Let's start with this picture, the camera just out of the packet. Ugly and full of dirt and green rust.
Look at the feather of the rewinding knob. It looks different as on all my other Contaxes and Kievs:
Under the top plate. Looks like new, as if it was made on a new production line:
Inside is an engraved "55":
Inside of the front mask there is blue/white ribbon arount the viewfinder window hole:
The shutter. No scratched number like on early Kievs. Looks the same as on my other Jena Contax. On the first two pictures you can see something like a C combined with an A scratched in:
Inside the shutter back there is a number engraved:
The feather on the selftimer release knob:
Removing the green rust from the back and the leather. The back is much heavier than a back of a Kiev, it's made of brass:
After reassembling all:
Bill, you said in the TSVVS thread that you would not clean such old and rare cameras because of devaluating them. I don't think that I devaluate the camera when I remove the green rust, sand and old dirt from the cameras. I reuse all parts of the particular camera and do not mix any parts from later cameras. I only replace missing or wrong parts.
What do the others think? Is a careful CLA devaluating an old camera?
Ulrich
http://fotos.cconin.de
