It’s been around the world a few times (and that’s just since I inherited it from my grandfather), and some of my favourite and most well-known photos have been taken on it, but it seems my twin-lens reflex German-built Flexo camera has finally run out of steam. Or perhaps it’s just steam that’s the problem; I’m hoping that the now totally unreliable shutter and sticky aperture leaves are simply affected by the humidity. Shooting with it has always demanded a guessed light-reading (who travels with a meter these days?) and a bit of luck on aperture and shutter settings, but now it’s just a waste of film. It hasn’t ever been serviced (except once by me) and there are several other mechanical aspects that need repair as well. Seeing all these old cars still running in Cuba though gives me much hope, and I’m sure it will shoot again after a thorough service. I’m planning on posting it to Greece where it will await my arrival, and its subsequent delivery, to that fantastic little camera store in Athens I’ve always wanted to take it to.
It’s at least had a good run on this trip – let’s just hope the shutter problems didn’t begin too long before I detected them!
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