REPAIR SPECIALISTS

[wlaidlaw]

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If Aperture are fitting AR windows, does that mean they have an AR coating machine or do they just cut an appropriately sized piece from a sheet of pre-coated glass. I am looking for someone to coat my 1937 Summar 50. I am trying to assemble an exact replica of my father's favourite Leica. I acquired a one owner 1937 IIIa and Summar (with its receipt from Wallace Heaton), bought a 2 speed MOOLY for it and have had it all serviced by Malcolm Taylor but my father's Summar was coated, originally believed to be by Oude Delft (Delfineiren process) in 1948 and hard recoated in 1965 by Wallace Heaton. Sadly stolen from my parent's car in Madrid in 1967. Malcolm used to do coating (he recoated the front element of my Zeiss Contax CX/Y 35-70, where it had been scratched by the idiots at Johnsons Photopia, when repairing its parafocal performance). However, since his illness, he no longer does it. I have a couple of other uncoated Summars, an early 1933 Nickel one on my 250FF and a rigid currently on my 1934 Model II, so quite happy for one to be unoriginal but improved. 

Wilson

[4r36]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb wlaidlaw:

If Aperture are fitting AR windows, does that mean they have an AR coating machine or do they just cut an appropriately sized piece from a sheet of pre-coated glass. I am looking for someone to coat my 1937 Summar 50. I am trying to assemble an exact replica of my father's favourite Leica. I acquired a one owner 1937 IIIa and Summar (with its receipt from Wallace Heaton), bought a 2 speed MOOLY for it and have had it all serviced by Malcolm Taylor but my father's Summar was coated, originally believed to be by Oude Delft (Delfineiren process) in 1948 and hard recoated in 1965 by Wallace Heaton. Sadly stolen from my parent's car in Madrid in 1967. Malcolm used to do coating (he recoated the front element of my Zeiss Contax CX/Y 35-70, where it had been scratched by the idiots at Johnsons Photopia, when repairing its parafocal performance). However, since his illness, he no longer does it. I have a couple of other uncoated Summars, an early 1933 Nickel one on my 250FF and a rigid currently on my 1934 Model II, so quite happy for one to be unoriginal but improved. 

Wilson

 

Unfortunately I'm quite sure they use pre-coated glass, Wilson. This is what they state on their website, which is basically what Alexander told me by email:

We use glass that is manufactured by a specialist firm based in the Cambridge Science Cluster who supplies optics, R&D, medical, and engineering industries worldwide. Our AR Windows are made from borosilicate glass, known for its properties of supreme hardness, resistance to thermal shock, and scratch resistance. Borosilicate glass is used in scientific telescope optics, laboratory glassware, and lighting applications. Fun fact: The Hale Telescope's 200 inch mirror is made of borosilicate glass.

Perhaps, you might try to ask Alexander whether the specialist firm above can do the job. Good luck with your project, which is really nice by the way!

Nicola

Edited April 26, 2022 by 4r36

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[4r36]

Before posting my experience with Camera Obscura I'd like to shoot one or to rolls so as to use the M3 a bit. I'm in the process of doing it and I must say I'm really surprised by how much the shutter is quiet. 

I think it is no exaggeration to say that it is the quietest shutter I've ever heard. There is already a video of the sound of a M3 with titanium curtains mounted by cameraworks-uk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTVp39ycnBo). I have the impression that mine is even quieter. The video below, where I shoot at each exposure time, was taken in a very quiet room—no pun intended—with no background noise. When shooting in a normal scenario the camera was so silent that I even doubted whether the curtains were actually working (after taking out the roll I checked and they do work, thankfully). 

 

I opted for the titanium curtains because I was annoyed by the pinholes I got right after my previous CLA of the camera. Now I think, though, that this would be an option also for those who for some reason require an extremely quiet shutter...

 

 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2022 by 4r36

[nitroplait]

On 4/25/2022 at 4:13 PM, 4r36 said:

I finally received my M3 CLAed and customised with titanium curtains and AR windows by Camera Obscura. Here a few pictures taken by Alexander during the customisation. I'll soon post my experience with them! 

 

 

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The pattern on the titanium curtains looks familiar. Are they from a Nikon F3?

[4r36]

vor 10 Minuten schrieb nitroplait:

The pattern on the titanium curtains looks familiar. Are they from a Nikon F3?

They got the curtains from a Nikon F2. I think though that F2 and F3 had the same type!

[4r36]

In the past few days I've shot a couple of rolls with my M3, so let me write a few lines about my experience with Camera Obscura UK.

