Hello,
I'm about to make the jump into the LF world. I was offered a Sinar P in pretty good condition with 3 lenses (that almost match my preferred 35mm focal length) and a lot of accessories for a very reasonable price (read: dirt cheap). I've shot my first sheets of expired TMAX400 and they looked great. I love the big negsize and having control over every single movement. The camera is an absolute joy to use.
The downside is that there are two problems with it.
First beeing the rear standart where the tilt won't work anymore. After switching from the perfectly working swing to tilt I can still turn the knob but the standard doesn't move and it feels like there are no cogs on the wheel. In addition to that, it's stuck at 3,5° and not at zero, so this must be repaired. I guess that the geared nylon rail has lost some teeth.
The second problem is the focusing gear on the front standart. When moving the lens closer to the film using the geared movements, one nylon-rail beginns pushing back the rear metalplate that should hold it in place. It looks like the screw-head has been broken off by the prevoious owner. Turning the knob very slow doesnt move the rail, seems like there's too much friction. Could this be caused by old lube or is it just general wear-out? Every other movement is working very smooth and precise.
Now the big question is about the repair that needs to be done. I'm quite sure it can be repaired, but how much is something like this going to cost? I haven't bought it yet, so if the repair is going to be extremely expensive I bring it back to it's old home.
The second question is, where to send it for repair in Austria/Germany? I know only one company in Austria doing such repairs and my dealer told me that they would charge over 1000€, not including the used material. Somewhere in this (btw. very informative and friendly) forum was stated that these rails cost something under 100€. Is this still the case and are they still avaliable for the Sinar P?
If changing the rails doesn't require not generally avaliable tools and isn't extremely difficult I would do it by myself. I adjust my 35mm gear (autofocus, focusing screens,...) by myself so I have some but limited experience at messing around with cameras.
thanks in advanceClemens
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