I purged the browser bookmarks today

[John Farrell]

and one that I deleted was for a Contax repair page run by Henry Scherer. Henry insists on using pure Zeiss parts to repair Contax rangefinders, and rails against those who make what he calls "frankencameras" by using Kiev parts. He won't pollute his workbench by allowing Kiev cameras near it. He will repair your camera, after a suitable waiting time (many years) with sanctified Zeiss parts, fitted by the high priest.

Interestingly, I came across an article by Ivor Matanle, in an AP from the year 2000, where he recommends having a repairer fit Kiev parts in a non working Contax II or III to give you a working camera, and he commends the quality of a Kiev shutter he had fitted to a faulty Contax.

[gray1720]

Hopefully Ed Trzoska will be faster (and sod where the parts are from as long as it works)! I've accepted his quote, and it should be 4-6 weeks, though whether that's from date of reply or when it reaches the top of his list remains to be seen.

[John Farrell]

Aug 8, 2023 16:19:56 GMT gray1720 said:

Hopefully Ed Trzoska will be faster (and sod where the parts are from as long as it works)! I've accepted his quote, and it should be 4-6 weeks, though whether that's from date of reply or when it reaches the top of his list remains to be seen.

Ed was the repairer Ivor mentioned in the article I read.

[gray1720]

Given that Ed went into semi- retirement at the start of the year, that sounds about right. Personally I'd rather have a Frankenuser than an all-Zeiss paperweight, it's not as though the thing is mint externally. Far from it!

[steveandthedogs]

When he does retire, try Newton-Ellis in Liverpool.

Made a lovely service and re-silvering of my IIIf

S