I contacted them after I noted there were a light spot and a light band in my pictures, due to a pinhole in the shutter curtain and the shutter "capping", respectively. The reason why I chose specifically Camera Obscura is twofold: the short turnaround and the possibility of customisation of the camera with AR windows but also, as it turned out upon my request, with titanium curtains.

After sending an email to them I received a prompt reply by Alexander, the owner of the company. I was curios to know his background and he was more than happy to tell me how he started the business. I simply copy and paste his answer:

My background academically speaking resides mostly in the English/Philosophy faculty of the University of Cambridge as an alumnus, where I developed an interest in photography after my partner gifted me a Leica M6 (quite the gift!). Little did they know that this gift would develop into a business in the mechanical and optical engineering field of photography in the years since. During these years, I gained experience working with an elderly Greek camera technician who specialised in Leica, Hasselblad, and Nikon for over 50 years, and learned how to repair Leica, Zeiss, and Voigtlander equipment according to factory standards.

I am now undertaking further study in the field of Nanotechnology at Imperial College London, which has led to an increased interest in new coating technologies and I have subsequently slowly started to offer a customisation service in parallel to this, an addition to the core servicing/repair aspect of our business. My father is an experienced electrical engineer of 40 years, and supports the business by using his expertise wherever there is an electrical component to any equipment that we receive or a new piece of equipment we use in the studio to calibrate cameras. In a sense, we are a family enterprise at heart. 

Nice story, isn't it? It's good to know that there is a new, young guy on the scene.

That said, how did it go with my M3?

I think Alexander and his colleagues are very competent. Recently on the forum there has been a discussion on what a CLA is exactly and on whether technicians actually dismantle the whole camera so as to properly clean, adjust, and lubrificate all its parts. In this respect, I believe that no shortcut was taken by Camera Obscura, if only because the job was not so easy on my M3: mounting the titanium curtains and operating the shutter speed calibration (as far as I know, not an obvious, easy task); modifying and calibrating the rangefinder to make it focus as close as 0.7m; replacing the vulcanite; mounting the AR windows. I must also say that the camera came back in an excellent state. VF clear and contrasty. Advance lever buttery smooth. Shutter incredibly quiet and, more importantly, all the different exposure times seem to work correctly ( I tested each time in a roll that I developed and so did Alexander before sending the camera back to me; a very professional service). 

What I didn't like, however, was the lack of communication. This problem has been already mentioned in the thread, but it has been also discussed privately among some members. This is, for example, a message I sent to Paul (LocalHero 1953):

I've shipped the camera at the beginning of December and I was told that I would receive it back before Christmas, which obviously didn't happen. I'm fine with the  delay, even if it has become quite long—we are basically in March. However, I do not understand the lack of communication, which makes me a bit paranoid,  as I even start worrying about not receiving anything back at all... I hope I'm just overacting. The fact remains that right before Christmas Alexander asked me to make the payment and then disappeared, without telling me that he would not manage to finish the work in time. Back then I really thought it was a scam, but he got back in touch in January, telling me that the camera was almost ready, with only the installation of the titanium curtains still to be performed. The he disappeared again. To this point, I don't know what to do. I just have to patiently wait, I guess...

Everything worked out in the end. The camera was ready at the beginning of April; unfortunately, though, I was abroad and could receive it only after Easter. Alexander apologised for the delay in completing the job and said that the main cause for it was threefold: film testing my M3 to ensure full functionality, managing staff leave over the holidays, and an ongoing studio refurbishment. It's comprehensible, but it is not so much the delay, but precisely the lack of communication that drove me a bit crazy. I pointed this out to him, who replied that they are overwhelmed with work but hope, in the future, to find a new team member who can take care promptly of customers inquiries. Until then, I'm afraid our complaints will get the same answer already given by other Leica technicians: the time taken to respond to emails is time taken from actual repairs. 

All in all, although not always communicative and punctual with the promised turnaround, Alexander and the guys of Camera Obscura are still able to complete the job in a relatively shorter time than other technicians, and I believe that their competence and ability in reparation and customisation of Leica equipment is very high. 

Edited May 4, 2022 by 4r36

[LocalHero1953]

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8 hours ago, 4r36 said:

In the past few days I've shot a couple of rolls with my M3, so let me write a few lines about my experience with Camera Obscura UK.

I contacted them after I noted there were a light spot and a light band in my pictures, due to a pinhole in the shutter curtain and the shutter "capping", respectively. The reason why I chose specifically Camera Obscura is twofold: the short turnaround and the possibility of customisation of the camera with AR windows but also, as it turned out upon my request, with titanium curtains.

