| Author |
Message |
    
Mike_kovacs
Tinkerer
Username: Mike_kovacs
Post Number: 8
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 20, 2006 - 07:08 am: | 
|
I have a Voigtlander Vitessa I'm getting start on. Its the type with the selenium light meter.
I've unscrewed the plunger advance knob, removed the three accessory shoe screws, the four meter top cover screws. Can anyone tell me if the eyepiece is threaded because I cannot work that side of the camera off and the eyepiece is not budging? |
Ethostech
Tinkerer
Username: Ethostech
Post Number: 49
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 20, 2006 - 11:02 pm: |
|
Remove camera back. In the top rim of the take-up spool there is a hole or cutaway. Such is to allow a screwdriver to access the screw which is holding the top-plate at that side.
The eyepiece stays with the top-plate and does not remove. |
Ethostech
Tinkerer
Username: Ethostech
Post Number: 50
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 20, 2006 - 11:08 pm: |
|
And Oh ! Put the meter screws back. Not necessary to remove.
Same with the flash shoe - but you may not be able to put it back until the top-plate is off.
Your next question will be if the rangefinder module is intended to be tilted. The answer is Yes. It is made that way. |
Mike_kovacs
Tinkerer
Username: Mike_kovacs
Post Number: 9
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, November 24, 2006 - 09:37 am: |
|
Thanks I got it off. I didn't remove the screw inside the film compartment on the right side so it must be missing.
Now I just have to figure out how to get the advance unjammed and the shutter working again  |
Ethostech
Tinkerer
Username: Ethostech
Post Number: 51
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 26, 2006 - 02:36 am: |
|
Mike - you should have defined your technical problems in your very first posting and saved yourself a lot of unnecessary work. There is nothing under the top-plate by which you can address the issues which you now reveal. You also need to define whether you are referring to the Barn-Doors Vitessa N or the fixed mount model Vitessa T as with interchangeble lens.
Remove the front frame-counter panel.
Lift it off very carefully and note the lay of everything which you see. You can slowly depress the plunger and observe how the shutter s cocked and how the film transport is activated by the gears in the baseplate region.
The "catching" of the stroke by which the transport gears are rotated, hinges upon but a 1mm contact. If there is sideplay in the plunger, there will certainly be a mis-catch. You will have to shim the plunger-through-chassis hole with a piece of 0.007" brass shim on the inside half periphery only.
The shutter release motion is not by conventional linkage but rather by a tube which contains hundreds of little ballbearings.
The tube turns 90 degrees at the baseplate and sometimes the angled train of balls may get gunked and become imobile.
Do not remove the shutter release unless you want your workspace floor littered with those ballbearings. Better to add a microdrop of WD40 into the tube and exercise it.
The windlock mechanism which may be preventing transport, is on the upper suface of the chassis base. The baseplate cannot be removed to access. You work through the camera front.
Hope this helps |
Mike_kovacs
Tinkerer
Username: Mike_kovacs
Post Number: 10
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 26, 2006 - 05:08 pm: |
|
I can't move the plunger at all - it is completely jammed in the down position.
It is hardly a lot of work to get the top plate off - its necessary anyway to clean the RF. |
Ethostech
Tinkerer
Username: Ethostech
Post Number: 52
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 26, 2006 - 06:52 pm: |
|
OK. When you remove the frame-counter panel you will see the spring-loaded detent claw which is holding the plunger in its stored position. You can logic its functionality from there. |
Albert
Tinkerer
Username: Albert
Post Number: 1
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 01, 2006 - 06:48 pm: |
|
Using the advice above I was able to sort out the advance problems I was having. Thanks |
Mike_kovacs
Tinkerer
Username: Mike_kovacs
Post Number: 11
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 04, 2006 - 11:13 am: |
|
Hey that's great somebody else fixed theirs too.
I think the problem with mine may be related to the release linkage. It looks bent and I'll have to take the shutter out to get at it, and reconnect the shaft that fell out which connects to the release button.
Shutter nut is stuck pretty good though. I doubt there is a set screw - I'll probably have to fabricate a tool to get it off. Space is too tight to get much pressure on with my spanners.
Its also a little irritating that there appear to be no spanner slots for the rear lens cell! |
Ethostech
Tinkerer
Username: Ethostech
Post Number: 54
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 05, 2006 - 01:30 am: |
|
Well Mike - you never did bother to tell us the Model of the Vitessa or to offer a word of thanks.
So good luck to you. I'm outta this thread. |
Mike_kovacs
Tinkerer
Username: Mike_kovacs
Post Number: 12
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 05, 2006 - 05:20 am: |
|
Excuse me but if you read the first post you'll note its the type with the selenium meter and a plunger.
If you read post #4 I did thank.
I've helped a lot of people out here and elsewhere with repair issues and I've never asked for anything in return. I appreciate your advice but I don't appreciate your bad attitude.
