Re: I'm going Sputnik shopping

["Paul A. Lehman" <palehman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>2. What should I look for?  What should I guard against?  I've heard the
>Sputniks are prone to light leak and internal reflection problems, but is
>there anything else I should be aware of?  I mean, besides the standard
>camera stuff like working shutters?

I've never touched a Sputnik, so I don't know if this idea will
help or not, but I've used it on other cameras prior to purchase:

Take along a piece of ground glass or lightly frosted plastic,
cut to fit the film plane of the sputnik (get the dimensions from
someone who owns one). You can then do two quick tests, 1) with
the shutter on "B" you can do a crude check on focus for both
lenses, 2) fire the shutter at the other speeds to check for
operation and gross synchronization. And if the focal lengths are
way off, you may even be able to see this on the ground glass.
These tests will point out very big problems only.

Paul A. Lehman