Hi

Was shooting in a night club on sat night/sun am and giving my sputnik a test
drive in hese difficult enviroments.

First thing a small flashlight is a must otherwise you can't see the film advance
numbers. I generally found someone to hold it while i wound it on. A small led
and battery attached to back of camera maybe the way to go.

The main tragidy happened while changing film, the sync cord got knocked
and broke. Down to the sync jakc protuding and not being recessed.

Anyone dealt with these issues before and suggest hacks?

M

I can't say I've taken many indoor flash shot with my spud, but a
couple ideas.
For winding the film, that's just a given for any older roll film
camera. Maybe a flashlight (torch) could be hung from a cord around
your neck, so that your hands are free.
Are you saying that the sync jack itself broke off the lens? I guess
a flash holder could be permanently attatched to the top. Or a flash
bracket, which needs to be removed before changing film. To change
film in a spud you almost have to sit down and take your time. I
always put gaffers tape over the latch to keep it from accidently
opening, and hold the back a bit tighter.

Rod S

--- In MF3D-group@yahoogroups.com, "Mark" wrote:
>
> Hi
>
> Was shooting in a night club on sat night/sun am and giving my
sputnik a test
> drive in hese difficult enviroments.
>
> First thing a small flashlight is a must otherwise you can't see
the film advance
> numbers. I generally found someone to hold it while i wound it on.
A small led
> and battery attached to back of camera maybe the way to go.
>
> The main tragidy happened while changing film, the sync cord got
knocked
> and broke. Down to the sync jakc protuding and not being recessed.
>
> Anyone dealt with these issues before and suggest hacks?
>
> M
>

Mark wrote:

> First thing a small flashlight is a must otherwise you
> can't see the film advance numbers. I generally found
> someone to hold it while i wound it on. A small led
> and battery attached to back of camera maybe the way
> to go.

I use a key-chain LED flashlight held in my teeth.
--
John Thurston
Juneau Alaska
http://stereo.thurstons.us

--- "Mark" wrote:

>
> The main tragidy happened while changing film, the sync cord got
> knocked and broke. Down to the sync jakc protuding and not
> being recessed.

Is the lens housing bent? Can it be bent back into position?

I'm not really getting a clear picture of what exactly the problem
is, but you can take these ideas into consideration when figuring out
the fix you need.

First, the metal for the lens housing on these cameras is extremely
soft. The hole where the sync jack fits in can be easily filed from
the top edge so that it becomes a slot instead of a hole. From there,
you may be able to jam the sync jack back in position and secure it
with some glue or epoxy or whatever. Of course, you would first have
to remove the front element lens and everything else to get to the
edge that you need to file.

You can also buy a cheap Lubitel camera off eBay and replace the left
lens assembly with the Lubitel one. I don't know how adept you are at
working with these, but you'd have to remove lens plate from the
Lubitel. This has all the timing gear mechanisms mounted on it. Then
you would use the internal plate from your Sputnik and mount it it
the Lubitel lens housing. You might then have to file the lens
housing in order to make room for the lever that is powered by the
right side.

Ted

>First thing a small flashlight
>is a must otherwise you can't see
>the film advance numbers.

Among other things, I continue to
suggest that owners of Sputniks
should remove the, worthless, Red
plastic window, which does not
contribute anything to ,help the
camera be user friendly, IMO. This
will help make the numbers more visible,
both during daylight and at nightime.

One can always replace the Red window
with a piece of clear tape to prevent
foreign substances from entering into
the camera.


Best regards,

DON

Sorry guys, but I personally think BOTH using a regular flashlight and
punching out the red window and replacing it with tape are very bad ideas.

John's suggestion of an LED key chain is much more practical, as it is
low intensity and less danger of fogging the film. Removing the window
creates a myriad of problems with little practical gain. If you can't
see, try the option of marking your advance knob and counting
rotations. 1 1/2 turns should get you 5 pairs easily without the
hassle of lining up a window. Who shoots only in the dark anyway?

As mentioned a million times, the Sputnik has so many faults it is
hard to come up with a single design feature that is truly practical.
The best solution is to have a spare so when (not if) the camera you
use breaks down you'll have another to get you by. It's a fog magnet,
a flare magnet, and the light wants to come in from every direction
EXCEPT where the lens is! The Spud has no strong points except that it
is disposable. That said it is the most successful MF3D camera in
history, as more excellent pictures have been taken with a Spud than
any other stereo camera of its format ever made.

Sam

--- In MF3D-group@yahoogroups.com, Don Lopp wrote:
>
>
>
> >First thing a small flashlight
> >is a must otherwise you can't see
> >the film advance numbers.
> Among other things, I continue to
> suggest that owners of Sputniks
> should remove the, worthless, Red
> plastic window, which does not
> contribute anything to ,help the
> camera be user friendly, IMO. This
> will help make the numbers more visible,
> both during daylight and at nightime.
>
> One can always replace the Red window
> with a piece of clear tape to prevent
> foreign substances from entering into
> the camera.
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> DON
>

In case not obvious, the endoresment of the LED keychain light idea is
for the types that emit red light, not blue. Astronomers use these,
and they're about $5.

Sam

--- In MF3D-group@yahoogroups.com, "Sam Smith" wrote:

>
> In case not obvious, the endoresment of the LED keychain light idea is
> for the types that emit red light, not blue. Astronomers use these,
> and they're about $5.
>
> Sam

its the metz sync cable that died, not the jack on the Sputnik thankfully.

I'll hunt around for a spare sync cord and replace the end of the Metz one.

The idea of cable hot glued on makes sense and its an approach I'll try

The little penlight workd, but just took more than the number of hands I had...

M