Pentacon Six TL
German (DDR) 6x6 format SLR
Produced c.1968

So, after years in possession i finally found the courage to open up my Pentacon Six which suffers from severe shutter problems.

Main problem was that the second curtain would not return at all so the shutter just stayed open !
After dozens of shutter activations the second curtain reluctantly started to close again. But many times not completely leaving a gigantic gap.

Another problem, which I had to address first, were numerous pinholes in the second curtain material close to the edges.
These pinholes could be successfully closed with dabs of black liquid rubber.

So then i removed the whole mechanism out of the body and started to clean and re-lubricate.

Now I need your help as i am unfamiliar with Pentacon Six repairs, this is my first, and i am not sure about the correct positions of the first and second curtains winder gear when the shutter is in the released state.

The top image shows the curtain winders situation which is "normal" after the shutter is fired.
Red arrow points to the stop position of the first curtain winder.
Green arrow points to the stop position of the second curtain.
Blue arrow shows how far the lip of the first curtain winder goes into the brake spring.

The bottom image shows what happens when i manually push the first curtain winder further into the brake spring. When i do that i first feel a resistance but then suddenly it shoots through till the endposition as shown by the blue arrow.
However, the second curtain is not following the first curtain anymore and stays more or less in the same position as in the top image. This results in an unwanted gap between the curtains.

I checked the spring force of both return curtain return rollers and that feels more then sufficient. Seems that there is some kind of obstruction in the second curtain winder gear that cannot be overcome. I tried some gentle force to help but to no avail.

First of all i would like to know what would be the "normal" end position of the first curtain winder after a shutter release. Like in the top image or like in the bottom image ?
My gut feeling says like in the bottom image but i am not sure.

Maybe one of you also knows what to do next ?
Should I use more force ? Should i further dismantle the mechanisms ?
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Edit 9-June-2020 :
Problem solved. the anti-bounce brake of the 2nd curtain, which is kind of hidden, just was too dry. A small amount of lubrication was enough.
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WARNING :
This image is intended as a reference for the more experienced camera service man. If you have no experience in camera repair please do yourself a favor and send your camera to a professional service shop. It would be a pity to lose a vintage camera in a failed repair attempt !

Tags:   Pentacon Six Shutter Curtain Problem Repair

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Lost slide , found at the Photographica Fair of 8-March-2015 in Nieuwegein (NL)

Sold by a Belgium gentleman (french speaking) which told me that he was cleaning out his storage. So everything on his boot sold for either 1 or 2 Euros.

See the first image in this album for the full story.

The sturdy metal box has some taped text on it. PELE-MELE is of course the French word "pêle-mêle". This means something like "collage" or "mixed" like the different subjects on the slides indeed are.

The first one scanned. Alas, the film was cut to get it into the mount so i was not able to determine the film brand or film sensitivity used.

Whoever thinks to recognize this landscape, please let me know !
Whoever thinks to know the photographer of this slide, please let me know !
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Film unknown
Scanner Plustek Opticfilm 120 at 2650ppi, downscaled tp 1325ppi
No IR-Dustremoval, No Sharpening

Tags:   Lost Metal Box Slides 6x6 7x7 Titania Cadres Diapositifs pêle-mêle N-3 Belgium

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Lomo Lubitel 166B
6x6 TLR made in the USSR by Lomo.
Lens is a T-22 4.5 / 75mm triplet.


From the first testfilm with this camera.
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The Garden Gnome (close-up test target),
1/250 1:16, focused at 20 meter on dial.

Everything looks quite sharp so guess that the re-collimation of the lens went well :-)
A bit of vignetting in the corners but I can live with that.

When I bought this Lubitel the T-22 Taking Lens was very very far off infinity underneath my auto-collimator. It never would have produced sharp landscape photos !!

Guess it is a good idea with these Lubitel TLR's to first check the infinity focus before shooting your first film with it. Even this "as new" looking Lubitel had a serious issue with that and the former owner, who bought it new, never did fiddle with it, so this could have been a production fault.
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Film Kodak Portra 160.
Scanner Plustek Opticfilm 120 Pro at 2650ppi.
No Sharpening. No IR-Dustremoval.
Exposure, contrast and color adjustments in PSE11.

Tags:   Lomo Lubitel 166B T-22 Lens 4.5 75mm Kodak Portra 160 Scanner Plustek Opticfilm 120 Test Target Film Neighbour House

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Rollei 35 SE
German 35mm film viewfinder camera. c.1979
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Lago di Como August 2015
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Como City, Chiesa di San Giacomo.

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AgfaPhoto CT precisa 100 slide film.
Plustek OpticFilm 120 scanner, scanned at 5300 ppi, downscaled to 2048 pixels width.
No Sharpening ; No IR Dust reduction.
Further Brightness and Color in PSE11.

Tags:   Rollei 35 SE Agfa Photo CT Precisa 100 slide film Plustek OpticFilm 120 scanner Lago di Como City Chiesa San Giacomo Any White Field Tag by Flickrs SpamTagBot

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Zeiss Ikon Nettar 518/2
German medium format (6x9) folder.

This is the most expensive Nettar that you could get around the year 1956. It has a whopping 1:3.5 105mm Novar-Anastigmat lens in a Prontor-SVS shutter.

Nettars were meant for the amateur market. In reality you will not see much difference between a Nettar and a much more expensive Ikonta except for the choice of lens/shutter combinations which are more luxueus on the Ikonta (e.g. a Tessar lens in a Synchro-Compur shutter) and some extra's on the Ikonta like e.g a film type memo and film speed memo discs.

Just have a look at an image of an Ikonta 523/2 and you know were I am talking about.

See also : camera-wiki.org/wiki/Nettar

Tags:   Zeiss Ikon Nettar 518/2 Medium Format 6x9 Folder German Novar Anastigmat 1:3.5 105 Display

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