Posted inCamera & Lens Repair Photography

Konica C35 Focus and Shutter Repairs

On a recent trip to Tokyo, I had some time to browse the amazing used camera stores in the Shinjuku “Camera Town” area. I found this guy in a bargain bin going for $2. I have a huge soft-spot for this camera. My grandfather gave me one when I was in my teens, and at some point it was stolen. So, despite some obvious, and pretty major issues with the camera, I couldn’t resist. There was oil on the shutter blades, so they were sticking and sluggish when fired, and the focusing ring would barely move at all. Happily, I was able to resolve everything, and add this neat little camera to my collection.

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Posted inElectronics & Retro Gaming

Compaq SLT/286 Tear Down and RTC Real Time Clock Battery Fix

A good while back, I picked up a somewhat crusty Compaq SLT/286 “portable” with an azerty keyboard for $20. The owner sold it saying that the laptop wouldn’t fire up, the power supply just blinked a green LED, and that was it. I was just happy to add a 286 to my collection, and for the of fun trying to bring it back to life!

Well, today I found a folder on my phone with all the pictures I took, a) so that I could put the damn thing back together, and b) for that big long article I was going to write about the fix process. (haha)

Instead, here’s a 65 image pictorial, with some random comments, an RTC battery repair, and some useful SLT related links.

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Posted inCamera & Lens Repair Photography

Rollei 35 TE Repairs

I bought a Rollei 35 TE recently that had a couple of issues, and it was driving me bonkers that I could find very little information online about this great camera. Everything I could find, including the service manual, was for the previous generation 35, S and T series cameras.

The issues with my TE were in the meter and lens barrel. The lens barrel was loose and when retracted the lens kept flopping out. (This is a common ailment with all Rollei 35 cameras.) The other problem was that the meter would not auto-off after 10 seconds as stated in the manual. It was always on as long as there was a battery in the chamber.

Metering was spot on and agreed perfectly with my Gossen Lunasix3 and the camera still took a great picture despite these issues, but they were quickly becoming a major annoyance. Since all the repair estimates I got were for much more than what the camera cost me (and often more than what I could realistically sell it on eBay for) and did not guarantee the meter could be repaired or replaced (in fact most were convinced it could not). I decided to try to fix it myself and document the process for others that might be facing the same issues.

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