Topic: Shots from my newly acquired Banier Diana clone.

[bfreunds]

This thing is old and flimsy.  I bought it for $20 off of ebay, the guy told me film was never run through it.  He lied.  The shutter is lagging and causes overexposure.  Even though it's not my preferred camera, I still enjoyed every second with it.  Here are a few snaps.


[Sorry, image deleted during forum software upgrade. Please re-upload if so inclined.]

[gregor]

Old and flimsy?  I'd say mature and delicate!  On a 40 year old diana or diana clone, a little drop of wd-40 goes a long way. 

[original_ann]

Gorgeous images bfreunds! 

[al]

This thing is old and flimsy.  I bought it for $20 off of ebay, the guy told me film was never run through it.  He lied.  The shutter is lagging and causes overexposure.

May still be unused; I've had definately unused cameras with gummed up shutters.  If it's moving, but slow, you might find it speeds up if you work it lots of times.  I use a soft graphite pencil as a lube for stuff like this.

It might be faster in warmer weather.  Think of it as auto exposure: cold weather, dull conditions=slow shutter, hot sunny day=fast shutter 

[vicky slater]

Often takes a while to get comfortable with a new camera, especially the old plastics :)
Looks like you're doing good to me.

[Francois]

This thing is old and flimsy.  I bought it for $20 off of ebay, the guy told me film was never run through it.  He lied.  The shutter is lagging and causes overexposure.

May still be unused; I've had definately unused cameras with gummed up shutters.  If it's moving, but slow, you might find it speeds up if you work it lots of times.  I use a soft graphite pencil as a lube for stuff like this.

It might be faster in warmer weather.  Think of it as auto exposure: cold weather, dull conditions=slow shutter, hot sunny day=fast shutter 

I'm with Al on this one too. WD-40 is not the best since if you get it on the shutter blades, you'll definitely get a very slow shutter.
Pencil graphite is good on the blades since it's dry.

If there is oil which is gummed-up somewhere, flushing with lighter fluid usually loosens the gummed up oil without slowing down the shutter (because it dries fast).

[bfreunds]

I don't think it's the weather AL, I live in Sunny Los Angeles, im in Sunny weather 365 days a year 

Francois, how do you apply graphite to a Diana?

[Francois]

I couldn't tell on the Diana since I've never done it but I know usually you rub the graphite pencil on some paper to get a fine powder and then drop it delicately on the blades...

But the easiest way is to buy a tube of graphite powder lubricant.

Here's an excellent site for general repairs
http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/repairtools.html