Cura leaf shutter mainspring snapped on a brass lens from the 1920s

I was cleaning this old Wollensak Verito lens and the mainspring just gave out when I was testing the shutter speeds. The tension felt fine before, so I'm wondering if these old brass lenses need a different approach to cleaning. Has anyone else had luck finding replacement springs for these things, or do you usually just convert them to a packard shutter setup?

3 comments

3 Comments

emery87928d ago

Old brass lenses are touchy, you gotta work on them different than more modern stuff. That mainspring snapped because you probably put too much tension on it while cleaning (easy mistake, we've all been there). Instead of going full Packard conversion (which changes the whole character of the lens), I'd track down a spring from a donor shutter or try a repair guy like Flutot's Camera. They specialize in old shutters and might have a spring that fits, or at least can give you advice on tensioning it right. The Verito is a nice soft focus lens, so keeping it original is worth the hassle if you ask me.

skyler_adams28d ago

Actually gotta push back a little on that Flutot's recommendation. They closed up shop a few years back, so that address might not be good anymore. Try calling Carol at Flutot's Camera Repair in California, but I heard she retired around 2020. For Verito shutters specifically, I've had luck with a guy named Steve at Camera Wiz in Kansas City, he does a lot of old brass work. Also, those Packard conversions aren't always as bad as people say, I've seen some that keep the original front element assembly and just swap the shutter body, which preserves the glass character fine. Just gotta find someone who knows what they're doing with the conversion, not just hack it apart.

david7396d ago

Yeah I once spent two hours trying to fix an old shutter only to realize the spring was upside down the whole time.