>If you've found your way to this page you were probably looking for help with a Retina camera problem. You can find some useful information on common Retina & Retinette faults on this page. You will also find links to instructions for various common repairs on the home page.
If you are not keen on the do-it-yourself approach, then perhaps you would rather have your camera returned to working condition by me, instead of wielding the screwdrivers yourself.
Please note that I consider a repaired camera to be one returned to a useful working state, clean and complete, able to take photos as intended, but that does not mean that the camera will somehow be magically returned to the pristine, mint condition the camera was in when first taken out of the Kodak packaging some fifty years ago. If there are aspects of the cosmetic condition of your camera that you want dealt with then please discuss those concerns with me before you send the camera for a CLA.
At about this stage you are likely to be wanting to know what all this is going to cost you. Listed below you will find a list of charges for common repairs. These prices all include the cost of airmailing the camera back to you as mentioned below.
Please email me for mailing instructions, or to discuss your particular camera.
Prices below are those for customers living in Europe or the USA, where most of my customers reside. For those of you living in Australia, you’ll get repairs cheaper since the actual cost of postage will be lower, please contact me for an accurate price. Fellow Kiwis, unfortunately while you get to save on the postage component, the government will want their GST, so please contact me for an accurate price.
>
Standard price for this service is NZ$110.00 including the cost of return by airmail to the US or Europe. The focus of the CLA is the shutter, but any minor repair, cleaning, lubrication or adjustments needed elsewhere in the camera will be dealt with at the same time for no additional charge.
Standard price for this service is NZ$135.00 including the cost of return by airmail to the US or Europe. The focus of the CLA is the shutter, but any minor repair, cleaning, lubrication or adjustments needed elsewhere in the camera will be dealt with at the same time for no additional charge.
Typically, the focus helical will need to be stripped down because the grease has gone hard, especially with the Retina Ia or earlier models, and the film advance is likely to get the same treatment.
Not infrequently, Retina Ib cameras are found to to have a worn or damaged shutter cocking rack. I have a rapidly dwindling supply of original Kodak parts and charge NZ$45.00 in addition to the standard CLA charge above if a replacement cocking rack is to be fitted.
Retina Ia cameras sometimes have a broken frame counter spring. The frame counter mechanism was not especially well engineered, and while the frame counter spring breaks from repeated the bending that takes place during normal use, the failure is accelerated by any stiffness in the frame counter. I have a small number of original Kodak replacements here, and when needed, I can fit a new spring for NZ$45.00 in addition to the standard CLA charge. (Having a working frame counter is not essential to using these cameras by any means, but it is a convenience)
Standard price for this service is NZ$165.00 including the cost of return by airmail to the US or Europe. The focus of the CLA is the shutter, but any minor repair, cleaning, lubrication or adjustments needed elsewhere in the camera will be dealt with at the same time for no additional charge. This will include stripping, cleaning, reassembling and adjusting the rangefinder on these models.
Not infrequently Retina IIc, and IIIc cameras are found to to have a worn or damaged shutter cocking rack. I have a rapidly dwindling supply of original Kodak parts and charge NZ$45.00 in addition to the standard CLA charge above if a replacement cocking rack is to be fitted.
Retina IIa cameras sometimes have a broken frame counter spring. The frame counter mechanism was not especially well engineered, and while the frame counter spring breaks from repeated the bending that takes place during normal use, the failure is accelerated by any stiffness in the frame counter. I have a small number of original Kodak replacements here, and when needed, I can fit a new spring for NZ$45.00 in addition to the standard CLA charge. (Having a working frame counter is not essential to using these cameras by any means, but it is a convenience.)
Another thing usually required with the Retina IIa is that the focus mechanism will need to be stripped, cleaned and relubricated because the old grease will have dried out to leave just a sticky, waxy base. This is done as part of the normal CLA for these models and no further charge is made.
Standard price for this service is NZ$250.00 including the cost of airmail back to the US or Europe. This price also includes the cost of replacing the meter cord if required, and any minor repair, cleaning, lubrication and adjustment needed elsewhere in the camera. I have good supply of new shutter cocking racks for Retina Reflex III and IV models, and I charge NZ$35.00 in addition to the CLA cost where a new rack is required. I have no more new exposure meters for most of these models, but can usually find a good used one for which I charge NZ$65.00. I will need to see the standard lens with the camera body so it can be checked to see that the diaphragm opens and closes smoothly. Any stiffness in the diaphragm mechanism places extra stress on the shutter-cocking action in the camera, potentially leading to serious damage.
Something for those of you already fairly competent in DIY camera repair. Save some money, do some of the repair work yourself and send just the shutter to be CLA'd by me.
If you remove the shutter, and send it to me, I can do a CLA and send it home again ready for you to install.
This service is offered for NZ$90 including the cost of airmailing the shutter home to you.
This service is mostly aimed at those of you with the folding Retina models, or perhaps the Retinettes.
As for the IIIS and Reflex models, you'll need to be very skilled in camera repair just to remove and replace the shutter correctly, and therefore the actual shutter CLA should be well within your abilities.
From time-to-time I do repair other classic cameras. If you have a leaf-blade shuttered camera, and it needs servicing, please feel free to ask me about a possible repair.
In the past I have repaired numerous Contina, Contessa, Diax, Paxette, Prominent, Silette, Solinette, Vito and Vitessa cameras. A lot of others I see less often too, especially roll-film folders, it's always worth asking if I can help.
Some of the more recent cameras passing through for repair include , Retina IIc, IIIc, IIIC, Retina II (types 011 and 014), Retina I (types 118, 148, 126) Retinas IIS & IIIS, Reflex (type 025), Reflex S, Reflex III, Praktica TL2, Agfa Super Silette, Rollei 35 LED, Agfa Ambiflex, Agfaflex, Aires IIIL, Topcon D, Retinettes, Paxettes, Vito B, Contaflex & Bessamatic.
Please note that if you would like the camera to travel home insured, then it will cost an extra NZ$10.00. NZ Post recently informed me that anything 'collectable' is not covered by their usual NZ$250.00 automatic cover. Sounds like rort to me, I gather they would normally chose to replace a missing, or damaged 'normal' item rather than pay out compensation anyway, and so 'collectables' are too hard to deal with in that fashion.
I don't know what NZ Post's definition of 'collectable' is either, but if it suits them best, it's likely to mean anything that isn't currently being manufactured.
For what it's worth, I have only ever had one item go missing in all the years I have been sending or receiving camera equipment around the world, and that was a Retina IIIc that disappeared out of its packaging somewhere between New Zealand and the Netherlands and back again. The parcel was never delivered, although the address was apparently correct. All I received back here was the cardboard box filled with the bubble-wrap.