I will visit more friendly boards henceforth. |
Mikel
Tinkerer
Username: Mikel
Post Number: 10
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 05, 2006 - 07:43 pm: |
|
I think it's time to decompress this thread and say that it's probably time to relax and understand that repairing older cameras is not a contact sport but more like THERAPY. If you don't get this or understand it you are probably more in need of THERAPY than you think if you are taking it so seriously. If you take camera repair so seriously as a hobby, I would respectively suggest you find another outlet. |
Ethostech
Tinkerer
Username: Ethostech
Post Number: 58
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 07, 2006 - 01:23 am: |
|
Mr. Kovacs
The selenium cell and plunger is a common feature of both the Vitessa T (as with rigid mount interchangeble lens() and the Vitessa N (as with Barn-Doors bellows. In respect to your cited problem the mechanisms differ substantially.
I don't have an attitude sonny!
To vapourise is your perogative. |
1979pete
Tinkerer
Username: 1979pete
Post Number: 1
Registered: 02-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 10, 2008 - 08:19 am: |
|
I have a "barn door" type light meter equiped Voigtlander Vitessa I bought in 1956 in Germany while serving in the Army. Haven't touched it in about 35 years. Recently "rediscovered" it when going through old memorabelia. Camera is in beautiful condition appearance-wise and functionally except I see no activity through view finder when ranging. Lens moves in and out so I believe problem is optical. In fact, I believe I faintly hear something rattling when I gently shake it. May be related. Can anyone tell me how I might repair this? Would also like to know approximate value of a camera like this. Thank you. |
Adrian
Tinkerer
Username: Adrian
Post Number: 133
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 09:32 am: |
|
Pete,
There is an article on fixing the Vitessa N's rangefinder, if you go to "articles" (third box from left) at the top of the forum header - though it sounds as though it isn't a barrel of fun to do!
Values are always a nuisance as they vary from one part of the globe to another (eg Argus C3s command a few pounds here in the UK as they were never imported, while they make cameras-per-dollar in the US instead of dollars-per-camera). Similarly, German cameras tend to be more common in continental Europe than in the US or UK. However, barn-door Vitessas are uncommon everywhere and one with a non-operative shutter recently made 70GBP on ebay.co.uk. So it's certainly worth something!
Personally, if you can still focus without using the rangefinder, I'd just put a film in anyway...
Adrian |
1979pete
Tinkerer
Username: 1979pete
Post Number: 2
Registered: 02-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 01:03 pm: |
|
Adrian:
I thank you very much for the info. I may give it a go, but will stop if it looks like I may damage the camera.
Pete |
1979pete
Tinkerer
Username: 1979pete
Post Number: 3
Registered: 02-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - 11:56 am: |
|
The article Adrian refered me to deals with range finder calibration and didn't really help me. I have no evidence of a split image. I believe something in the optics has fallen apart. Since I'm a beginner in camera repair I need basics like removal of the top knob of the plunger, getting the top plate off and info on what I might look for regarding the problem I have. I am a retired engineer pretty good with tools, but with no experience working on this Vitessa L camera. Any help anyone can give me will be much appreciated.
Adrian- I realize I can do quite well without the range finder, but having designed aircraft engines most of my life I'm a stickler for things working as they were designed. |
1979pete
Tinkerer
Username: 1979pete
Post Number: 4
Registered: 02-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - 11:58 am: |
|
The article Adrian refered me to deals with range finder calibration and didn't really help me. I have no evidence of a split image. I believe something in the optics has fallen apart. Since I'm a beginner in camera repair I need basics like removal of the top knob of the plunger, getting the top plate off and info on what I might look for regarding the problem I have. I am a retired engineer pretty good with tools, but with no experience working on this Vitessa L camera. Any help anyone can give me will be much appreciated.
Adrian- I realize I can do quite well without the range finder, but having designed aircraft engines most of my life I'm a stickler for things working as they were designed. |
Arnoldharris
Tinkerer
Username: Arnoldharris
Post Number: 21
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 16, 2008 - 07:09 pm: |
|
Echostech,
There are not "hundreds of little ball bearings" in the curved tube part of the shutter release double-interlock linkage, located on the bottom plate of the camera.
To be precise, there are only 10 of them, at least on all my Vitessa-Ts. And they can be easily replaced from MicroTool. The original Voigtlander part number is 1.5 DIN 5401.
But just avoid tilting the base plate too far and you won't tip the bearings out of the tube.
Aside from me actually counting the bearings, all this information comes from a treasured copy of the Voightlander Vitessa T Ersatzteilliste, AK 10157. Without which, I wouldn't know enough about these 50-year-old film advance and shutter release linkages to dare try disassembling, adjusting and reassembling them.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI |
Arnoldharris
Tinkerer
Username: Arnoldharris
Post Number: 22
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 17, 2008 - 10:43 am: |
|
Pete,
If you have a Vitessa-N, which has a "barndoor" optical unit comprising a fixed lens mounted onto the shutter, then the knob on top the kombi-plunger film advance and shutter cocking mechanism can be unscrewed.
That knob typically is a tight fit. But it will come off. Hopefully, you have two pairs of pliers equipped with padded jaws. Or, ordinary pliers will do, with pieces of rags serving as padding. Use one of these to grip the milled edges of the knob, and the other to grip the chromed plumger shaft below the knob.
