July 2010: Zenit E

The owner of the Zenit TTL I just serviced received a Zenit E, and a superb Mir-1 2.8/37mm lens. The standard lens of the Zenit E has no problem, he sent me the body with the wide angle for servicing.
I replaced the grease in the diaphragm rings of Mir-1 (sorry, no pictures, not to risk bringing dust between the lenses).
Compared to other Zenit E, the lightmeter works perfectly. The shutter also.

This camera is a "reconstruction" from parts of several bodies. For example, the cover bears the serial number of a camera made in 1969, the shutter serial number shows it was made in 1975.

The film advance is tough, and as an attempt to soften it, it was widely oiled (at this point, at the origin, there is no oil, but just a light greasing) and the oil sunk inside the shell. Only one solution to clean it: remove everything!

I reassemble while cleaning each element at a time, and lightly greasing the cocking mechanism. The blocking was due to four loosened screws on the plate of this mechanism (I've seen this problem on other bodies).
The pentaprism is newer than the rest of the assembly (after 1979?), This version has a layer of varnish to protect the top. It is fixed by black foam, I replace it with my yellow foam which makes more "authentic".

I checked the focusing and flash sync.

And now, only remains to take pictures!