Fixing a broken Bauer battery compartment door

[David Nethery]

I'm sure many of us have come across the beautiful late 1960's/ early 1970's Bauer Super-8 cameras such as the Bauer C2A, which have broken battery compartment doors ( this seems to be a design flaw common in this era of Bauer cameras) .

I have a Bauer C2A which was in perfect working order , except that the battery compartment door had cracked .
I was able to use either gaffer's tape or a velcro strap to keep the battery door on , but the velcro tended to loosen over time (so did not maintain firm contact of the battery terminals against the batteries) , and the tape method was unsightly. Neither solution was ideal.

I located a supplier in France who has Bauer spare parts , http://www.cine-super8.net/ .

I ordered the replacement part from Cine-Super8 (cost with shipping to the U.S. was about $21.89 dollars / 16.20 euros. The base price is 9.00 euros ) . This is more than I paid for the camera on eBay ($15.00) , BUT for me it was worth it to have the camera complete again , without the unsightly and awkward tape or velcro.

Cine-Super8 shipped the item quickly and I just wanted to post this link for any other Bauer C2A owners who have experienced the infamous battery door piece breakage and would like to have a source for replacing the part.

They have parts for other Bauer (and Nizo) cameras :

http://www.cine-super8.net/index.php?pg ... Bauer-Nizo

The part for the Bauer C2A is Bouchon de piles Bauer (4 piles)
Bouchon de poignée de piles (4 piles ) pour les caméras BAUER anciennes muettes de la série C1, C2, C2A, C2M, D1,D2, D2A, D2M

I'll probably purchase another one to keep on hand if this one ever breaks.




These are very nice cameras, with elegant styling . Bright, clear viewfinder and easy to focus. 12, 18, 24 fps (and single frame with cable release) , auto and manual exposure . Lens: Bauer Vario 1.8 / 7.5 - 60 mm zoom .

They can usually be purchased for between $10.00 - $45.00 on eBay , but frequently have the broken battery chamber door. (ask first if the seller doesn't mention it in the description ! And of course always ask if the interior of the battery chamber is clean or if it has corrosion)



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[Alessandro Machi]

Thanks for sharing the pictures.

 

As a general guide for super-8 filmmakers to consider, we each can interpret what it means to spend more on a camera part than the camera actually cost to purchase. We can be unhappy, or grateful that the camera sold so cheaply and we were able to use some of the saved money to replace a part, for free.

[Steve Broback]

A long time ago, I made a simple plaster casting from the broken parts and cast a couple of polyester resin battery doors.

They functioned but were crude. These cameras are beautiful and worth repairing - even if the spares cost more than the camera.