Re: I'm going Sputnik shopping

[Greg Erker <erker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>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?

  Cracks could be repaired but if chunks of
bakelite are missing you may have trouble.

  From discussions long ago it seemed like there
may be two different interior finishes in Sputniks:
glossy and semi-glossy. Not a problem if you plan
to install baffles or flocked paper, but if true
may make one unmodified Spud worse than another.

  Newer style shutter speeds might be worth more
than old (might equate to better lenses though
my Spud has the old speeds and is sharp enough
at f22).

  Someone on the list had trouble with film running
very tight through the camera. The best theory
seemed to be that the body was warped and so the
film tries to run up the side of the spool. I'm
not sure how you would test this unless you run
a roll thru (even if you don't take photos on it).
A newer camera may be less likely to be warped,
depends on whether its an age thing (like really
old viewmaster viewers) or poor materials control
in manufacturing.

Hope I'm not scaring you too much - Greg