Gotta say i admire the modular nature of this camera and how you can take it apart in a way to remove the mechanics as one block. This is sooo freaking amazing. Makes the whole maintenance sooo much easier.
I agree. At the risk of sounding a bit political, I think it's interesting to see how repairable a camera can be when it's built by a nation that isn't concerned with generating long-term profit and just wants something that will work well for as long as possible. I feel like design like this isn't seen much these days.
@@Lo-fiCine It's the same with basically all tech from the former eastern Block. Here in East Germany for example the GDR produced a lot of household items (like Blenders) who still work and are repairable, 40-50 years later. Things had to be repairable and cars too. Russian cars like the Ladas, could be repaired with simple tools and at home since repaid shops weren't widely available. Cameras too. East German lightbulbs produced by NARVA also weren't part of the phoebus cartel since tungsten was way too precious in the east to be sacrificed after just 1000 hours of lightbulb workhours. So they still work.
@@Lo-fiCineI'm facing a more difficult challenge; The camera looks like new but I need to clean the lenses inside. front lens is fine but the one in front of the aperture is hazy.
I found all of your stuff fascinating. im in my 60's and have had a Quaez 5 standard 8 bought new in 1973 so i am familiar with its quirks. having just bought a Ds8-3 I have found that using the built-in meter it is overexposing. Apparently this is quite common and its a simple matter to fix as it is a gearing issue. There is a tear down on youtube but its for the earlier model all black quarz which has a different layout. Can you do a tear down of the front part of the camerra please so i can get access to the gearing attached to the meter mechanism. Assuming the selenium cell is working i can then calbrate it against my hand held meter
Hi Jeffrey, so glad you're enjoying my work! As someone who's grown up entirely in the digital age, it's so interesting to know you were able to buy a Quarz-5 new back in 73. Whilst I have disassembled a selenium light meter in the past, I am yet to try it with the Quarz-3. That said, I think mine may have a similar issue so I'll be sure to look into it when I have some time. In the meantime, a little workaround I've used is to use your hand held meter to figure out how many stops your DS8-3 is over exposing by and then subtract this amount from your iso dial. For example, if your selenium meter is reading +2 stops over and you're shooting on 200 ISO film, set the ISO switch on the camera to 50 ISO and you should get accurate readings. (Depending on which version you have I believe your ISO switch will be in either DIN or GOST so you'll need to look up a conversion table although I imagine you know this already) That said, I've found that the selenium metres can often be a bit inconsistent and usually use a light meter app on my phone to get spot readings when I'm out with my camera. Hope this helps!
It's a selenium cell. Any light meter working without a battery will die over time. If it's still working you can perhaps do some mechanical adjustments to make it useable again but I'm not sure how accurate it will be. It's better to use an external meter and dial in manually.
Thanks for this awesome insight! I really enjoy working with my DS8-3, and I've always wondered how does the light travel inside the camera (in the "outer housing" compartment, as you called it in Your video). I mean the light path between the lens, and viewfinder/film. I suspect there is some sort of half-prism, since the user can see contionus and focus-aligned imagery in the viewfinder, all the time through the shooting. Just curious if you know anything about it :)
Yes, it has a prism. Prisms was also used on Zenith cameras of the same factory (Krasnogorsk Mechanical Factory). And logo of KMF also has a prism with arrow
Great video! I always wondered how to separate the camera into parts, but I never noticed the hidden screw. I have a question is your DS8-3 also that loud whilst running at 16 FPS and higher? I tried to experiment with sound sync last year, but it is unbearable to watch, because of the annoying whining sound of the motor at 24 FPS.
Thanks, glad you found it useful! My camera is pretty much just as loud at 18fps as it is at 24. Unfortunately most film cameras (even the professional ones) tend to make at least some noise when shooting. Probably why most films even nowadays replace most of their dialogue in post with ADR.
Hey great series! My Quartz doesn't stop rolling when i depress the shutter. It keeps rolling till It runs out of winding. Do you know if this is a fatal or too complex repair? Thanks!
@@HugoPlaVentas For exemple if you use foma R at 100ASA/21DIN align the 21 of the sensitivity knob with the 18fps graduation. But maybe you could use a lightmeter cause the selenium lightmeter integrated may be tired.
