P3D Ken Luker's Realist

[Michael Georgoff <Michael_Georgoff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ken, and list...

Ken said "due to insufficient lubrication of the sliding surfaces between
the moving back-plane and the camera body, the rear plane holding the film
doesn't always move evenly during focusing."  And later, "Has anyone else
had this problem with their Realist?... And do you know just where to
lubricate to ensure that it gets cured?"

I discovered a similar problem with my Realist 3.5 while fooling around with
the back of the camera off.(Okay, I wasn't just idly fooling, I was actually
checking focus distances with some close up lenses and a piece of  ground
glass, but never mind that).

I noticed that while focusing in and out, the top of the moving (back) film
plane would hang up and not seat back fully against the camera body so that
the net result was the film would be closer to the lenses at the bottom of
the film frame, and farther from the lenses at the top of the film frame . I
could push it gently back and it would "seat" where it was supposed to.   I
could not see what was causing it to hang, and I suspected the springs which
pull the plane back up tight against the camera body may have gotten weaker
in the last 40-something years. 

I did notice that the small sprockety wheel (this is the correct term, I'm
positive of that) which advances the film counter needs to move in and out
with the film plane.  This is the wheel where you have to load your film
over the wheel but under the piece of metal in order to get frame count to
work.

After taking the top off (the sliver rectangle metal access panel, where the
hot shoe is and the film counter, etc) I figured that the hang up was at the
top of the small sprockety wheel film counter advance mechanism assembly
thingy (also, accurate terminology, I guarantee) as it moved back and forth
inside the enclosure.  So, I put wee bit of white grease on the top of that
assembly business, plus on the top (inside, underside) of the top sliver
rectangle access panel which I believe it was rubbing against.  Reassemble,
test.  Seems okay to me now.

That's my story anyway.  Interested to see how others have solved the
apparently common problem.

Michael Georgoff
San Jose, CA


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