Topic: Ricoh 35zf light seals

[chris667]

I have one of these. Put a roll of film through it, and the results are promising. I think it will be a great camera to take to out for little, unobtrusive street pictures. I can scale focus reasonably well, it seems.

It has a nasty light leak though. I could send it off to someone to get a CLA, but it seems a bit silly for a camera that cost £5, and apart from a duff exposure counter and the light seals it's all working pretty well.

Is it really as easy to do as the guides say it is? And is there another source of foam than eBay? Most of the sellers of the kits appear to be US based.

[Late Developer]

I'd say it's all the more worth it as, even if it costs £20, you've got a great camera for £25. Alternatively, insulation tape around the "door" might be a workaround?

[Aksel]

Patience, some proper music and a pint - that´s all it takes 
What most guides don´t tell you is to lightly moist the glue side of the seals with soap water, that makes them slip nicely into place.



http://aki-asahi.com/store/html/light-seal/string/foam.php

[chris667]

Can you really get someone to do that for £20? The last CLA I had on my Spotmatic was about three times as much.

[Late Developer]

Can you really get someone to do that for £20? The last CLA I had on my Spotmatic was about three times as much.

A CLA would cost more than £20 but replacing the seals might be all it needs (at least for a while) and replacement seals shouldn't cost much (if any) more than £20.  As Aksel says, they can often be a DIY job.

[Pete_R]

Don't bother with the pre-cut kits, just buy a sheet of foam and cut your own. A sharp knife and a straight edge is all you need. Check out this guy on ebay. He's UK based and sells a range of sheets. It's where I get all mine from. http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/pilgrim18?

[cs1]

You can also use black sponge tape which you can get almost anywhere. It's sticky from one side. You can easily cut it along a ruler with an x-acto or better with a rotating knife that you use for cutting cloth. Sponge tape comes in different thicknesses. The most practical ones are 1mm and 2mm thick. The 2mm ones are good for the door sealings, 1mm for all other places. I used sponge tape for my Olympus 35RC which seems to be very similar to your Ricoh 35zf. Aksel's advice works really well with sponge tape, too. I usually use some saliva.

[rpmdrd]

if you have film tips, the felt tip of the canister/cassette would suffice as it does the same to film in a roll in which blocks light from passing.