If you haven't serviced/cleaned your camera in a long time, it's possible any dirt or hardened grease is causing a lot of drag on the mechanism. This would make it harder to pull through the film at lower speeds due to having less momentum etc. If it has been cleaned recently then I imagine it could be a sign of a more complex issue that would be hard to diagnose without opening it up and having a look. Hope this helps 🙂
@@Lo-fiCine I actually found out the issue, and learnt along the way! The frame rate is determined by a sort of cam connected directly to the frame rate knob. The cam has a bunch of screws attached at different depths. Moving the frame rate knob determines what screw is engaged, in turn pushing a larger plate toward the back of the camera. The screw for the 12fps option on mine was set improperly, but moving it slightly inward did the trick. Couldn't have done it without this video! The screw for taking it apart on the back of the frame gate is really sneaky, you did a good job with this video!
@@srenhaandbk7904 Great to hear you solved your issues and thanks for coming back to share what you discovered! Glad the video was a help, happy shooting 😁
@@Lo-fiCine Oh, one other thing. When I got mine the dial furthest to the front of the camera, the "framerate to гост ratio" was not attached, but included. I have not been able to deduct from online what position to reattach it in however. Can you tell me: when the dial is turned all the way counterclockwise, what does it read? I think гост 22 and 12fps should line up, but it's hard to tell.
@@Gibartiin theory yes, the selenium work with magnets. But, you can also use an external light meter or simply apply the sunny 16 rule to shoot, knowing your shutter speed is at 1/20 when shoting at 18fps.
Thank you very much! The mechanism on my Quarz was stuck, so this video helped me do it as safely as possible!
Glad you found it helpful!
Gotta say i admire the modular nature of this camera and how you can take it apart in a way to remove the mechanics as one block. This is sooo freaking amazing. Makes the whole maintenance sooo much easier.
I agree. At the risk of sounding a bit political, I think it's interesting to see how repairable a camera can be when it's built by a nation that isn't concerned with generating long-term profit and just wants something that will work well for as long as possible. I feel like design like this isn't seen much these days.
@@Lo-fiCine It's the same with basically all tech from the former eastern Block. Here in East Germany for example the GDR produced a lot of household items (like Blenders) who still work and are repairable, 40-50 years later. Things had to be repairable and cars too. Russian cars like the Ladas, could be repaired with simple tools and at home since repaid shops weren't widely available. Cameras too. East German lightbulbs produced by NARVA also weren't part of the phoebus cartel since tungsten was way too precious in the east to be sacrificed after just 1000 hours of lightbulb workhours. So they still work.
Very nice video and really informative! I love my DS8-3 and it's good to see other people using this rare format.
Glad you found it useful! Couldn't agree more, it's a really fun camera and format to use 🙂
Thank you so much for posting this. I'll receive mine next week and videos like these can help save so much time!
No problem! Really glad people are finding it useful 🙂.
@@Lo-fiCineI'm facing a more difficult challenge; The camera looks like new but I need to clean the lenses inside. front lens is fine but the one in front of the aperture is hazy.
I found all of your stuff fascinating. im in my 60's and have had a Quaez 5 standard 8 bought new in 1973 so i am familiar with its quirks. having just bought a Ds8-3 I have found that using the built-in meter it is overexposing. Apparently this is quite common and its a simple matter to fix as it is a gearing issue. There is a tear down on youtube but its for the earlier model all black quarz which has a different layout. Can you do a tear down of the front part of the camerra please so i can get access to the gearing attached to the meter mechanism. Assuming the selenium cell is working i can then calbrate it against my hand held meter
Hi Jeffrey, so glad you're enjoying my work! As someone who's grown up entirely in the digital age, it's so interesting to know you were able to buy a Quarz-5 new back in 73.
Whilst I have disassembled a selenium light meter in the past, I am yet to try it with the Quarz-3. That said, I think mine may have a similar issue so I'll be sure to look into it when I have some time.
In the meantime, a little workaround I've used is to use your hand held meter to figure out how many stops your DS8-3 is over exposing by and then subtract this amount from your iso dial.
