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Classic Camera Repair » Maintenance & Repair » Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex 1a and 1b TLR Infinity focus issue « Previous Next »

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Hanskerensky
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Username: Hanskerensky

Post Number: 162
Registered: 05-2009

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Posted on Monday, January 30, 2012 - 01:07 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Just wondering if somebody else noticed the same issue i have with an Ikoflex 1a and a 1b ?

While checking the infinity focus of a 1a (Tessar equiped) with an auto-collimator i discovered that the testmark image was sharp around the 10 meter mark on the focus knob. I had made sure that all the shims were back between lens/shutter and lensboard so i thought that odd as the lensboard itself was never loosened from the focus mechanism.

Out of curiosity i did the same check on an Ikoflex 1b (Novar equiped) which is in pristine condition and never opened up before. The results were about the same !! Infinity sharp with focus knob set at 10 meter.

Of course i started to worry about the auto-collimator (or my eyesight) so i double checked that instrument with some other camera/lenses and also a plain flat mirror. Nothing wrong with it (or my eyes :-) ).

Now i'm wondering if this infinity mis-adjustment could be a general condition of the Ikoflexes from these series ? Or maybe i overlooked something else ? Did anybody of you experience the same ?

Of course i could simply adjust the viewerlens to the same condition (on infinity with knob at 10 meter) but that would imply that i loose part of the usable focusing range.
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Hanskerensky
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Username: Hanskerensky

Post Number: 164
Registered: 05-2009

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Posted on Sunday, February 05, 2012 - 09:03 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Also would like to know if any of you had trouble with a Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex 1a, 1b or 1c with the shutter release cycle but only when the lensboard of the camera is at the infinity end stop. Trouble would be shutter release button not traveling back upwards after release or shutter which blades stay half open after shutter release.
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Rick_oleson
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Username: Rick_oleson

Post Number: 1174
Registered: 07-2006

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Posted on Sunday, February 05, 2012 - 11:51 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

The only Ikoflex I've had was a IIa with Tessar; I never checked it on the bench, but it gave excellent results on film. The shutter release did sometimes stick but did not interfere with shutter operation.
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Jeffk
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Username: Jeffk

Post Number: 57
Registered: 10-2011

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Posted on Sunday, February 05, 2012 - 12:32 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Hans, the shutter release on my Ic does travel more slowly back upwards, but only when the lens board is *not* at infinity. I never noticed this before checking just now, but it comes back nicely at infinity and sometimes has to be nudged back up when the focus is closer. The shutter seems unaffected, the blades close either way.
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Hanskerensky
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Username: Hanskerensky

Post Number: 165
Registered: 05-2009

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Posted on Sunday, February 05, 2012 - 12:38 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Thanks Rick and Jeff,

That with the shutter blades staying open i had heard before from somebody elses Ikoflex 1a. Remembered that when i encountered exactly the same problem on one of my 1a's yesterday. It only occured when the lensboard was completly retracted (at infinity focus).

This evening i took away the lensboard from the camera and discovered wear marks on the inside of the metalcolored shroud at the height of the lip of the release bar where it engages the release ring. Clearly that lip hits that shroud at infinity focus and IMO that's the source of all the trouble because that just gives too much friction for the release bar movement.

btw A second Ikoflex 1a i have for spare parts shows wear marks on exactly that same spot. Guess this could have been a design or (more probably) production fault.
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Hanskerensky
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Username: Hanskerensky

Post Number: 166
Registered: 05-2009

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Posted on Sunday, February 05, 2012 - 02:57 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Just an image to make things more clear :
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Jeffk
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Username: Jeffk

Post Number: 58
Registered: 10-2011

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Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2012 - 09:29 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Interesting, Hans. I just checked again, and sure enough: Focus at infinity and the shutter button comes back up, move the lens board out and change nothing else, and the shutter button sticks on the way up. Repeat, and get the same result. I don't know enough (anything, actually) about the mechanism to speculate why this might be opposite to what you've experienced.
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Br1078lum
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Username: Br1078lum

Post Number: 226
Registered: 11-2010

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Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2012 - 11:20 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Looks like it could use a little grinding to remove that high spot, Hans. The release bar being a stamped part, I would say quality control is the culprit here.

PF
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Hanskerensky
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Username: Hanskerensky

Post Number: 167
Registered: 05-2009

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Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2012 - 12:19 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Thanks for your input guys !

Well, solved the 2 problems addressed here (infinity focus and shutter release at infinity) by placing spacer rings between the Focus slides and the lensboard. The lensboard is now 0,7mm further out at the infinity mark of the focus knob and the auto-collimator shows now a nice sharp image. Also the problem with the release bar hitting the shroud at infinity is solved because now there is just enough clearance.

Jeff, thought about the issue on your Ikoflex and only thing that i can come up with right now is that maybe that lip (see my photo) on the release bar is slightly bend inwards so that it starts hitting the lensboard when that is further out of the camera.

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