess. You can take off the shutter plate and top plate, and test the units individually.
Hi, and thank you for a nice and instructive film. I salvaged a Contaflex Alpha with a Prontor Reflex shutter from destruction. Very nice appearance, but it fails on all your suggested tests. Is there any hope, and if so, how do I go on? Can't seem to find any instruction films on that particular shutter. /Best regards, Bernt.
Hi, there is hope, but only if you are willing to disassemble every single part, clean it, and reassemble it. It will require a lot of patience, and I don't know any step-by-step guide for the Contaflex Alpha. For the entire camera body except the shutter, you can take my video series about the Contaflex IV. There are a lot of similarities. For the shutter, I recommend one of these series: ruclips.net/video/gB8plZqYAqQ/видео.html and ruclips.net/video/eASn2GQh2bw/видео.html. The shutter is not identical, but similar to these models.
Thank you for the information. Quite a challenge for an almost newbie in this game. I'll check out the suggested videos and contemplate. Best regards, Bernt.@@pietscameraworkshop5024
Hi Piet, The film cover on my contaflex I is rather sticky and doesn't move fast enough - do you know if there's a way to remove the pin on the hinge to clean it? Thanks
Hi, I have never done this, but I think that it is possible to push the pin out. But no idea how difficult this is. Is it really so sticky, that cleaning in place does not suffice?
I'm wondering if you could help me diagnose a problem or confirm my thoughts of what the problem might be. So I didn't watch your video before putting a test roll through my contaflex iv, so I didn't test in this much depth but it didn't seem anything was wrong. Well I've developed the roll now and there's loads of light leaks and over exposed frames on the test roll. After going through your tests I didn't find anything wrong except the light baffle flap doesn't seal at the bottom, and when I shine a bright flashlight into the lens I can see light coming through. It sits at a slight angle. Do you think that would be the issue and how could I possibly fix it?
Your assumptions is probably right, that this is causing the light leaks. One cause might be, that the lever, which pushes down the light flap, doesn't sit on the slotted wheel correctly anymore. You can see it here: ruclips.net/video/XWbHt3mE_dY/видео.html There are two levers that are driven by the gear box and push down the mirror and the light flap. They are both sitting on the respective slotted wheel, when the top plate is installed to the body. But this is just an idea, it could also be something else. To fix it, you need to remove the top plate, as shown in my videos. The shutter can remain attached to the body.
@@pietscameraworkshop5024 thank you for the reply! First I'm going to try and just stick some light seal foam in the gap and see if that fixes the problem before I go taking things apart.
Hi, I just received this camera as it was the item of a loved one who passed, but mine looks a little different. I am too scared to open the film compartment in case he had film there and I don't want to ruin them, but I cannot figure out if it works. I can't even figure out the most basic thing of how to open the shutter to turn the camera on. Do you have any insight?
Hi! To test, whether there is a film in your camera, you can try to turn the film rewind knob clockwise (shown in 1:00). If it blocks after 2-3 turns, there is a film: Don't open the film chamber! Otherwise, there is most likely no film, and you can simply open the film chamber. The film rewind knob is always on the left side, as shown in 1:00. On newer Contaflex models, it might be a crank, but the function is the same. How to rewind the film, if there is any: on older models there is a button at the underside of the body. Keep it pressed, while turning the rewind knob clockwise. On newer models, there is no button, instead you have to switch one of the fasteners into the "R"-position. Rewind the film completely. You can hear, when this is done. How to open the film chamber: This is shown in 1:36. There are two fasteners on the underside of the camera. One left and one right. Flip them upright, and then turn them 180 °. One of them needs a clockwise turn, the other counter-clockwise. Afterwards, you can slide off the back. The only exception to this is, if you have an interchangeable film chamber. In this case, it is more complicated.
Hi, my grandpa's camera fails in the first test: shutter execution, it does the same thing that you showed as the bad example. Can it be solved easily? Is this a common mistake with these types of cameras? Thanks!!
Hi, yes this is very common for these types of cameras. The shutter got stuck and needs a cleaning. Unfortunately, this is not easy. If you want to try it anyways, you can watch one of my other videos where i do this. If you are lucky, it is only the self timer that got stuck. To test this, try to carefully push the small green lever into the "M" position after firing the camera.
![Contaflex IV CLA Repair [part 2/7] - Removing the prism and the shutter](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/BoCbuSa17vc/mqdefault.jpg)
I also check with f22 and 1 second shutter speed and observe the closure of the aperture from the front. A common problem is to see the aperture blades stall while trying to close to f22. Cheers.
I think your coverage and instructional videos about the Zeiss Contaflex are by far the very best ever presented on RUclips. Having said that, I have one question that may bring up a disagreement with one detail raised here. When trying to test a shutter at 1/500, how can you see what the aperture iris is? Filmed in slow motion as you have done, it's very evident. But if there is any lag on the blades, inaccurate aperture or sluggishness in the mirror retraction, I fear one might see it by eye only in the more obvious cases.
Currently my two Contaflex I's are so grossly in need of service, a test at any speed and aperture reveals their inoperative state. I love these cameras, which is why I have followed your excellent work. I hope to get mine working again, or at least make two into one.
