Pearl III

[melek]

Yes, that's what you want to use. I'll record a video this week to show you what I mean.

[PFMcFarland]

Just back from holiday, so trying to catch up on this thread, Alex.

The big problem with a lot of Zeiss bellows is the rear was secured by a frame that was crimped on. You could carefully pry the crimps back so the bellows will come loose, but it's a delicate operation. I think some repair folks would just cut the old one loose, then glue the new one in over the remains of the old one.

You could try some 3M brand bellows tape to repair the corners, but it sounds like it's more a matter of dry rot that will just keep getting worse.

As for flushing the shutter/aperture assembly, I use the Ronsonal brand straight up, no additives. Pure naptha as used for mixing paints can also be used, but not the regular kind as it has too much stuff that might remain after the mechanisms dry. Alcohol has too much water, and is not the best solvent for lube oils anyway.

I clean the escapement and delay (slow speeds/self timer) after removing them from the assembly because sometimes grit gets in the teeth, and you need to exercise the mechanisms to work that out. The rest of the assembly can just be flooded with lighter fluid, and blown dry with an air bulb, taking care not to damage the shutter and aperture blades with over pressure. Cleaning each blade separately is a time consuming, and sometimes frustratingly slow process that could result in a non-functioning shutter (like if you accidentally bend one of the blades), so I try to avoid that except in extreme situations. As for lubing, the Syncro-Compur is the only leaf shutter I know of that requires lubrication in a couple of spots (under the drive, and at the B lever catch), and I use a synthetic that is designed not to migrate to other areas. I don't know as the Konica version needs lubrication, so I'd pass on it for now.

When you put the speed escapement back in, it can be adjusted for 1 second timing by moving the upper end in towards the lens to make it faster, or out towards the barrel of the assembly to make it slower. If 1 second is good, then the other speeds should be close to specification too, minding that they rarely really work at their rated time, but within a certain parameter. Very rarely does 1/500 ever go much beyond 1/300.

Good luck!

PF

[alexvaras]

the shutter works well on the speeds, its just sticks in the first shot after not using the camera for 3-4 mins, probably due oil degradation.

As far as I do the disassembly I will do pics

As for the bellows, If I get a real cheap camera with the bellows in good condition, I will force the crimp to loose the bellows and then glue them to the pearl III, if I cut them I may have problems having enough bellows to glue and forcing them when they are full opened.

[alexvaras]

Job done, shutter is clean and works just fine!

I did as you said Mike and PF, but without the graphite, twice in lighter fluid and drying first with air compressed and second time near a heater.
So after the lighter fluid the shutter didn't stick but started to get stuck when closing in all speeds but randomly, no way to find out why... So I went to full disassembly.

And I forgot to take a picture of the problem... one of the screws was not well fitted?? And probably the two lighter fluid baths plus the vibes shooting and cocking took it out so the shutter blades got stuck... ??? Make sense?? After cleaning all and placing the shutter blades (first time incorrectly)

Then I saw that the shutter was open all the time... So I reached the conclusion that I did it wrong and I came back and this time all was fine.

The shutter its like a Compur Rapid, there are some webs of How-To, just about the hexar:

All the lens moves to focus, this is the helicoid:

This is the support (green) of the lens and the helicoid moves along it. The support is attached to the camera and to the bellows as usual.
The small screws (red) are the ones to prevent the front lens escapes* and allow the front lens move forward and backwards through the helicoid.

Big thanks to everyone
First shutter done!

[PFMcFarland]

That's great, Alex! Good thing you were able to diagnose the problem fairly quickly.
PF

[Dismayed]

Has anyone found a source of bellows for Pearls? I was tempted to buy one, but I won't part with my money until I verify that a replacement bellows can be sourced. Sandeha Llynch doesn't make 645 bellows because the material he uses is thick so doors won't close. Custom Bellows, also in the UK, gave me a quote, but I'd like confirmation that their bellows fit inside a closed camera.