A couple of months ago I bought a Contax 167MT on eBay for $9.95. The camera lloked very good but the seller said that neither of the LCD displays was working (one on top and one in the viewfinder). This would render the camera completely useless as shooting mode and shutter speed is set via the display. This camera does not have conventional knobs for these functions.
When the camera arrived it was indeed in excellent condition. It looked positively NEW. In fact, it looked like it had never had a roll of film through it.
Right away I suspected a factory assembly error. So, I bought a repair manual. The schematic revealed that there was a connector between the main circuit board and a seperate circuit board that connected both LCD displays.
I removed the top of the camera and one of the front panels to get to the connector. The connection is made by clamping two rows of edge lands on the circuit boards together with three screws and a metal piece with a silicon insulator under the metal.
After disassembling the connector I had a look at the contacts. On the LCD board, the contacts were nice and shinny, gold plated in fact. But, on the main board the contacts looked funny, kind of a dingy grey.
I moisened a cotton swab with some alcohol and wiped across the contacts to see if any dirt would come off. To my surprise, a thin strip of tape pealed off to reveal perfect gold plated contacts beneath.
So, somebody at the factory had left a piece of protective tape on the contacts.
After reassembly, the camera worked perfectly.
So, how did this camera ever leave the factory? The defect would have easily been spotted by QC at the end of the assembly line.
My theory is that the camera was rejected and just set aside for a future repair that never happened. Maybe, because it just wasn't worth the effort.
I can imagine a room full of such cameras that were eventually sold as parts to some broker.
How it made it to my eBay seller is a mystery to me.
So, now I have a brand new 167MT for $9.95, plus $40 for the repair manual.
A bargain indeed!
When the camera arrived it was indeed in excellent condition. It looked positively NEW. In fact, it looked like it had never had a roll of film through it.
Right away I suspected a factory assembly error. So, I bought a repair manual. The schematic revealed that there was a connector between the main circuit board and a seperate circuit board that connected both LCD displays.
I removed the top of the camera and one of the front panels to get to the connector. The connection is made by clamping two rows of edge lands on the circuit boards together with three screws and a metal piece with a silicon insulator under the metal.
After disassembling the connector I had a look at the contacts. On the LCD board, the contacts were nice and shinny, gold plated in fact. But, on the main board the contacts looked funny, kind of a dingy grey.
I moisened a cotton swab with some alcohol and wiped across the contacts to see if any dirt would come off. To my surprise, a thin strip of tape pealed off to reveal perfect gold plated contacts beneath.
So, somebody at the factory had left a piece of protective tape on the contacts.
After reassembly, the camera worked perfectly.
So, how did this camera ever leave the factory? The defect would have easily been spotted by QC at the end of the assembly line.
My theory is that the camera was rejected and just set aside for a future repair that never happened. Maybe, because it just wasn't worth the effort.
I can imagine a room full of such cameras that were eventually sold as parts to some broker.
How it made it to my eBay seller is a mystery to me.
So, now I have a brand new 167MT for $9.95, plus $40 for the repair manual.
A bargain indeed!