Taking some time to get this Gorgeous Konica Rangefinder together.
Quite some time ago, I was perusing a bizarre camera swap meet South of Market. It's a small show, twice a year, and probably the most impressive photoartillery laden camera swap you'll see. Even though it is basically a ring of tables in a two bay room, every table is loaded edge to edge with all the coolest lenses, cameras and weirdamabobs that you could ever want. Much fun. I picked up some lenses, a vintage hood for a friend, and a spare Olympis XA for my old man. It was a third the going rate, and looked better than the one he used at the time. Most of these vendors have an area with their coveted stuff, and a sort of "as-is" pile. In the unloveds and halfworkings, was a gorgeous rangefinder that looked like an easy fix. I had seen this machine before, and the one from memory said, "Made in occupied Japan" on the bottom. Very cool. I picked it up for cheap, but it has been on the shelf until now.
Here is the site of the store that hosts the meet in case you want to check it out: Photographers Supply They are more into studio supplies than actual cameras, but are a really cool place worth checking out.
Now on the table. At last, a bit of time to get the shutter back in the game on this magnificent little thing. I love the solid feel of the older cameras, and this has as much of that as anything out there. Often referred to as the Konica I, this is a block-of-steel monster, with a collapsible lens, and a bright, clear rangefinder. From the optical bench, the lens looks pretty sharp too. Really sharp. All the controls have smooth motion and no play whatsoever. There were a hundred thousand of these things and they are really solid. No idea why they seem to be so uncommon today.
I would blabber on about the history and all that nonsense, but that is well covered by this article if you are interested: Camerapedia article on the Konica I, II and III.
This one is in decent shape, but the shutter is not, so I decided to get to work.
Kind of weird working with this camera because it has a collapsible lens. When in the collapsed position, it can turn around a bit. Tricky little thing. Otherwise it is pretty straightforward.
speed ring removed, and now we can see the guts! There are a few interesting bits in there. The winding lever spring (not really visible) is attached to a little post on top of the screw that holds down one side of the escapement. This is just to the right of that flash post on the bottom. Even when not wound, there is tension on the spring, making things pretty interesting, if not a bit treacherous. Looks like the escapement is working fine though, so the problem has to do with dirt, cigarette smoke, and maybe the weirdly filthy aperture leaves.
Escapement on the right. Shutter release on left.
Ran out of time for today, but this is a challenge I am pretty excited about. I'll keep you posted.
-edward
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