Out with my 'Gift' 1956 Minolta Autocord

pentaxpete

pentaxpete

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Peter
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Unfortunately my lovely 'Gift' 1956 Minolta Autocord fell over on its side in my darkroom on the floor where i had put it for 'Safety' and broke off the Focusing Lever-- what a bummer !!
anyway, I can still focus with some difficulty and poking a Biro onto the broken bit. I loaded it with some 2002 dated Fuji NPC 160 i want to use up and took it out,. I processed in C41 using CPAC developer, Fuji Bleach and Champion fixer. I scanned with an Epson 2480 flatbed from 'FreeCycle' with Vuescan Pro and FastStone Image Viewer. Some scans had strange lines down them.
Wild Hops --
NPC160 01 by Peter Elgar, on Flickr
No 'Human Interest' -- I DID wait though !
NPC160 02 by Peter Elgar, on Flickr
Con Trails -- has a Yellow cast i think --
NPC160 03 by Peter Elgar, on Flick
Food for Hungry Birds ---
NPC160 04 by Peter Elgar, on Flickr
Brentwood Golf Course out with a Flickr friend
NPC160 05 by Peter Elgar, on Flickr
 
The focusing lever on Autocords often break off because the grease in the helical focus becomes very stiff and causes the metal in the lever to stress fracture. Eventualy it virtually falls off.
However every thing else abouu the camera is pretty much everlasting and the lens is by far the best of the Rollei clones. And I always preferred them to the tessar in the Rollie.
I also preferred the film direction as the film was held far flatter. Probably the best feature was the massive helical focusing thread, as it held the lens standard absolutely rigid and parallel to the film plane. Unlike a rollie or Yashicamat, which can become floppy.

It would be worth having your one serviced and the lever welded back. Some are base metal and have to be replaced with a steel strip.
From the results you show it has the usual exellent sharpness.
 
Yes -- I must do some research about MINOLTA repairers here in England. Do YOU know of any people ?
 
pentaxpete said:
Yes -- I must do some research about MINOLTA repairers here in England. Do YOU know of any people ?
Click to expand...

I do not know any repairers these days. However I did strip down an autocord some years ago, to replace the grease on the helical threads. And it was not difficult at all as the construction is very simple, so I am sure any competent film camera repairer could do just fine.
 
WoW ! I made a 'Note' but it's a bit beyond my skills ! Thanks anyway.
 
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