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K3 servicing in the UK


Damian Tyler

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The first film I've had through my K3 didn't turn out so well. There was some light scratching, probably from the loop formers, but the main issue seems to have been a registration problem. This could well be my fault - this was my first 16mm film and I may have made a pig's ear of the loading. I'm going to try another roll, being more careful about loading the film. If I get the same problem I'd like to have the camera checked out. Does anyone know of anywhere I can get this done in the UK at a reasonable price? So far I've only found Sendean Cameras in London, who quoted me £700 for a service, which is really more than I'd like to spend on a camera which cost me less than £200 - especially as they made clear this might not solve my problem.

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6 hours ago, Damian Tyler said:

..Sendean Cameras in London, who quoted me £700 for a service, which is really more than I'd like to spend on a camera which cost me less than £200 - especially as they made clear this might not solve my problem.

Holy cow that’s taking the piss. 

There must be other options in the UK. Les Bosher has had a great reputation for many years but lately he seems hard to contact and is perhaps winding down. I guess a lot of the analogue movie camera repair people are retired now and none seem to have had apprentices to carry on the work. 

K3s are notoriously unreliable, unless you’re lucky enough to get a good one. But they are pretty simple, and registration issues tend to be due to things like the dodgy loop formers (they should be removed), dirt build-up in the gate or a weak pressure plate. Certainly it shouldn’t cost £700 to address those issues. You might find if there was scratching from the loop formers that they were also causing the registration problems, so just removing them could be the solution. It’s relatively simple to do this yourself, I think there are a few YouTube videos showing the procedure.

 

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personally I would not bother sending the Krasnogorsk cameras in if they have issues, they are such a low cost mediocre quality cameras that it would be, by my opinion, worth trying to repair them by yourself and if that does not work out then just purchasing another one. The Krasnogorsk cameras are much easier to open and lubricate than Western cameras like Bolexes and such and there is not much which can go wrong with them. 

probably there would be someone fellow Krasnogorsk shooter in the UK who would help servicing the camera without it costing more than the camera is worth. 700 pounds sounds indeed a way too much for servicing this type of camera which has pretty limited uses 

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Thanks guys. The gate was clean, and the pressure plate looked stable when I ran the film while depressing the loop former plunger, but  I don't know abut the condition of the pressure plate's spring. Dom, I've followed your advice and emailed Les Bosher, though his website suggests he's mainly concentrating on manufacuring lens mounts. I'll try another film before I do anything drastic...

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