I've heard very good things about Ted Baskin's Sputnik upgrades, which I believe he offers
as a service to others. I barely have enough time to keep my own Sputnik working these
days. Don Lopp came up with a great solution for light leaks. He built a three sided box
out of balsa wood which covers every seam that light could leak in. Prior to getting one
of those I used to cover my Sputnik's doors with electrical tape.

>The focusing gears slip on the left lens. There is a fix posted online
>but it seems difficult. Plus I don't have many tools and have no
>experience fabricating in metal.

I've found that this is often a matter of the positioning of the lenses. The taking lenses
can be loosened from the inside of the camera with a spanner wrench, and moved so as to
optimize the operation of the gears. This needs to be done carefully, as the shutter can
malfunction when the position of the two lenses changes. I've found I can keep
experimenting until I find the best possible position. Some Sputnik gears will always slip
if you focus very closely. (Man oh man, I can't wait to buy a TL120 and own an actual
decently built freakin camera for a change...) One solution to this is to use some white
enamel to create marks that will line up when the gears are focused on a specific point. If
the gears slip, just force them back into alignment using the marks as a guide.

My solution to focusing the lenses is to use a rubber band to hold a piece clear plastic with
frosted tape on the film plane. With the shutter open at the widest aperture I take the
gears off and use a loupe to focus on a computer monitor in a dark room at 15 feet. My
theory is that since it's difficult to match the focusing of these lenses throughout the
focusing range it makes the most sense to get them to match at the point I'll have them
focused on most often while shooting. There's something to be said for matching the
focus at the f22 hyperfocal point and just using the Spud as a fixed focus camera, but I do
enjoy taking portraits at the closest focusing point.

Jim Harp

Whew, how did the Russians ever get a man into outer space!

I like your fixed focus idea. I'm going to try that. If I did fix the
gears to work correctly, I would have a heck of a time figuring out
which gear goes where for matched focus of all the lenses.

Arthur

On Sep 20, 2006, at 4:32 AM, jamesbharp wrote:

> I've heard very good things about Ted Baskin's Sputnik upgrades, which
> I believe he offers
> as a service to others. I barely have enough time to keep my own
> Sputnik working these
> days. Don Lopp came up with a great solution for light leaks. He
> built a three sided box
> out of balsa wood which covers every seam that light could leak in.
> Prior to getting one
> of those I used to cover my Sputnik's doors with electrical tape.
>
> >The focusing gears slip on the left lens. There is a fix posted
> online
> >but it seems difficult. Plus I don't have many tools and have no
> >experience fabricating in metal.
>
> I've found that this is often a matter of the positioning of the
> lenses. The taking lenses
> can be loosened from the inside of the camera with a spanner wrench,
> and moved so as to
> optimize the operation of the gears. This needs to be done carefully,
> as the shutter can
> malfunction when the position of the two lenses changes. I've found I
> can keep
> experimenting until I find the best possible position. Some Sputnik
> gears will always slip
> if you focus very closely. (Man oh man, I can't wait to buy a TL120
> and own an actual
> decently built freakin camera for a change...) One solution to this
> is to use some white
> enamel to create marks that will line up when the gears are focused
> on a specific point. If
> the gears slip, just force them back into alignment using the marks
> as a guide.
>
> My solution to focusing the lenses is to use a rubber band to hold a
> piece clear plastic with
> frosted tape on the film plane. With the shutter open at the widest
> aperture I take the
> gears off and use a loupe to focus on a computer monitor in a dark
> room at 15 feet. My
> theory is that since it's difficult to match the focusing of these
> lenses throughout the
> focusing range it makes the most sense to get them to match at the
> point I'll have them
> focused on most often while shooting. There's something to be said
> for matching the
> focus at the f22 hyperfocal point and just using the Spud as a fixed
> focus camera, but I do
> enjoy taking portraits at the closest focusing point.
>
> Jim Harp
>
>
>
>