Contax T3 - Single Tooth

Update Added a picture of the repair once complete and a link to a short video showing the repair

The Contax T3 is an infamous camera. It along with it's older sibling the Contax T2, has recently had a surge in popularity. With this superstardom, the T2 and T3 prices went through the roof.

The Contax T3 is pricey and difficult to locate. I found a good deal on a T3 about a year ago and jumped on it. It’s not my always my go-to camera, but I was still pretty disappointed after putting about 7 -8 rolls through and it started to have a problem…

It’s a well-known issue with the T3s. The version I had was s single tooth version. Meaning that the film take-up spool only has one tooth. The early models had issues with this single tooth have a very short life. Later versions of the T3 addressed this problem by adding a 2nd tooth to the wheel. The most surprising part to me was that there was really no warning to the issue. It worked perfectly until it didn’t work at all. One day, it just refused to roll any film.

I was disappointed but fortunately, I live near to Japan so a trip to a service center wasn’t out of the question. However, the crazy cost for servicing T3 (upwards of $200) was something I wasn’t terribly excited about. That’s when the light bulb came on…why not try a DIY fix?!?!?!?!

My history with camera repair hasn’t been all that…successful. About 40 - 50% of the time, I end up with some extra parts. Most of the time those remaining parts, those ones that appear to have no possible place to fit, end up proving to be critical to the proper function of said camera.

In spite of this past history, I decided the DIY fix I had in mind was nonintrusive enough that it was worth a shot. I got some epoxy (~$3) and was ready to get to work.

It’s really quite a simple fix. Just add a little bit of epoxy to the worn tooth to help build it back up. Let it sit for about 40min and then give it a try.

It worked perfectly. Now, my T3 is back in action and fully functional.

To be honest, I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase a single tooth version of the T3. Given how easy, quick and cheap this DIY fix is; the double tooth version is not something I would pay a premium for.

Below a couple of quick snaps from my T3 post fix….

Picture showing the tooth after adding a bit of epoxy.