KALIMAR B-3

THE CAMERA:

I got this at a yard sale mainly because it was in fairly good condition, looked cool and it is very heavy for it's size, which to me in the past has proven to be a good sign of 1950's and fair quality. The shutter was sticky (so I thought) so I figured it would be a good project camera.

It was made in Japan by the "TKC" or Taisei Koki Company. It has a Talkor 45mm 1:2.8 lens, leaf shutter with speeds of only B, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 300. The rangefinder optics were sticky and the outer focus ring was loose from it's helical. I didn't realize this until I got it home, I usually check for this first thing before buying. Even knowing it is made in Japan, I would swear it was made in Germany as it closely resembles the Agfa Super Silette.

It is somewhat of a mystery camera in that, a Google search brings up only a few "porn" shots but basically nothing about the camera itself and certainly nothing about repairing it. A fellow camera repair buff and I both agree it's probably from between 1956 and 1958. Not being that familiar with a total tear-down of a camera in general, I decided to roll up my sleeves and just do it.

FIXES:

The shutter itself was actually as clean as a whistle and not sticking. It was the little lever that pushes the shutter main lever down as you wind the film advance through a series of mechanisms, but it was a good learning experience getting into the shutter. The main focus helical grease was sticky to the point of near freezing. I tore that apart and cleaned and lubed it.

The rangefinder optics were simple and straight forward to fix as the housing was just held on with two screws and easy to get at and clean.

I have documented the tear down with details and notes on my Flickr account HERE

Here is a sample photo from this camera

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