Light seal pre-cut kits

[wlaidlaw]

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I have in past years bought from a USA based seller, a light seal kit for my Leica R4-MOT. I know that when I did this, he also offered kits for a number of different makes of cameras. I am trying to find a light seal replacement kit for the Contax RX I have just bought. It is coming up to 25 years old, which is about the life of the original seals, so that unless they have already been replaced, they are going to need doing very soon. I think by the time of the RX, Contax had improved the seals from natural latex rubber to neoprene, which lasts a bit longer but I don't want to rely on that. Does anyone remember who in the USA was offering R3-7 light seal kits as I cannot trace them now or if anyone has a source for Contax RX seals, I should be very grateful. The seals for the RTS2/3 and 139Q seem readily available but not the later RX. I might at worst be able to modify an RTS3 kit to fit. 

Wilson

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[250swb]

I think general light seal tool kits are better than specific kits, given things can go wrong, and you don't want to be left with a seal strip that went tits up when fitting. So I use the light seal sheets from Polar Bear Camera and cut them down to size with a new scalpel blade and a steel straight edge.

https://polarbearcamera.com/collections/light-seal

[wlaidlaw]

Thanks for the link Steve - very useful. I had an excellent local man, Kelvin of Protech, about 6 miles away, who used to do reseals for me at very reasonable cost but he now specialises in altering sensors for special purposes and has given up general camera repair work. The problem is that my hands are now not very responsive and quite shaky, so even with a steel rule and a scalpel, both of which I have, I am not sure how good the results would be. I might give Kelvin a ring and see if he will make an exception for me, as I am one of his older customers from when he first started out on his own, about 25 years ago. His father was the senior technician at Leica UK. I will give PolarBearCamera a ring and see what they recommend I buy for the Contax RX. I do have the full factory 3 volume repair manual for the RX, which I liberated when Contax UK shut down and it may say somewhere in there what the seal thicknesses are. 

Wilson

[wlaidlaw]

Someone on the Analogue Forum on Reddit posted a link to a German company selling a pre-cut kit on eBay (offer was all in German which is why my search did not find it) They are selling a kit for the RX-II, which is close enough to work for the RX. The RX continues its roundabout way to me. Last trips were from Leipzig to GRACE-HOLLOGNE in Belgium, then off south to Charles de Gaulle in Paris up to Stansted in the UK then further north to the Fedex hub outside Birmingham. It is expected to leave Birmingham for Gatwick later today, from where hopefully it will be put on a van for delivery to me tomorrow. I just hope all these transshipments have not caused terminal damage. 

Wilson