After sending an email to them I received a prompt reply by Alexander, the owner of the company. I was curios to know his background and he was more than happy to tell me how he started the business. I simply copy and paste his answer:

My background academically speaking resides mostly in the English/Philosophy faculty of the University of Cambridge as an alumnus, where I developed an interest in photography after my partner gifted me a Leica M6 (quite the gift!). Little did they know that this gift would develop into a business in the mechanical and optical engineering field of photography in the years since. During these years, I gained experience working with an elderly Greek camera technician who specialised in Leica, Hasselblad, and Nikon for over 50 years, and learned how to repair Leica, Zeiss, and Voigtlander equipment according to factory standards.

I am now undertaking further study in the field of Nanotechnology at Imperial College London, which has led to an increased interest in new coating technologies and I have subsequently slowly started to offer a customisation service in parallel to this, an addition to the core servicing/repair aspect of our business. My father is an experienced electrical engineer of 40 years, and supports the business by using his expertise wherever there is an electrical component to any equipment that we receive or a new piece of equipment we use in the studio to calibrate cameras. In a sense, we are a family enterprise at heart. 

Nice story, isn't it? It's good to know that there is a new, young guy on the scene.

That said, how did it go with my M3?

I think Alexander and his colleagues are very competent. Recently on the forum there has been a discussion on what a CLA is exactly and on whether technicians actually dismantle the whole camera so as to properly clean, adjust, and lubrificate all its parts. In this respect, I believe that no shortcut was taken by Camera Obscura, if only because the job was not so easy on my M3: mounting the titanium curtains and operating the shutter speed calibration (as far as I know, not an obvious, easy task); modifying and calibrating the rangefinder to make it focus as close as 0.7m; replacing the vulcanite; mounting the AR windows. I must also say that the camera came back in an excellent state. VF clear and contrasty. Advance lever buttery smooth. Shutter incredibly quiet and, more importantly, all the different exposure times seem to work correctly ( I tested each time in a roll that I developed and so did Alexander before sending the camera back to me; a very professional service). 

What I didn't like, however, was the lack of communication. This problem has been already mentioned in the thread, but it has been also discussed privately among some members. This is, for example, a message I sent to Paul (LocalHero 1953):

I've shipped the camera at the beginning of December and I was told that I would receive it back before Christmas, which obviously didn't happen. I'm fine with the  delay, even if it has become quite long—we are basically in March. However, I do not understand the lack of communication, which makes me a bit paranoid,  as I even start worrying about not receiving anything back at all... I hope I'm just overacting. The fact remains that right before Christmas Alexander asked me to make the payment and then disappeared, without telling me that he would not manage to finish the work in time. Back then I really thought it was a scam, but he got back in touch in January, telling me that the camera was almost ready, with only the installation of the titanium curtains still to be performed. The he disappeared again. To this point, I don't know what to do. I just have to patiently wait, I guess...

Everything worked out in the end. The camera was ready at the beginning of April; unfortunately, though, I was abroad and could receive it only after Easter. Alexander apologised for the delay in completing the job and said that the main cause for it was threefold: film testing my M3 to ensure full functionality, managing staff leave over the holidays, and an ongoing studio refurbishment. It's comprehensible, but it is not so much the delay, but precisely the lack of communication that drove me a bit crazy. I pointed this out to him, who replied that they are overwhelmed with work but hope, in the future, to find a new team member who can take care promptly of customers inquiries. Until then, I'm afraid our complaints will get the same answer already given by other Leica technicians: the time taken to respond to emails is time taken from actual repairs. 

All in all, although not always communicative and punctual with the promised turnaround, Alexander and the guys of Camera Obscura are still able to complete the job in a relatively shorter time than other technicians, and I believe that their competence and ability in reparation and customisation of Leica equipment is very high. 

I would agree with all this from my experience, although my simple Elmar lens refurbishment was nowhere near as complex as this. The time quoted to do my work was quicker than all the other repairers out there, but was about half the actual time taken. Even so, the actual time was quite acceptable. The quality of the work was good, as was the explanation of what work was done and what residual defects he could not fix. I agree that communication was a bit erratic - I got the impression that emails were checked only once a week. The absence of any other means of contacting him is a worry for me - the sooner he gets a dedicated staff member with an actual telephone number the better. The postal address (which you only receive once he has agreed to do the work) is a suburban house, but I don't know if that is where his workshop is.

Mind you, Camera Obscura are not alone in having - er - non-traditional business operations: Cameraworks UK mailing address is also a suburban house (and he quotes >6 months lead time). Malcolm Taylor only communicates by telephone, not email. If the quality of the work is good and the price acceptable (which it is in Camera Obscura's case), then we just have to understand that we are dealing with cottage industries.

[MarkP]

I am no longer impressed with Camera Obscura Repairs!

Please see this thread including my comments.

