Episode 107: Chris Sherlock No Longer Repairs Retinas

For over a year, one of my most sought after guests to come on the show has been Chris Sherlock of Retina Rescue. Way back in December 2019, I had a chance to sit down and have a discussion with Chris and I have wanted to have another opportunity ever since and it finally happened!

Episode 107 is all about Chris Sherlock and his experience repairing and collecting the Kodak Retina system. I promised Chris, I would make it very clear that he is still retired and is not taking in any new work, but Chris is still active on YouTube, publishing complete walkthroughs of CLAs on Retinas and other cameras.

Joining Chris are Anthony, Paul, Stephen, Theo, and Mike and a long list of callers, including A.J. Gentile, Aaron Knesal, Ben Ryerson, Doug Willoughby, Eric Schneck, Fernando Villava, Joao Gomes, Greg Harp, Howard Sandler, Michael Boudreaux, Norris Liu, Pat Casey, Robert Rotoloni, and Will Pinkham.

Chris starts things off with how he got started repairing cameras, all the way back in the 1970s working for Kodak in Wellington, New Zealand and then continues onto his first Retina models and why he started his site.

We discuss a wide range of Kodak Retina models, from the folders, solid bodied rangefinders, to the SLRs. Chris, Mike, and others share their favorite models and which ones we recommend for first time shooters and which ones have issues to look out for. Chris explains what kinds of problems the Retina cocking rack may cause and why the later cameras have a long silk cord in them.

It wouldn't be a Camerosity Episode if we didn't get off track, so we can thank Howard for bringing up the Voigtländer Ultramatic, Theo gives an update on the most recent Sydney Camera show, Greg Harp shares his recent 1930s Canon Standard pickup, and Aaron talks about his Yashica 44 TLR he bought from Paul.

As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining!

The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance.

For our next episode, we are will be revisiting Canon rangefinders. The last time we spent a majority of an episode on these wonderful cameras was way back in Episode 18, so we thought it was time to invite some newer fans of the show to call in and share which models they love and whatever else they want to talk about! We will record Episode 108 on Monday, April 27th at 7pm Central Daylight Time, 8pm Eastern Daylight Time, and 6pm Canada Saskatchewan Time. For more time zones, please consult the World Time Buddy calculator and plug in your time. Make sure you set your calendars and look out for the show announcement at the usual locations and be prepared to join us!

In This Episode

• We Are Recording While Artemis II is Coming out of Radio Blackout / Anthony's Artemis Launch Photos
• Chris Sherlock is Not Coming Out of Retirement / Chris Still Gets Requests Daily to Repair Retinas
• How Chris Got Started Repairing Cameras / Working in Wellington Repairing Instamatics
• Chris's First Retina was a Retina Ib / Started Selling on Auction Web (Predecessor to eBay)
• The First Version of Retina Rescue was an ISP Personal Page
• Spare Parts Are Important to Camera Repair / Chris's Tips for Starting to Repair
• Anthony Gets his Dad's Retina Reflex III Repaired by Chris
• Paul Barden Also Repairs Some Retinas / Chris's YouTube Videos Are Incredibly Helpful Too
• Not All Retina Cocking Racks Are Weak Points
• Is the Retina IIIC the Best Retina? / Differences Between the IIIc and IIIC
• Using Auxiliary Wide or Telephoto Lenses on the Kodak Retinas
• The Retina With the Most Problems with Haze / Cleaning Lenses
• Were the Early Ektar 3.5 Lenses Actually Made by Kodak?
• What Would be Chris's Favorite Retinas to Shoot? / Kodak Retina IIS and IIIS
• How Far Did Chris Tear Down the Shutter when Doing a CLA?
• Doug Can Recognize Chris's Hands in a "Hand Lineup"
• Kodak Retina Automatics / Other Contemporary Cameras to the Retina
• The Kodak Retina II Type 122 is Unobtanium for Chris
• How Long Did it take Chris to CLA a Kodak Retina?
• Where were Chris's Customers From? / Selling Cameras is Difficult
• Retina Reflexes Had a Silk String Inside Them / Voigtländer Ultramatic
• You Can't Just Repair One Part of a Camera, You Must Do it All
• Chris Likes Jigsaw Puzzles But Not Zeiss-Ikon Contaflexes
• Mike's Favorite Retinas are the IIa, Ib, and IIIS
• Greg Picked Up a Canon Standard Rangefinder / Joao's Ansco Super Speedex
• Theo's Update on the Sydney Camera Show / Seagull TLRs
• Aaron Buys a Yashica 44 from Paul / Shooting 127 Film

Links

The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm.

If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server.

Order Your Very Own Camerosity Podcast T-Shirt! - https://www.zazzle.com/z/tbykl0hg

Chris Sherlock's Retina Rescue - https://retinarescue.com/

Chris Sherlock's YouTube Page - https://www.youtube.com/c/ChrisSherlock

The Official Camerosity Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast

Camerosity Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/

Camerosity in Spanish Podcast - https://camerosity.es/

Theo Panagopoulos - https://www.photothinking.com/

Paul Rybolt - https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris - https://thisoldcamera.net/

Anthony Rue - https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/