I continued working on the shutter in the Konica 2. Here I'd finally figured out how to open it up so it was easer to clean and actually got it to work finally on all settings. The shutter was an amazing system of tiny, tiny gears. Once I got it all back together though and in the camera it stopped working again. I learned in the process how to dismantle the whole lens properly. Most Japanese leaf shuttered rangefinders have similar designs.

The Tomasy books are really excellent and his chapters on constructing your own tools and even devices that can test light meters, focusing systems, and shutter speed accuracy from recycled camera parts and electrical equipment is fascinating.

He also mentions things to look for on used cameras that are tell tale signs of a camera repair hatchet job (all of which were evident on the corpse of the konica I disassembled), gouges and scratches especially around the top and bottom plates.

I am also beginning to understand better the tools that I need as well as strategies to save time. The advice in the Tomasy books to first practice on junker cameras is excellent for skill development. I can also see that taking pictures in macro mode with my sons Nikon coolpix as I dismantle the camera is not a bad idea either (another good use for the digital camera). There are always a few weird parts that are held together by other weird parts and when you take the camera apart you find these little fragments of things that you have no idea what the are or where they might have come from and a photograph blown up on the computer can be very helpful.