An update on the smelly old ICA Sirene 135. A contender for the #ShittyCameraChallenge?

An update on the smelly old ICA Sirene 135. A contender for the #ShittyCameraChallenge?

It's been months since I posted about the ICA Sirene 135, literally. The first post about this smelly old camera was in June 2024, then I left it outside for a few weeks before putting it into a box with some mothballs. It remained there for the five weeks we were on holiday and by then the smell of mothballs was overpowering it was kept outside to 'freshen up'. Then, in October,  I gave it a good sniff and the mothballs smell had gone but the original tobacco smell stiill lingered. I brought it into the office, as the weather outside was getting a little damp, and it's been airing there ever since.

So now it's November and in the next few days the latest Shitty Camera Challenge will commence. I've been taking part in the #ShittyCameraChallenge for a few years now (and was honoured to be 'crowned' Shitty Camera Challenge Champion for the #1990sCameraChallenge event a couple of years ago, though I'll never let anyone forget it) and although I normally submit a lot of digital entries, this time I've decided to concentrate on film. Giving the smelly old Sirene 135 a sniff, I reckon it's time to put it all back together and, who knows, actually use it in the Challenge. 

As a reminder, the ICA Sirene 135 was from the Kamerastore's 'Not Passed' category. It had 'flaws that will affect typical use', in this case, 'haze and fungus inside [the lens]. The viewfinder and ground glass are hazy. The shutter is sticky [and the] body has signs of corrosion and mold (sic).' Most of all, 'it smells'. And it certainly did, and to my mind the description on the Kamerastore website actually understated the smell. It was an all-encompassing deep lingering odour that just clung to the camera and wouldn't let go. I actually thought it was years of nicotine staining from being in a smoky environment, but who really knows. Anyhow, the Sirene 135 got a good deep clean, inside and out, including the lenses and the ground glass, and it cleaned up beautifully. Apart from the smell. Thus began the weeks, no months, of airing

So now the smelly old Sirene 135 is ready to be put back together. Before I started I gave the camera a good clean inside and out, including a jet of air around the bellows. The first step was to reinstall the lenses, which went fine, and then reassemble the viewing screen. The ground glass was now lovely and clean, all the old debris had been removed and it just needed a quick wipe with a soft cloth. After about twenty minutes the Sirene was back together and the shutter firing nicely. I took it outside and double checked the focusing and discovered that to get infinity focus the camera needed to be on the '2' metre mark. I'm not sure whether that was because I've not seated the lenses properly or what, but it seems to work otherwise. 

It certainly looks like the ICA Sirene 135 will be used in the Shitty Camera Challenge this time around. Checking the body I need a couple of tripod adapters as the thread for the tripod is 1920s 3/8 inch standard instead of today's 1/4 inch, but aside from that the ICA Sirene 135 is ready for action. It still smells, though.

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