Hi folks,
Well, the joke's on me. It looks as though the Epic is indeed broken, but
it's not easy to see where.
After putting two 24 exp rolls through it, I can say it actually takes quite
good
photos - if you are prepared to live with limitations of DOF. There's very
little
vignetting - practically none (compare the XA). It's difficult to hold still.
It's so
small.
However, mine produces light leaks in certain circumstances, and it was
through analysis of the circumstances that revealed the "broke".
I was able to figure out that the light leak was contaminating each frame
when the next shot was in the frame window. The leak is actually on the front
side of the take-up spool chamber - on the side away from the seal to the
back that is so visible.
The front of the camera is fastened to the middle section of the body (the
rear section being the file door) by long machine screws at each corner.
("Long" is a relative term in such a small camera). There is probably a
gasket in that joint. I could see that there was a variable amount of
movement between front and middle, and I thought that probably the screws
had worked loose over time. So I began tightening them. And I found that the
bottom left screw didn't tighten no matter how much it was turned.
On very close examination, I found that what look like small scratches in the
"paint" finish, are actually small cracks, and there is a tiny segment that is
broken free (but is still there). So it seems to me that the camera has been
dropped and landed on the left bottom front corner. And even though I cannot
see it if I try shining light through, there is some light getting into the
take-up
film chamber.
I wonder if anyone can tell me what traps there are for the unwary, if the 4
screws holding body front to body middle are removed? What spring-loaded
things will pop out; what fiddly bits move to create huge re-assembly
problems, etc.
I am trying to decide whether I should disassemble the body and glue the
broken bits with Araldite, or just squeeze the body parts together (no pun
intended ;-) ) and hold together with a dark self-adhesive tape on the
outside?
Brian
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