Camera Talk

I've owned this Kodak Retina IIS for more than a decade and just now decided to get it back into shape.

This camera is slightly smaller than its bigger sibling the Retina IIIS. The IIS is a fixed-lens camera with an f/2.8 45mm Schneider-Kreuznach Xenar lens. The Retina IIS and IIIS back to back.

My Kodak book says this was made from 1959-60 and was not exported to the U.S.

Like all Retinas, it was made by Kodak AG's operation in West Germany. I think this probably was the last of the high-quality Retina cameras. Not long after, Kodak began to cheapen the cameras, and future models just weren't as well made.

Aside from the lens, it borrows a lot from the Retina IIIC (Big C). It sits on the same body shell and uses the same large viewfinder. The IIS just has one set of framelines. The Gossen meter carries over, as does the bottom-mounted film advance lever and back release.

It's a friendly camera. The controls are where you expect them to be, and it's not overly large. It weighs 1 pound, 6 ounces (623.7 grams).

The beauty of the camera is in its simplicity of operation, although it does have the matched shutter speed-aperture combinations, which you are free to ignore.

Because it's not a folding camera, there is more room for your right hand to grip the camera. That's always been my primary issue with the folding Retinas.

I've taken many photos with folding Retinas, and I've always been pleased with the results. I have no doubt that I'll have fun with this camera.

SHUTTER WORK, ETC.
Like most cameras with leaf shutters, it stuttered on the slow speeds and then finally stopped working altogether. The Retina IIS and IIIS both use a string and pulley system to mechanically link the exposure wheel under the lens to aperture and shutter speed rings. I feel sorry for the person that allows that to become undone, because you then have to restring the system, and that's not fun. I had to do it once, and what a colossal pain in the neck that turned out to be.

Additionally, the Retinas use a tension rack that must be repositioned precisely during reassembly. Overall, these can be a real challenge to service.

For this shutter, I took care of everything from the front. It's not necessary to remove the name ring from the front of the lens. You just need to rubber stoppers. One removes the inner baffle cone, and the second removes the front element assembly. The focusing ring and distance scale then lift off. The middle element can be removed with a spanner wrench.

With that out of the way, there are two more rings to remove. There is the retention ring, which is held in place by a tiny short screw, the second ring for the left side of the depth-of-field scale and a horseshoe-like ring that sits between to the depth-of-field indicator rings. Once those are removed, the middle part of the housing comes off, providing you with access to the shutter. Now, it's a traditional Synchro-Compur.

I went ahead and removed the rear element, which makes it easier.

Looking down at the shutter, the slow speed escapement is at the 4-5 o'clock position with the self-timer escapement at the 7-8 o'clock position. I spread a liberal mixture of lighter fluid and powdered graphite over both and then repeatedly worked both. Small puffs of air helped the lighter fluid evaporate, leaving the graphite as a dry lubricant. The lighter fluid ends up on the shutter and aperture blades, and it takes a while to remove the excess. As well, you often have some oily residue on the blades, so you have to remove that, as well.

I have been using a product that helps with removing all of this. It's "Paslode Degreaser Cleaner" for pneumatic tools. I've been using this for about 20 years. It's also great for removing old grease from helicals and from body parts. It works for taking care of the final clean and debris removal for aperture and shutter blades. I notice that it's sold alongside air compressor and pneumatic tools (of course, it's sold next to those). After repeated cycles, listen for both escapements to buzz cleanly when actuated. You can now reassemble everything and be sure to clean the lens elements. Before I reinsert the lens elements, I turn the camera upside down and give it a couple of puffs of air to remove any final debris. I wait a few seconds and give it some more air. I also do the same with the clean lens surfaces.

Everything is reassembled and tested. Then calibrate the rangefinder. You also need to reset infinity focus on the lens. I have this page on my website that shows this: http://elekm.net/zeiss-ikon/repair/collimate/

This time I used a digital camera, which worked well. I'll document that process soon.

Cosmetically, it looked good with small paint loss on the trim in the back. I used some Rust-Oleum Universal Black to touch up the paint.

I recalibrated the rangefinder, and I have to say that the camera came out very nice. I touched up the paint on the trim above and to the right of the film advance lever.

One more time, Bravo!
Thank you for sharing, Mike!

Retinas have always eluded me, but great job!!!

I'm sort of on a roll right now. I also serviced my own Contax IIIa and a Retina IIIc this week.

Great job, Mike! That must be a very smooth camera now, with the crisp, precise handling of all Retinas. Those Xenars are very nice lenses.

Good work, Mike. What attracted me to the S series was not having to deal with that barn door taking up so much real estate, and the lens interchangeability over using add-on optics with the c/C series cameras. I only got a wrecked IIIS though, and eventually sent that on to someone else for the parts to fix his camera. That was about the time I started to get away from using fixed lens cameras, so I quit collecting the Retinas. They are the best looking thing that Kodak ever put out though.

PF