 

[stevesurf]

Hello Leica friends; apologies for the common question, but I am looking for a repair person to have shutter curtain replacement on two Leica iiif Red Dial bodies:

#1 Excellent turnaround (YYE & DAG are running long at 4 months)

#2 Quality work.

#3 Anywhere in the world (USA preferred) that FedEx delivers.

#4 Repair person should not get upset if I contact them for updates.

Thank you all so much 🙏

[hektor]

Dear Steve,

All the way from Australia, I use Don Goldberg +1 (608) 835-3342  dagcam@chorus.net

He did a superb job on my IIIf (red dial).

Best wishes,

Hektor

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[stevesurf]

11 hours ago, hektor said:

Dear Steve,

All the way from Australia, I use Don Goldberg +1 (608) 835-3342  dagcam@chorus.net

He did a superb job on my IIIf (red dial).

Best wishes,

Hektor

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Thank you so much!  I also use Don, and he is wonderful, but I believe he runs four months out, unless things have changed.  Crazy concept, but I’m actually looking to use my Barnacks now.
 

Update:  After reading your kind reply, I decided to call Don.  Shutter is only four weeks!

Is it possible this year is salvageable?

Conclusion: live by Occams Razor: DAG is the simplest most elegant solution.

🙏

Edited July 9, 2022 by stevesurf
Occams Razor

[hektor]

Steve, other than Wetzlar, the two feinmechaniker I use in Germany can take up to a year.  All the best.

[qqphot]

Does anyone know of a repairer (ideally in the US) who is equipped to adjust shutter curtains "properly"? I've had cameras gone over by most of the usual suspects and they invariably come back with accurate speeds on average, but seriously nonuniform exposure.

I don't need perfection, but a full stop difference from one side to the other at 1/500th is disappointing.  I know in the old days there was a rotating drum shutter tester that would indicate both correct speed and uniform exposure - is there anyone actually using one of these or the modern equivalent to adjust shutters for even exposure?

 

[hektor]

Interesting problem.  As said earlier, I have sent a number of cameras to Don Goldberg, and when they return I shoot a roll of slide film as it is less tolerant than black+white and colour negative.  I don't know the means by which Don adjusts shutter speeds; suggest you give him a call.  Keep in mind there is no mechanical shutter which is accurate at 1/1000 except the M7.

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[TomB_tx]

Modern digital shutter testers measure exposure time at both sides of the frame and also give the "transit time" of the curtains. Ideally the springs are first adjusted (after cleaning old lubes and lubricating properly) to get the specified curtain transit time, then adjusted for even exposure across the frame, then the shutter is calibrated for exposure time.

Too many techs just overtighten the springs to compensate for dragging lube, giving too high curtain speeds and noisy shutter, also making even exposures harder to achieve. The IIIf that DAG overhauled for me has the smoothest and quietest shutter of all my ltm cameras. Gus Lazzari also takes extra care in getting even exposures at 1/1000 speed.

[MickeyH]

TLC Camera Repair...Gus Lazarri, tlccamerarepair.com.

[fsb]

Am 26.4.2022 um 09:12 schrieb wlaidlaw:

Ich versuche, eine exakte Nachbildung der Lieblings-Leica meines Vaters zusammenzubauen. Ich erwarb einen 1937 IIIa und Summar (mit seiner Quittung von Wallace Heaton).

Wilson

Referencing your request to coat lenses, i recommended the Optik Labor in Görlitz, Germany. https://optik-labor.com/
very good experience with Dr Prenzel

 

 

[wlaidlaw]

2 hours ago, fsb said:

Referencing your request to coat lenses, i recommended the Optik Labor in Görlitz, Germany. https://optik-labor.com/
very good experience with Dr Prenzel

 

 

Many thanks for that information. I have sent Dr. Prenzel an email. If he can do it, I will probably wait until I go to my French house at the end of April, as that avoids customs and import complications between UK and Germany (thanks Brexit!). I am still trying to recover £300 in duty and tax paid on a MOOLY-C that proved to be faulty and had to be returned to the German trade seller. That was 18 months ago and I am still waiting for the UK authorities to process my refund. 

Wilson

[zeitz]

On 12/22/2022 at 2:43 PM, fsb said:

Optik Labor in Görlitz, Germany

Has anyone tried Focus Optics in the Los Angeles area?

https://www.focusoptics.com/glass-reconditioning

I have a Canon 800mm f8 R-set doublet achromat that is badly separated.  John van Stelten (Focal Point in Colorado) retired a few years ago.  I think I will send the Canon to Focal Point to try them out.  I will report back.

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[octo]

I have had good reports from a photographer friend who manages a shop in Cannes about Victor Bellaich in Paris.