BTW: I've been doing these sorts of tests by eye for over 50 years. They are often useful, especially with focal plain shutters. I think the Contaflex presents some challenges in this regard. However, the faults with mine are dead obvious.
Hi, in my opinion the key to test the 1/500 with the eye is a bright light source behind the shutter. This way, at least I believe that I am able to see the difference. Filming it in slow motion is of course also a good option.
Good luck for your Contaflex repair!
Hello Piet, Thank you for these instructive videos. I wonder if thre is some way in order to contact you or if cameras can be sent to you for repair. Best regards and thank you
Hi, unfortunately I don't offer a repair service. All I can offer are the videos on my channel.
My Contaflex shutter fires with every other shot, giving me a half-exposed roll of film with photos in every other frame. Is this an issue you have come across before? I'm comfortable taking it apart to try the repair myself. Thanks for your highly informative videos!
It doesn’t sound typical for me. The issue might be located in the gear box, but this is just a guess. You can take off the shutter plate and top plate, and test the units individually.
Hi, and thank you for a nice and instructive film. I salvaged a Contaflex Alpha with a Prontor Reflex shutter from destruction. Very nice appearance, but it fails on all your suggested tests. Is there any hope, and if so, how do I go on? Can't seem to find any instruction films on that particular shutter. /Best regards, Bernt.
Hi, there is hope, but only if you are willing to disassemble every single part, clean it, and reassemble it. It will require a lot of patience, and I don't know any step-by-step guide for the Contaflex Alpha.
For the entire camera body except the shutter, you can take my video series about the Contaflex IV. There are a lot of similarities. For the shutter, I recommend one of these series: ruclips.net/video/gB8plZqYAqQ/видео.html and ruclips.net/video/eASn2GQh2bw/видео.html. The shutter is not identical, but similar to these models.
Thank you for the information. Quite a challenge for an almost newbie in this game. I'll check out the suggested videos and contemplate. Best regards, Bernt.@@pietscameraworkshop5024
Hi Piet,
The film cover on my contaflex I is rather sticky and doesn't move fast enough - do you know if there's a way to remove the pin on the hinge to clean it? Thanks
Hi, I have never done this, but I think that it is possible to push the pin out. But no idea how difficult this is. Is it really so sticky, that cleaning in place does not suffice?
I'm wondering if you could help me diagnose a problem or confirm my thoughts of what the problem might be. So I didn't watch your video before putting a test roll through my contaflex iv, so I didn't test in this much depth but it didn't seem anything was wrong. Well I've developed the roll now and there's loads of light leaks and over exposed frames on the test roll. After going through your tests I didn't find anything wrong except the light baffle flap doesn't seal at the bottom, and when I shine a bright flashlight into the lens I can see light coming through. It sits at a slight angle. Do you think that would be the issue and how could I possibly fix it?
Your assumptions is probably right, that this is causing the light leaks. One cause might be, that the lever, which pushes down the light flap, doesn't sit on the slotted wheel correctly anymore. You can see it here: ruclips.net/video/XWbHt3mE_dY/видео.html
There are two levers that are driven by the gear box and push down the mirror and the light flap. They are both sitting on the respective slotted wheel, when the top plate is installed to the body.
But this is just an idea, it could also be something else. To fix it, you need to remove the top plate, as shown in my videos. The shutter can remain attached to the body.
@@pietscameraworkshop5024 thank you for the reply! First I'm going to try and just stick some light seal foam in the gap and see if that fixes the problem before I go taking things apart.
Hi, I just received this camera as it was the item of a loved one who passed, but mine looks a little different. I am too scared to open the film compartment in case he had film there and I don't want to ruin them, but I cannot figure out if it works. I can't even figure out the most basic thing of how to open the shutter to turn the camera on. Do you have any insight?
Hi! To test, whether there is a film in your camera, you can try to turn the film rewind knob clockwise (shown in 1:00). If it blocks after 2-3 turns, there is a film: Don't open the film chamber! Otherwise, there is most likely no film, and you can simply open the film chamber. The film rewind knob is always on the left side, as shown in 1:00. On newer Contaflex models, it might be a crank, but the function is the same.
How to rewind the film, if there is any: on older models there is a button at the underside of the body. Keep it pressed, while turning the rewind knob clockwise. On newer models, there is no button, instead you have to switch one of the fasteners into the "R"-position. Rewind the film completely. You can hear, when this is done.
How to open the film chamber: This is shown in 1:36. There are two fasteners on the underside of the camera. One left and one right. Flip them upright, and then turn them 180 °. One of them needs a clockwise turn, the other counter-clockwise. Afterwards, you can slide off the back.
The only exception to this is, if you have an interchangeable film chamber. In this case, it is more complicated.
Hi, my grandpa's camera fails in the first test: shutter execution, it does the same thing that you showed as the bad example. Can it be solved easily? Is this a common mistake with these types of cameras? Thanks!!
Hi, yes this is very common for these types of cameras. The shutter got stuck and needs a cleaning. Unfortunately, this is not easy. If you want to try it anyways, you can watch one of my other videos where i do this. If you are lucky, it is only the self timer that got stuck. To test this, try to carefully push the small green lever into the "M" position after firing the camera.
@@pietscameraworkshop5024 I'll see what I can do, thank you so much!
My timer does not work, and i cant get my switch from x to m
Great test, useful before you buy one also :)
True!