I've dabbled in film photography and B&W home development very enthusiastically when I lived in the UK, and while I brought my cameras with me to the US, somehow never got around to picking the hobby up again.
As a result, at least two of the cameras - a Leica M2 that I've owned for a long time, and a Contax III that I acquired a year or so ago - need a CLA. Does anybody have a recommendation of a trustworthy repair place that might be willing to look at the Contax? I might have a lead or at least a place I can ask re the Leica, but no clue at all regarding the Contax.
Also, for those of you who handle their own film development and are on a septic system, any recommendation? Other than "don't dispose the chemicals down the drain"? What's your setup?
aw614
HalfDork
6/19/24 12:35 p.m.
http://www.zeisscamera.com/
I am not sure on the above, but did read there might be a huge backlog.
From what I read on Rangefinderforum, a few have sent their Contax and Kiev cameras to Oleg at okvintagecamera.com. He is in Slovakia. However per his site he looks to be in a process of a move so he won't be taking international jobs until August
https://okvintagecamera.com/ocart2/index.php?route=common/home
I will add, I can vouch for Oleg, I sent him a Canon IVS Leica thread mount rangefinder to Oleg which needed new shutter curtains a few months ago and got it back in May. Haven't shot film in it yet, but dry running it, its working great.
Here in Central Florida, we have Kiwi Camera, which is pretty much one of the only places around that have the ability and the experience to fix a lot of cameras.
I don't have any experience in developing film (I have yet to acquire the patience to do so), but I can give this thread a bump in case someone who has advice missed it.
In school, I think we just poured the chemicals down the drain....
Develop with Caffenol. Then you can pour that stuff down the drain and have a clear conscience!
David S. Wallens said:
In school, I think we just poured the chemicals down the drain....
That's usually considered safe if you're on a city sewer, but there is a concern re contamination especially with fixer going into the septic tank. At least if/when you're not using methods to separate out the silver.
Colin Wood said:
Here in Central Florida, we have Kiwi Camera, which is pretty much one of the only places around that have the ability and the experience to fix a lot of cameras.
I don't have any experience in developing film (I have yet to acquire the patience to do so), but I can give this thread a bump in case someone who has advice missed it.
Thanks for the recommendation - I'll get in touch with them and see what they have to say re the Contax.
Most of the Contax people say https://nipponphotoclinic.com/ in NYC. I have no first hand experience with them, but might send one of my Contax N series lenses in for disassembly and cleaning since there's a bit of dust annoying me.
02Pilot
PowerDork
6/19/24 9:29 p.m.
In reply to BoxheadTim :
If your Leica lead doesn't pan out, I've used YYE Camera and been happy with his work (I normally CLA my own stuff, but I had no time to do the body in question, as it also needed curtains).
As for chemicals, +1 for the Caffenol recommendation. For fixer, I drop a piece a steel wool in the bottle once it's exhausted and the silver eventually attaches itself to it. The remaining fluid should be reasonably safe for septic (I read about this years ago - I wish I could give you a source to confirm the chemistry).
In reply to BoxheadTim :
If Kiwi says they’re too busy, don’t take it personally. They recently posted that they weren’t taking repairs for a week just so they could catch up. Whenever I’m there, it’s busy.
It took them about a month to put new seals in my XA2. They told me so going in. Still, I’m happy to wait for them.
ShawnG
MegaDork
6/19/24 10:08 p.m.
Oleg repaired my Minolta X-700, X-570 and XD11.
Fast service and a reasonably priced.
Jerry
PowerDork
6/20/24 8:32 a.m.
David S. Wallens said:
In school, I think we just poured the chemicals down the drain....
Yeah, in school I remember diluting it with running water and dumping. Our camera club was the same when I was a member at least, late 90s to about 2010.
Mezzanine said:
Most of the Contax people say https://nipponphotoclinic.com/ in NYC. I have no first hand experience with them, but might send one of my Contax N series lenses in for disassembly and cleaning since there's a bit of dust annoying me.
Are we're talking Yashica/Contax (of which I also have couple) or the earlier West German made Contax? Just asking because these are two completely different camera families.
I really should've been a bit more precise - this is the Contax in question, a late 50s/early 60s Contax IIIa:
Some more poking around led to this page: https://www.learnfilm.photography/how-to-dispose-of-film-developing-chemicals/
Looks like I can definitely kiss goodbye the developer I used to use in the past (Rodinal). Caffenol looks like it's worth a look, as are the ascorbic acid based developers like XTol.
In most of the discussions I've seen, the general agreement is that the fixers is the "bad stuff", as I already expected.
BoxheadTim said:
Mezzanine said:
Most of the Contax people say https://nipponphotoclinic.com/ in NYC. I have no first hand experience with them, but might send one of my Contax N series lenses in for disassembly and cleaning since there's a bit of dust annoying me.
Are we're talking Yashica/Contax (of which I also have couple) or the earlier West German made Contax? Just asking because these are two completely different camera families.
I really should've been a bit more precise - this is the Contax in question, a late 50s/early 60s Contax IIIa:
According to their website linked above, they're the exclusive Contax service center in north america and your camera doesn't appear in their short list of exclusions. So yeah. They'll do that.
In reply to BoxheadTim :
There's a number of commercial copies of Rodinal out there today that you can pick from. I'm not going to get into company history but if you want what is probably considered the 'most true Rodinal' out there today, it's probably this;
Adox Rodinal - Freestyle Photo
I've got a bottle of Legacy Pro L-110 sitting on the counter that I plan to get into soon. It's a copy of the original Kodak HC-110, not the current stuff that doesn't have nearly the same shelf life, and it's pretty inexpensive. I have had good luck with Clayton F76+, also a liquid. There's lots of options for developers. I've never used Rodinal as I haven't liked what I saw in pictures shared online, but I've seen some stand development that doesn't look so bad. The stuff lasting for years on the shelf is appealing as is the cost per roll to develop with.
As for fixer, I never dump the whole tank when developing film, I just pour a little off the top each time and mix up more when I need it. Clayton Rapid Fixer has always been my go to there.
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
I think I actually have a bottle of that specific version of Rodinal. The main reason I don't want to use it in this place is that one of the ingredients (which I believe is in all versions of Rodinal) is toxic to acquatic life, so not something I want to have end up in my septic tank or leach field.
I'll check out the other developers you mentioned as I'm not a huge fan of the powered stuff due to the extra work involved.
