Re: Rewind problem with my Realist

[P3D Greg Erker <erker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>My Realist 3.5 seems to have developed a fault when I rewind the film.
>
>(You will have to excuse the highly technical description that follows ;-> )
>When I set the dial to  <-R- and rewind the film with the left knob it
>will rewind the equivilent of 2 chips and then stops, if I then press the
>advance button I can rewind another 2 chips and so on....
>When I first got the camera the rewind worked as expected.
>
>Can anyone give me any pointers -

  Since is George is away and can't tell you how easy the Realist
is to repair I'll have to fill in.

  The Realist is easy to repair :)  For your problem you need
to remove the top plate. It is held on with 4 screws (2 long and
2 short). Once removed the plate lifts off, though it is still
tethered by the hot shoe wire. You can separate it by removing a
nut from the hot shoe or just leave it dangling.

  The A/R knob just has an off center pin sticking out the bottom.
As I recall, it goes into a lever that has a slot cut in it. It moves
a linkage that goes to the takeup real to dissable the ratchet when
rewinding and also disables some cam-thingy that is connected to the
little sprocket in the film path on the back of the camera. The problem
is probably with the cam-dealy which allows you to advance only the correct
amount. With the top off you may well be able to see what has gone
wrong. Perhaps something is bent so that the cam-whatchamadoozit
(official technical name :) isn't disabled during rewind.

  When you put it back together make sure the hot shoe wire is in
a position where it won't hit anything and that the R/A knob
is in the correct position.


>1. Is this a standard wear and tear problem.

  Don't know.

>2. Is it easy to sort out.

  Probably I would say. I can say this because I have repaired
over zero billion Realist cameras (one camera to be exact).

>3. Is the Realist a camera an amateur with two left hands can take apart
>   and (more importantly) put back together again.

  Yes, especially stuff relating to the top plate. I fixed a screwy
frame counter that would sometimes advance by two (when it was
still George's camera, no less).

  There are not "sproings" waiting to happen when you remove the
top. So you can open it up, have a look, and decide whether you
can repair it without any major disassembly.

>4. Is there a step by step "Disemble your Realist" FAQ/web page somewhere.

Don't know.

>5. My prefered tool is the claw hammer is this suitable :-).

Probably not. I recommend a medium jeweller's screwdriver :)

Good luck - Greg



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