Some cameras don't make it...

So I had about 15 minutes to spare yesterday eve and decided to take a gander at the next group of cameras I have to fix up. I have an order of 4 Model 3s to get dressed up (more on those later) and I'd like to get 7 more cameras ready for sale. There's a lot of mix and match going on too so I have to be very careful on what parts I take from what camera. I have this Model 2 that I got a while back that had what I thought was a busted coupler because the motor would keep running non stop. It turns out the fresnel carrier (that little trap door that goes *FA-FLUP* when you take a pic) had a broken hinge and the carrier cracked into the inside viewing mirror when someone tried jamming it closed. That's 7 years right there down the drain... glad I didn't do it. :)

In these situations I strip the camera of all the parts and screws and posts and springs so I can use them on other cameras. Unfortunately the rest of the chassis has to be tossed. In order for me to replace the carrier I'd have to break into the bellows and the amount of time it takes to do that justifies just using a donor. Broken mirrors or ripped up bellows = new camera time.

I have some cool stuff coming up non-sale related to post including a discussion about a few differences of models, an in depth look at the leather used on our cameras, and a few of my own shots that I've take over the past year. 


Roll Call! From top left counterclockwise: flex circuit with motor and mcc, miscellaneous screws, posts, and springs, complete viewfinder assembly, complete grear train assembly, gear train cover, bottom cover, complete shutter assembly.

This is what I call the "barf bucket". It's a box I use when peeling off the old beat up porvair. The real leather skins come off nice and easy...

And here's the waiting room as of yesterday...