Topic: Smena 8M help

[astrobeck]

Hi!
Does anyone know how the top of the Smena 8M comes off?
I have one that was converted to pinhole, (not by me) and my friends dog's big waggy tail knocked it off the end table and now it wont' advance.
I think...by taking the top cover off I may be able to see what's going on or if something is broken.
There are two screws on the top plate, but I can't seem to figure ou how to get the rewind knob out of the way.

any ideas?
Thanks
Yes, I know I should just trash it, but....

[Pete_R]

Have you put something in the fork and tried to unscrew it? That's how most rewind knobs come off.

[Kai-san]

Found this on Flickr:

 Unscrew the two visible screws on the top. (Keep track of which one goes where... there are three total screws and no two are the same.)

- Open the back panel as you would when loading film.

- Grab hold of the indented loading peg on the left (the one you set the new roll of film onto) so that it can't move.

- Pull up the rewind mechanism as you would when going to rewind film, but turn the top knob opposite to the usual direction (counter-clockwise). If you're gripping the peg tight enough, you should eventually feel the knob "give." It should unscrew right off.

- That done, you'll see the third screw revealed just in the shallow trench where the knob usually sets. Unscrew that and you can gingerly remove the whole upper housing.

Hope that helps.

[astrobeck]

yay! That worked. Just a few things popped out, but I think I have them sorted.
Some of the things that popped out, I don't think I need for pinhole.
Report later....

thank you!

Edit:
Yay! It is back together and I'm not certain what happened when it fell off the end table, but I put everything back inside, even the poppy out parts and it's advancing and the winding is even smoother than it was before. so I think I just passed my Russian camera fixit course for the day!

[Kai-san]

If you have no parts left over after assembling it, that's a good sign.  I'm surprised it survived the fall, maybe the Smena 8M isn't so frail as it looks. Hope you can keep it going, it's always sad to give up on a camera.

[astrobeck]

Yes!
No, no parts leftover.
I "think" what happened when the dog tail wagged it off the end table is that the impact dislodged a part that had been glued inside the very top as a spacer. I have no idea what this part might be called other than a spacer to support the top near the inside where the viewfinder glass and the rewind knob is.
I could tell by looking at the piece that it had some kind of adhesive on it to keep it in place, but that glue was completely fossilized, and the impact made it come loose and jam against a moving part that impaired the winding on.

That is one of the parts that fell out when I took the top off along with a spring lever that assisted in winding on.
I always take things apart on a white towel so they are less likely to go zinging around.
Curiously, the camera didn't crack open as i thought it might when it fell. So either the camera karma in the universe was smiling on me or the little Soviet wonder is really well made.
At any rate it's a bit better than before.