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Is my new RB67 okay?

Beth Hamilton , Nov 20, 2009; 11:57 a.m.

So I received it today from eBay, the Royal Mail dumbasses dropped it quite impressively, resulting in the lens cap jamming into the UV filter which was on it, and the UV filter getting two big cracks in it, also pushing it slightly into the lens thread. My local repair man managed to cut off the filter with no damage to the lens.
However I just want to check if it's ok in general... I know it's all mechanical and nothing is automatic, so I put a test film through it, the shutter fires fine, opens and closes, all the levers work as they should, it advances fine, viewfinder is fine - so I am assuming it is all okay?

Thanks

Responses

Jim Momary , Nov 20, 2009; 12:41 p.m.

Perhaps, just perhaps, lens alignment concerns at this point I'd say need checking. Test shots of a newspaper on a wall with camera absolutely perpendicular to it. Look for soft focus across or up and down in the frame (we're not talking center vs corners here). If the lens axis is distorted, well, it won't be uniform all across. Do it carefully and you'll find out.
One really cannot say how hard it got smacked, but the camera weighs about 7 lbs so its own weight is a bit of a sledge hammer. Sounds like the filter rim, glass, cap and lens thread in the lens barrel 'absorbed' most of the impact, but more may have been transmitted.
In my years at our factory I've seen some pretty mangled stuff too via drop-kicked shipping, some 'ok', some 'bleh'.
Did you make note of the damage upon receipt if you need to claim damages later?
Jim

Bruce Cahn , Nov 20, 2009; 01:33 p.m.

Hope it was insured. Make a damage claim immediately. You are entitled to the camera you ordered, not something damaged. You should not have had any work done on it. They will want to see the damage and the packaging. This is why we do not mail orders in our store.

tung mobi , Nov 20, 2009; 01:56 p.m.

I suspect it wasn't packed properly. Really well-packed items should be able to sustain the average fall.

Beth Hamilton , Nov 20, 2009; 02:20 p.m.

So I just had a quite test at developing just to see how it came out, and it looked okay from what I saw, but now I'm very worried as all I can smell is developer, is it dangerous?! I just posted on the other forum. I am concerned that these chemicals are dangerous to breathe in...

Alexander Ghaffari , Nov 20, 2009; 05:16 p.m.

What kind of developer are you using? I used potassium cyanide to develop ferric salts in lab, and well, if I breathed that in, I'd be dead. Other light sensitive processes used mercuric vapor, which people should not be fooling around, if they don't know what they are 100% doing. If you're using something like Rodinal, HC-110, D-76, or the like, you're fine. Anytime I used dangerous chemicals, I would take a shower afterward, well, and I worked with extremely dangerous bacteria, but I would shower, regardless.

Beth Hamilton , Nov 20, 2009; 05:23 p.m.

I used Ilford Microphen and Ilfostop.
It would've been hard for me to shower... as it was in the shower, however I did wash.

paul RON , Nov 20, 2009; 05:38 p.m.

Ah the smell of a darkroom is so nice. Poor digiheads have no idea what they are missing.
AS long as the pics you are taking seem fine, there probably is no damage to your camera. These monsters can take a good hard whack before they actually show damage. I see em after falls off tripods with bery minimal damage. AS long as the bellows rack was retracted, it's pretty hard to throw em out. The lens nmounts are solid as rocks. The body is a tank. Prisms usually tear out the 2 small screws but nothing we can't repair.

Jose Angel , Nov 20, 2009; 06:34 p.m.

If you fear about chemicals use XTOL which is a great, low toxicity developer. If you touch any chemical, your fingers will smell... just have a scourer, dish liquid soap and a clean towel to briefly wash your hands/fingers while working.

Ed Birch , Nov 21, 2009; 10:39 p.m.

If B&W developer is dangerous just from the smell, I would have been dead a long time ago. The smell will linger, and it can be hard to get off your hands. I usually wear gloves when I process film mainly because I almost alwys make a sandwich after I'm done. darkroom work always makes me hungry.

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