Zenith 25EC58 Restoration Thread

[TinCanAlley]

Has to be a way to take a picture that accurately captures the image on screen. I took 40+ pics and these 2 were the best. I have a lower resolution Nikon SLR digital camera. I wonder if that one can be set properly for better images...???

[vol.2]

Originally Posted by TinCanAlley

Has to be a way to take a picture that accurately captures the image on screen. I took 40+ pics and these 2 were the best. I have a lower resolution Nikon SLR digital camera. I wonder if that one can be set properly for better images...???

Looks pretty good! The colors are definitely coming through, and I don't see any visual artifacts.

Yeah, taking pictures of a CRT can be tricky. I also will typically just take a bunch and pick the best.

I have found that the orientation of the CCD makes a huge difference though. Sometimes, if the picture is flashing too much, turning the camera 90 degrees will cure it. Sometimes it also requires that I move my camera closer or further away from the screen. Typically, I can get an acceptable picture by cycling through those two parameters (rotate camera, slowly move camera towards and away from CRT).

[TinCanAlley]

Originally Posted by vol.2

Looks pretty good! The colors are definitely coming through, and I don't see any visual artifacts.

Yeah, taking pictures of a CRT can be tricky. I also will typically just take a bunch and pick the best.

I have found that the orientation of the CCD makes a huge difference though. Sometimes, if the picture is flashing too much, turning the camera 90 degrees will cure it. Sometimes it also requires that I move my camera closer or further away from the screen. Typically, I can get an acceptable picture by cycling through those two parameters (rotate camera, slowly move camera towards and away from CRT).

I took so many pictures and ended up with 4 that I really liked, but still below in person visual quality. It's a bit annoying that in person I see scan lines, but not dot pattern in that line. In pics, it becomes quite noticeable with the higher resolutions. I think I'm going to wait til it's dark outside, setup a tripod, turn off all lights and try it that way. I'm sure the light behind the set is going to be picked up by the camera and it will adjust for that and might be part of my issue.

[TinCanAlley]

Thought I'd add something regarding the perforated cover over the swing door. I've noticed in a few pics I've seen on the internet that, like mine, many had dents in it. I had quite a few and some were pretty bad. Don't know what happened to it, but it had a rough life.

The cover is aluminum is held to the door by tabs that are left when the piece is cut to fit the door. Those tabs are bent over to hold it in place. If you carefully bend those tabs back, the mesh piece will come off. I took that piece, found the smoothest and flattest surface on which I placed the thickest piece of paper I could find to place between the surface and cover so as not to scratch it. With the cover face down, I gently tapped the dented areas with a flathead hammer until it was smooth as possible. Flipping it over often to see the progress. When it was done I put it back and bent the tabs over. I wouldn't recommend taking it off too often as the tabs will break.

The results are great. It's only under close inspection you can see it isn't perfect.

The after pic isn't the best angle, but I am too lazy to take a proper pic. Also, looking at the pic, I need to remove the transducer and clean the screen and opening.

[TinCanAlley]

I found a company that can put the Bermuda Shell (is a Behr paint color) that's used on the Avante in a spray can. I have choices to make. The current paint is lacquer, so that's a no go. This paint is enamel and I have a choice of flat, satin, semi or full gloss. I know this set isn't as shiny as it once was, but I'm assuming satin or semi is a close match for sheen.

I've only seen this set new when I was a kid, so I can't remember detail about the paint other than it was white.

[vol.2]

Originally Posted by TinCanAlley

I took so many pictures and ended up with 4 that I really liked, but still below in person visual quality. It's a bit annoying that in person I see scan lines, but not dot pattern in that line. In pics, it becomes quite noticeable with the higher resolutions. I think I'm going to wait til it's dark outside, setup a tripod, turn off all lights and try it that way. I'm sure the light behind the set is going to be picked up by the camera and it will adjust for that and might be part of my issue.

Doing it in the dark is the typical way people photograph CRTs, but beware that it exacerbates refresh rate issues. You will probably have to mess around with the distance and orientation a lot to get the right shot, and even then, choosing the best one between blanking periods to get one without the black bars in it