Project "Great Wall DF-4" (2/2)

spent the afternoon cleaning up the camera and working the shutter, everything seems fine now. it was very dusty inside, thankfully it wasn't hard at all to get it open.

i removed the top cover and cleaned up the internal optics

squeeky clean!

there is glass in the middle don't forget!

there was some sort of oily residue on the ground glass, shutter mirror and lens which i had to keep cleaning over and over before i was satisfied it was spotless.

the good news is that i managed to knock the flash shoe back into position! but the bad news is that i don't think i'll be able to do the same for the dent on the rim of the lens. this means that it is unable to mount any kind of filter, at least i THINK you can put a filter in the first place because i see the threads on the rim of the lens. anyway i kind of like it that way with the dent, god knows what this camera has seen or been through before i found it...

i was able to mount and secure my vivitar auto 2600 flash (which is also about 10-20 years old) and it fits nicely, if only i had the cable then i'd be able to test to see if the sync port on this camera works...

*EDIT* forgot to mention that it is also a hotshoe, meaning a normal flash would work on it as well. i tested this vivitar flash and it works fine in sync with the shutter.

the optics are much better now after cleaning, no more hazy vision as i've cleaned out the grime from the viewfinder and mirror and i've also manage to focus well enough to take a picture through the magnifier.

one minor problem is that this camera's shutter is very heavy (at least it sounds that way during operation) and since the internals are far from airtight no amount of cleaning is going to keep the dust away. there are a few corners that i am unable to clean out as well, and what this does is that each time the shutter slams shut, the air pressure from the shutter stirs up a little dust inside and lands on the mirror. so i have resigned myself to accept that the optics will never be 100% clean, but the bottom line is that it is much better now than in the beginning.

all that's left is a little more cosmetic surgery as the leatherette is loose in a few corners and it'll be good to go.



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