Graflex.org

[Ron]

I picked up a Graflex 22 Model 400 with the 3.5 lens. The price was right. It's in good condition to place on a shelf but I would rather have it repaired so it would be usable. My question is: is it worth it? Known problems are as follows: film rollers need to be replaced. They have a few spots of rust on them. Lens seems to have a film inside. Either lens would have to be replaced or totally disassembled and cleaned. Haven't tried shooting any pictures with it yet because of the rollers. If it would be worth it to get it repaired, could I please have some suggestions of places that would repair this camera. Thanks in advance.

Ron

[SeanOKeefe]

It has been a while since you posted but here is what I know. I would try to polish the rollers using a dremel tool, it may be hard to economically find parts for this camera. If it is just surface corrosion, you may be able to get them clean enough so they don't chew your film.

I cleaned the taking lens by simply unscrewing it. The front elements will unscrew from the body and the rear element can be cleaned thus. The front of the rear element can be cleaned by setting the shutter to T and carefully cleaning. I did not need to disassemble the front elements further. I have not disassembled the viewing lens.

The lens is a tessar design and in my experience and that of others, is very sharp stopped down.

I also needed to clean and lube the slow speed escapement and found a web site with instructions to clean.

http://daniel.mitchell.name/cameras/graphex/graphex.html

Nice camera, one of the best American TLRs ever made.

[prheavy]

Ron,

Given the low going prices on places like eBay for Graflex 22 and Ciro Flex cameras in good working order, I would not recommend going to great lengths or expense to fix the one you have, particularly if there is fungus in the lens.