I fixed the light leak in my Iskra!

[Brad Bireley]

Here are a few of my 1st shots with the light leak fixed!

[Ash]

Nice! Really good shots there :)

[Screwy]

Some nice shots there :cool: and glad to hear you've sorted your light leak .

Think I may have to seriously consider getting an Iskra looking at those but I suppose I better wait for the Moskva 2 and 4 to arrive and let the wife get acclimatised first :D





Paul

[leica M2 fan]

A few months ago I had an Iskra that was to look at it, a beautiful camera to behold. When I took the first roll it had light leaks all over and the frames were not registered correctly and overlapped. I sent it back and got a refund but, now that I see your pictures I realize what could have been. Too bad for me but great for you that yours is fixed.

[Joao]

Hi.

Great photos! Can you provide some details about what you have done? I’m

waiting for my first prints with an Iskra and I am afraid I may have to deal with

a similar problem (fingers crossed). Thanks in advance

Joao

RF: Zork(1, 4), Fed(5, 2), Sokol (Automat, 2), Junost, Iskra, Kiev-4,
TLR: Komsomolyets, Lubitel (2, 166B), Flexaret
SLR: Zenit (3M, E, EM, ET, TTL, 12XP, 122K,19, Photosniper), Kiev-10, Olympus OM-2
Other: FED-50, Kiev35A, Smena (7, 8M), Estafeta

[JonP]

Brad
Did you patch or just paint your leaks, I can't find mine at all. I thought I had it and have peobebly got two, leaving just one. Like you I know what she can do, so I need to get this done

[leica M2 fan]

Looked again at your Iskra photos - great photos. I love those colors and everything is nice and sharp. Good going.:D

[Brad Bireley]

Thanks everyone for the nice comments about the photos.

I used fabric paint. I applied it with a small paintbrush. Since I did not know where the leak was I painted a thin coat over the bellows. I let it dry for just about 48 hours. Which was not long enough. When I opened the camera some of the creases in the bellows were stuck. I carefully worked it opened & hope that I did not recreate another leak. Which everything seems to be working fine. I think I'm still going to have the bellows replaced after seeing how nice the lens performs!

Brad

[Joao]

Hi.
I was afraid of some lightleaks in my Iskra but the first photos are fine: no lighleaks at all. The performance of this camera exceeded my best expectations!Some photos attached scanned from contact prints. Film was Ilford HP5plus.
Regards
Joao

RF: Zork(1, 4), Fed(5, 2), Sokol (Automat, 2), Junost, Iskra, Kiev-4,
TLR: Komsomolyets, Lubitel (2, 166B), Flexaret
SLR: Zenit (3M, E, EM, ET, TTL, 12XP, 122K,19, Photosniper), Kiev-10, Olympus OM-2
Other: FED-50, Kiev35A, Smena (7, 8M), Estafeta

[Screwy]

OK it's settled , I definitely need an Iskra . Looks like the kids are getting medium format cameras from Santa Claus this year :D


Nice shots Joao but your doing nothing to ease my GAS :D





Paul

[Xmas]

Brad

Could you please say what environment was it in for 48 hours, temperature, ventilation & did you paint the outside of the camera bellows or the inside.

I really like to know first, before I do the same...

I dare not look at your photos otherwise another FSU would be in my collection, sorry

Noel

[Brad Bireley]

Joao,
Your Iskra seems to working great! Nice photos!


Xmas,
The temp was around 65-70 F. I have a seperate studio from my house & I'm not sure what the temp was at night. Now this was for the 1st 24 hrs. Then it was in my car for the 8 hrs & then in a hotel room for the remainder of the time before I closed the camera & it sat closed for about 12 hrs or so before I used it.
I painted it only on the ouside.
As nice of photos that this camera takes I'm going to get the nice new bellows on it.
The Iskra I have I aquired on ebay from a US seller ($25!) who did not want to get it fixed. The camera did not wind the film. I sent it to Oleg & he did wonders on it! If you think you just want one, guess what? Like me you'll want another just in case you're only one stops working!

Brad

[Joao]

Thanks Paul and Brad for your comments.

Brad: My Iskra followed the same route as yours!. I bought it as “faulty” from an US seller, send it to Oleg, and got it back a couple of weeks ago.
Regards
Joao

RF: Zork(1, 4), Fed(5, 2), Sokol (Automat, 2), Junost, Iskra, Kiev-4,
TLR: (2, 166Komsomolyets, Lubitel B), Flexaret
SLR: Zenit (3M, E, EM, ET, TTL, 12XP, 122K,19, Photosniper), Kiev-10, Olympus OM-2
Other: FED-50, Kiev35A, Smena (7, 8M), Estafeta

[Xmas]

Brad

Thanks so much for brief. I'll try thinning the paint and using a fan...

I do not have a Iskra, I have various Bessas and Selfix, but I am tempted... It musht be difficult having an addition...

Noel

[JonP]

Brad
Photo showing no leak, but Kodak E100G is very dark on scanning.
Noel
Used my paint straight from the tube with flat brush and left for 2 days open on a table in the UK