(I remove these knobs regularly from my horde of Vitessa-Ts, after removing the case bottoms and the film advance counter units so that I can use a thumb to hold in position the plunger shaft and keep it from rotation from the torque of the pliers working on the knob. If your knob is extra tight, try using a heatable hair curler to warm up the shaft near the top. Do not heat the knob, it screws into the shaft, not the other way around. So you want to expand the shaft enough to help loosen it.)
If the innards of the Vitessa-N kombi-plunger are more or less the same as on the Vitessa-T, and I think they are, then you will see a small machine screw protruding from the bottom of the knob. It is used only for adjusting the stop of the corkscrew-shaped piece inside the kombi-plunger.
Leave that screw alone unless you have a service manual and know what you are doing. Unless you must do so to adjust that machine screw, don't try to pry loose the small black disk inside the center of the knob, which covers the top of the adjusting screw. If you damage it, you probably will never find a replacement part.
(I may be wrong about this. If anybody on this forum ever has found some way of getting these little disks loose from the knob without causing damage, please let me know your successful tactic.)
Good luck, Pete.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI |
1979pete
Tinkerer
Username: 1979pete
Post Number: 5
Registered: 02-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 - 12:51 pm: |
|
Mr. Harris:
Can you help me with how to get the top cover off exposing the range finder mechanism and what I might look for that is causing no visable split image or range finder activity?
1979pete |
Arnoldharris
Tinkerer
Username: Arnoldharris
Post Number: 23
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 01:04 pm: |
|
Sure thing, Pete. But for starters, exactly which model Vitessa do you have, a Vitessa-T with interchangeable lenses, or one of the barndoor Vitessa models with fixed lenses?
I know the Vitessa-T very well. I know the barndoor Vitessa models only by looking at pictures of them on eBay. But I also know there are some great similarities among all the Vitessas.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI |
Fmester
Tinkerer
Username: Fmester
Post Number: 1
Registered: 02-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 - 07:01 am: |
|
Arnold,
What is the, Voightlander Vitessa T Ersatzteilliste, AK 10157? If it a repair or parts manual would tou share it?
Thanks, Frank |
1979pete
Tinkerer
Username: 1979pete
Post Number: 6
Registered: 02-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 - 07:59 am: |
|
Arnold:
I think my camera is an "L". It is a barn door type with builtin light meter and has a range finder. I have been led to believe the range finder mechanism is same as a "T". I appreciate your help.
1979pete |
Arnoldharris
Tinkerer
Username: Arnoldharris
Post Number: 24
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 - 03:46 pm: |
|
Frank, Ersatzteilliste AK 10157 is an illustrated parts list supplemented with repair instructions for the film advance and shutter release double interlocks. I got it from a UK publisher some time ago. I will share the information, but I will need some time to get the old drawings scanned.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI |
Fmester
Tinkerer
Username: Fmester
Post Number: 2
Registered: 02-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 21, 2008 - 06:59 am: |
|
Thanks Arnold,
I just put my "L" back together. There was a piece of debris in the gears that advance the film. Now I have to do the top end, the viewfinder is clear (no focusing box). Everything else works great.
Yesterday I cleaned the shutter blades on my "T" with acetone. What a difference!
Ta...Frank |
Arnoldharris
Tinkerer
Username: Arnoldharris
Post Number: 25
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 21, 2008 - 09:40 pm: |
|
Fmester,
I had not ever thought of using acetone to clean shutter blades. All that I had heard is that it is useful for cleaning light meter selenium cells. Instead, I have used naptha, because of advice I have received over the years that it leaves no residue whatsoever.
What about acetone? Does it clean better than naptha? How should it be applied? With a small brush? Rag? Is there any residue to be cleaned off? Anything else I should know?
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI |
Adrian
Tinkerer
Username: Adrian
Post Number: 139
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 22, 2008 - 02:34 am: |
|
Arnold,
Acetone will do the same job as naptha, and has the same plus points. However it attacks some plastics - those it does, it REALLY attacks - and removes many kinds of paint and surface finish. Horses for courses - in the right place, equally good as naptha. In the wrong place, however, disastrous.
Adrian |
Arnoldharris
Tinkerer
Username: Arnoldharris
Post Number: 26
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 22, 2008 - 06:06 am: |
|
Fmester,
Based on what Adrian has written here, I think I would avoid using any solvent stronger than naptha for flushing unwanted and non-indigineous substances off shutter blades.
For that matter, now that I have pulled out a non-functioning selenium strip from the exposure meter of a Vitessa-T, I especially will not use acetone on any surface of that selenium cell. Upon careful inspection, the side of that strip that faces the light is coated with some. protective plastic substance. And chances are, it would be a plastic substance degradable with acetone.
Adrian,
You told me something I needed to know, and that I needed to know before I tried using a likely caustic substance, but that I did not know before you told me about it.
Which is a piece of knowledge that I value quite highly. So thanks.
By the way, I'm told that these thin selenium strip "sandwiches" can be supplied and recut by a few specialized firms such as Magnetronics in the UK, but I haven't gotten to that stage yet.
Has anybody had any experience replacing degenerated selenium strips? If so, to what extent is it necessary to adjust the old Bertram light meters that were fitted to the various Vitessa models?
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI |
