About this time a year ago I saw a Contax AX on eBay at low dollars. The seller said that the camera looks good but doesn't work. It was being sold as is.
So, I bought it for about $170.
When it arrived, the first thing that I noticed is that there seemed to be something loose inside the camera. So I took the top off to have a look. I discovered that the diopter adjusting lens was loose in its mount. After a little disassembly, I was able to re-attach it with some clear nail polish, carefully applied with a toothpick.
After I put the camera back together it was still not working. The shutter would not fire and nothing else worked either.
After poking around in the film chamber, I noticed that the sprocket was turning freely. After turning by hand in the film advance direction it eventually locked. And...PRESTO, the camera was suddenly working on all functions.
It seems that the AX has an optical sensor on the sprocket to insure that the film has actually advanced before taking a picture. Somehow, it had gotten out of step, probably operator error.
So now I have a near mint AX in perfect working order for a bargain price.
YEAH!!!
After I told the seller what had happened, he did seem a bit chagrinned by the whole thing.
Ron
So, I bought it for about $170.
When it arrived, the first thing that I noticed is that there seemed to be something loose inside the camera. So I took the top off to have a look. I discovered that the diopter adjusting lens was loose in its mount. After a little disassembly, I was able to re-attach it with some clear nail polish, carefully applied with a toothpick.
After I put the camera back together it was still not working. The shutter would not fire and nothing else worked either.
After poking around in the film chamber, I noticed that the sprocket was turning freely. After turning by hand in the film advance direction it eventually locked. And...PRESTO, the camera was suddenly working on all functions.
It seems that the AX has an optical sensor on the sprocket to insure that the film has actually advanced before taking a picture. Somehow, it had gotten out of step, probably operator error.
So now I have a near mint AX in perfect working order for a bargain price.
YEAH!!!
After I told the seller what had happened, he did seem a bit chagrinned by the whole thing.
Ron