Ready the Back

Take your packfilm back and place it onto the camera body. It doesn't fit. First, because the right side of the camera interferes with the packfilm latch. Second, because of the ridges running along the top and bottom of the camera's back.

Insert a film mask from an empty pack of film into your back, this will show you where you need to align the back to center the image. For this back, a miter cut is a must. Using your measurements, find the points to mark where to cut.

Typically this is about where the edge of the cameras window is on the back, to about 1/4"or 1/2" from the front hinge. Measure twice, cut once.

For this project, I wanted clean and straight, so luckily I found this bad boy. An industrial bandsaw that will do the cut cleanly and quickly. You can also use a Dremel or a hacksaw to do the cut.

With the cut now complete, the only thing left from placing the packfilm back flush are those darn ridges and rivets from earlier.

The ridges need to be cut off flush and at the same time the rivets need to be ground down. Cut the ridges off but leave some ridge on the left side.

I noticed that with this particular back, the opening for the film is wider than the actual film and mask. This left a gap when there is no film in the camera.

Afraid of light leaks, I used some Bondo to add to the right side.

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The Models

These are the models I have personal experience with and are used within this site.