P3D Re: Ron Zakowski

["John Goodman" <jgood@xxxxxxxx>]

Franklin Londin wrote in part:

> He hasnt returned any of my
> calls. I know he does great repairs but his silence
> is frustrating for my friend anxious to get into
> stereo photography and embarassing for me having
> spoke so highly of Ron.

AFAIK, elderly family relations have been in hospital so 
he's often away from home. Also, he is absolutely snowed 
under with Realists to repair and has no assistant other 
than his wife. A kinder, nicer man is hard to find.

To be brutally honest, however, none of the four cameras 
he restored for me this summer came back in 100% 
condition. I'm a nitpicker, but some basic problems 
remained that I wish had been taken care of. I think this 
was due to his work load and my having pestered him 
about getting the cameras back sooner rather than later.

To do fine major restoration work takes unpressured time, 
patlient dedication and experience. Rather than bother Ron 
with my woes and ask for a re-do, I sent one Realist to 
master repairman Ken Ruth for further attention. He did a 
great job rebuilding the shutter but the camera now yields 
chips with noticeably different exposures (iris problem, I 
guess) and significant vertical mismatch. Eventually this 
camera will be put right, be a pleasure to use and give 
superb results, but for the time being it's in repair limbo.

JG