Royalty
- Thread starter Ralph Turner
- Start date
Chris Bennett
Well-Known Member
Dacora Royal? - very nice!
What's the rangefinder like?
What's the rangefinder like?
Gary R. Smith
Well-Known Member
Oh great, I saw a Bessa-L that I thought I wanted but on further consideration, my G.A.S. has been running wild, the Bessa-L has no viewfinder and I only have 1 LTM lens in 50mm where the Bessa-L was (apparently) targeted at wide-angle. I've resisted so far...
Ralph Turner
Well-Known Member
Cheers, Chris. The seller says the patch is clearly visible and gives the impression it focusses ok. They say the shutter cocking coupling from the film advance lever doesn't work but the shutter can still be cocked via the usual little lever on the lens assembly. Maybe fixable but I won't know until we get home - we're trundling on the canals at the mo. Luckily our Son is house/pet sitting for us so should be there when it arrives to keep it safe until then. I figured that, at just over a tenner, even if the coupler can't be fixed (assuming all else is ok) it was still worth a look. A bit of a spontaneous whim of curiosity as I was only having an idle skim through the cheapies on the 'Bay (as is my wont on occasion
)
Ralph Turner
Well-Known Member
Ah, Gary, you know you want to lol. I've been keeping my G.A.S. in check recently... well, until now
Ralph Turner
Well-Known Member
Gary R. Smith
Well-Known Member
There's a commercial over here for Amazon (I think). It shows some banditos riding to catch a train. One guy looses his hat and he pulls out an iPhone and orders a scrunchie. A few yards further he orders something else. They are all gathered around a campfire in the desert and they show him opening a box from Amazon.
Ralph Turner
Well-Known Member
I think I get the drift of this ad. In my case, though, I'll have to wait until we get home for my goodies
Peter Roberts
Well-Known Member
My goodness! That takes me back, Ralph. My first SLR was an Exakta RTL1000 back in the early seventies. I thought it was the bees knees at the time. Best of luck with it.
Ralph Turner
Well-Known Member
Well well, an interesting coincidence. It's angular, slightly utilitarian look appealed at first, then I read up about the extended shutter speed range, which caught my imagination. Also, having the opportunity to try an original Oreston added to it, so I couldn't resist. Hopefully it'll work as well as the seller claims. Cheers, Peter.
Ralph Turner
Well-Known Member
Well, it arrived ok (the Dacora that is). It's in pretty good shape cosmetically for it's age. Everything appears to function. The focussing and aperture adjustment seem smooth. The shutter fires ok except for the slower speeds being decidedly reluctant (escapement a bit gummed up presumably). The front cover latch is broken and the cover itself kind of wedges against it's frame in the main body a little (get round-able). The lens seems, at first quick inspection, in good shape though there's a bit of a fingerprint or something on the front element that needs a gentle clean. Unfortunately looks like it might not be quite co-planar with the film gate but we'll see once I run a film through it. I've not checked the bellows for light-tightness yet.
One thing the seller mentioned was the auto shutter cocking didn't seem to work and one would have to cock the shutter manually, which is do-able but a little fiddly. It turns out, though, that the film advance lever just needs pushing a little further and all is well with the shutter linkage.
The rangefinder spot is nice and clear and aligns nicely with the main image but is out of calibration, focussing to infinity and beyond. There is a little screw on the back which may have something to do with adjusting it, but I've not looked into it as yet. Still, all good for little more than a tenner.
One thing the seller mentioned was the auto shutter cocking didn't seem to work and one would have to cock the shutter manually, which is do-able but a little fiddly. It turns out, though, that the film advance lever just needs pushing a little further and all is well with the shutter linkage.
The rangefinder spot is nice and clear and aligns nicely with the main image but is out of calibration, focussing to infinity and beyond. There is a little screw on the back which may have something to do with adjusting it, but I've not looked into it as yet. Still, all good for little more than a tenner.
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Ralph Turner
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@Peter Roberts the RTL has arrived. For it's age it's in lovely condition. It mostly seems to work, too. At first I thought there were issues with it as the shutter partly fired as I wound on, but if I wind on slowly and gently to the first 'clunk' all seems well. I'm still getting my head around the extended shutter speed mechanism as I don't seem to be able adjust the actual speed once the lever is engaged. Following the instruction manual (courtesy of Mike Butkus), it says to turn the dial but it seems a little stuck. The manual also says to fire the shutter using the normal shutter button, but this only activates the shutter in the normal 'B' mode. Pressing the little button in the centre of the lever pivot point seems to do the job, though. Anyway, all good fun. The Oreston lens looks in very good condition, the optics being pretty clean and clear.
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Peter Roberts
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the update, Ralph.
Glad you're getting to grips with it. As with most ex Eastern Bloc cameras the instruction manual is probably not that clear. The good news is that the shutter is not jammed as is sometimes the case with these sort of things. I'm sure with a bit of exercise things will start working as they should. That Oreston looks a beauty.
Ralph Turner
Well-Known Member
Cheers, Peter. I'm looking forward to putting a film through it. One positive feature is the viewfinder's dioptre. I can focus on the screen without any glasses or additional correction lenses for the eyepiece, something that's a rarity for me.
Pete Askew
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A modern tale of simple canal folk! 
Ralph Turner
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A modern tale of simple canal folk!
Ralph Turner
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