For example, if your selenium meter is reading +2 stops over and you're shooting on 200 ISO film, set the ISO switch on the camera to 50 ISO and you should get accurate readings. (Depending on which version you have I believe your ISO switch will be in either DIN or GOST so you'll need to look up a conversion table although I imagine you know this already)
That said, I've found that the selenium metres can often be a bit inconsistent and usually use a light meter app on my phone to get spot readings when I'm out with my camera.
Hope this helps!
It's a selenium cell. Any light meter working without a battery will die over time. If it's still working you can perhaps do some mechanical adjustments to make it useable again but I'm not sure how accurate it will be. It's better to use an external meter and dial in manually.
Thanks for this awesome insight! I really enjoy working with my DS8-3, and I've always wondered how does the light travel inside the camera (in the "outer housing" compartment, as you called it in Your video). I mean the light path between the lens, and viewfinder/film. I suspect there is some sort of half-prism, since the user can see contionus and focus-aligned imagery in the viewfinder, all the time through the shooting. Just curious if you know anything about it :)
Yes, it has a prism.
Prisms was also used on Zenith cameras of the same factory (Krasnogorsk Mechanical Factory).
And logo of KMF also has a prism with arrow
There is a serie of micro-pyramids in it.
Thanks, it seems like really ingenious design
Great video! I always wondered how to separate the camera into parts, but I never noticed the hidden screw. I have a question is your DS8-3 also that loud whilst running at 16 FPS and higher? I tried to experiment with sound sync last year, but it is unbearable to watch, because of the annoying whining sound of the motor at 24 FPS.
Thanks, glad you found it useful! My camera is pretty much just as loud at 18fps as it is at 24. Unfortunately most film cameras (even the professional ones) tend to make at least some noise when shooting. Probably why most films even nowadays replace most of their dialogue in post with ADR.
Hey great series!
My Quartz doesn't stop rolling when i depress the shutter. It keeps rolling till It runs out of winding. Do you know if this is a fatal or too complex repair?
Thanks!
Followed your instructions and it's working again. Thanks a lot!!
Now i'm having trouble figuring how to set the ISO
@@HugoPlaVentas For exemple if you use foma R at 100ASA/21DIN align the 21 of the sensitivity knob with the 18fps graduation. But maybe you could use a lightmeter cause the selenium lightmeter integrated may be tired.
Anybody had problems with 12fps setting? Mine doesn't work at all, camera refuses to run at all, but all the other settings sound and feel great
If you haven't serviced/cleaned your camera in a long time, it's possible any dirt or hardened grease is causing a lot of drag on the mechanism. This would make it harder to pull through the film at lower speeds due to having less momentum etc.
If it has been cleaned recently then I imagine it could be a sign of a more complex issue that would be hard to diagnose without opening it up and having a look.
Hope this helps 🙂
@@Lo-fiCine I actually found out the issue, and learnt along the way!
The frame rate is determined by a sort of cam connected directly to the frame rate knob. The cam has a bunch of screws attached at different depths. Moving the frame rate knob determines what screw is engaged, in turn pushing a larger plate toward the back of the camera. The screw for the 12fps option on mine was set improperly, but moving it slightly inward did the trick.
Couldn't have done it without this video! The screw for taking it apart on the back of the frame gate is really sneaky, you did a good job with this video!
@@srenhaandbk7904 Great to hear you solved your issues and thanks for coming back to share what you discovered!
Glad the video was a help, happy shooting 😁
@@Lo-fiCine Oh, one other thing. When I got mine the dial furthest to the front of the camera, the "framerate to гост ratio" was not attached, but included. I have not been able to deduct from online what position to reattach it in however. Can you tell me: when the dial is turned all the way counterclockwise, what does it read? I think гост 22 and 12fps should line up, but it's hard to tell.
@@srenhaandbk7904 when mine is turned fully counter clockwise 12 and 180 line up. Fully clockwise, 12 and EA line up.
hello, can you repair the lightmeter on this camera?
?
@@Gibartiin theory yes, the selenium work with magnets. But, you can also use an external light meter or simply apply the sunny 16 rule to shoot, knowing your shutter speed is at 1/20 when shoting at 18fps.
you didn't do the light meter
This model has a non-ideal grab design that does not provide stability within 0.02-0.03 mm.