tunalegs
Pretended Artist
An Exakta VX IIb showed up today. It was filthy and the shutter was squawking so I decided to go inside. Almost all Exaktas suffer from dried out lubricants these days so I'm used to opening one up, brushing out the dust, and giving a drop of oil to the shutter rollers to get everything quiet and up to speed again.
The VX IIb was introduced in 1963. I've not had my hands on one before as they seem less common than most other iterations of Exaktas, Exakta fell hard after introduction of the Nikon F in 1959. The IIb was made after Ihagee Dresden began to cut costs and this shows in the design, materials and quality of the construction. The IIb is not as nice as a IIa made five years earlier. But they're still functional, flexible cameras and have that Exakta charm which is to SLRs what screwmount Leicas are to rangefinders.
The Exaktas are interesting for the way the mechanicals lift out of the body shell. This makes working on them quite easy if you only need to do something simple like a cleaning and lube.
Here is a shot of the guts being pulled out of a later VX 500:
Exakta guts by berangberang, on Flickr
Here is the gearing for the high speeds and the film advance. The advance lever of the Exaktas drives the take up spool directly with no step up in gearing, this is the reason for the 280 degrees of travel in the Exakta advance lever. A bit awkward in use - but nobody else had put an advance lever on a 35mm camera before. This side of the camera is actually very simple. The shaft running down is for the leading curtain, and is geared at the top directly to the gear which is used to select the fast shutter speeds.
On the other side is the scary Exakta stuff. The clockwork which drives the slow speeds (up to 12 seconds) and the self timer. Fortunately you don't have to touch it if you don't want to, even when taking the camera out of its shell.
Unfortunately even after a cleaning and some oil this camera doesn't want to function properly. Somebody has been inside it before, and I don't think they put it completely back in order. I found a name and a date (from '72) scratched on the bottom of the innards - and the shutter curtains are made of two different looking materials. Which says to me that somebody replaced one of the curtains.
The problem is they goofed up the slit width which is critical for ensuring accurate, even speeds. It looks like they made the slit too small, then tried to compensate for this by relieving some of the tension on the shutter. The result being that the top speeds are too fast, and the slow speeds are too slow - and of course 1/1000 (which is now more like 1/2000) fades because the gap between the curtains increases as they travel across the focal plane. :bang:
There is no evidence that the gearing for the fast speeds was tampered with, which means they probably just didn't pay close enough attention when gluing the new curtain in. I was hoping to avoid having to mess with curtains by buying a late model Exakta, but what do you know?
I suppose I'll update this thread when I decide to continue with this project.
The VX IIb was introduced in 1963. I've not had my hands on one before as they seem less common than most other iterations of Exaktas, Exakta fell hard after introduction of the Nikon F in 1959. The IIb was made after Ihagee Dresden began to cut costs and this shows in the design, materials and quality of the construction. The IIb is not as nice as a IIa made five years earlier. But they're still functional, flexible cameras and have that Exakta charm which is to SLRs what screwmount Leicas are to rangefinders.
The Exaktas are interesting for the way the mechanicals lift out of the body shell. This makes working on them quite easy if you only need to do something simple like a cleaning and lube.
Here is a shot of the guts being pulled out of a later VX 500:
Exakta guts by berangberang, on Flickr
Here is the gearing for the high speeds and the film advance. The advance lever of the Exaktas drives the take up spool directly with no step up in gearing, this is the reason for the 280 degrees of travel in the Exakta advance lever. A bit awkward in use - but nobody else had put an advance lever on a 35mm camera before. This side of the camera is actually very simple. The shaft running down is for the leading curtain, and is geared at the top directly to the gear which is used to select the fast shutter speeds.
On the other side is the scary Exakta stuff. The clockwork which drives the slow speeds (up to 12 seconds) and the self timer. Fortunately you don't have to touch it if you don't want to, even when taking the camera out of its shell.
Unfortunately even after a cleaning and some oil this camera doesn't want to function properly. Somebody has been inside it before, and I don't think they put it completely back in order. I found a name and a date (from '72) scratched on the bottom of the innards - and the shutter curtains are made of two different looking materials. Which says to me that somebody replaced one of the curtains.
The problem is they goofed up the slit width which is critical for ensuring accurate, even speeds. It looks like they made the slit too small, then tried to compensate for this by relieving some of the tension on the shutter. The result being that the top speeds are too fast, and the slow speeds are too slow - and of course 1/1000 (which is now more like 1/2000) fades because the gap between the curtains increases as they travel across the focal plane. :bang:
There is no evidence that the gearing for the fast speeds was tampered with, which means they probably just didn't pay close enough attention when gluing the new curtain in. I was hoping to avoid having to mess with curtains by buying a late model Exakta, but what do you know?
I suppose I'll update this thread when I decide to continue with this project.
Coopersounds
Well-known
please do, it is an interesting little repair.
All looks very much like the Varex IIa I had apart ad nauseum a few months ago incluuding the slow speed wheels etc. Finally got it running sweetly on all the speeds including the timer delay, but a second curtain full of pinholes means I next need to follow your lead and remove the mechanism from the casing to change the curtains. I've acquired some curtain cloth, just need to find the time to change them now. I've read the shutter laths can be fussy with these, however with a great deal of care they might be re-used. I'll follow your article with much interest.
Cheers
Brett
Cheers
Brett
R
rick oleson
Guest
I have some notes & sketches for the IIa/IIb, including shutter curtain replacement; if you'd like a copy, email [email protected] and I'll send you one.
shadowfox
Darkroom printing lives
The really are built like a tank
I mean the outline of the camera from the top reminds me of the lower part of a tank.
I mean the outline of the camera from the top reminds me of the lower part of a tank.
farlymac
PF McFarland
I've got a Zorki 1D with different curtains, both holed out. Ordered a new set, and they arrived a few days ago, so when I get the current repair done, I'll have to get back on it.
It looks like repairs were attempted on the one curtain, as there is some sort of coating on it. And the camera has two serial numbers because the rangefinder housing was changed out with one from a 1B.
So I'm sympathizing with you, and look forward to seeing your finished work.
PF
It looks like repairs were attempted on the one curtain, as there is some sort of coating on it. And the camera has two serial numbers because the rangefinder housing was changed out with one from a 1B.
So I'm sympathizing with you, and look forward to seeing your finished work.
PF
I couldn't help noticing a similarity myself when I examined mine the first time.The really are built like a tank
I mean the outline of the camera from the top reminds me of the lower part of a tank.
tunalegs
Pretended Artist
Thanks for the offer Rick. I will probably take you up on it when I dig back into this camera, but it'll probably have to wait until after the holiday season when I have more time to spare.