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Marco
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, December 10, 2005 - 06:46 pm: | 
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I have ventured into the bottom of my Vitessa Folder and have gotten myself in some trouble....
I am not new to camera repair, but this is proving to be a challenge. I replaced a broken spring, by removing the bottom plate, I caught all of the ball bearings that fly out, but I am having some issues on reassembly. The shutter plunger rod has become extremely stiff, I suspect one (or both of these reasons) but need confirmation:
How does the shutter release rod mate with the shutter? Attached to the rod is a Plate with a "saw tooth" pattern on it,What is the purpose of this pattern? I am seating the plate in the corresponding slot on the door but the "saw tooth " pattern doesn't appear to serve any purpose.
Where am I going wrong?
Is the plunger rod straight? Or does it bend slightly? Common sense would have me say that my bent rod got that way on reassembly, can someone please confirm.
Thanks |
Edd
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 11, 2005 - 02:40 pm: |
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It's been a long time--not sure without seeing about the straight/bent rod. The thing I can tell you is that the purpose of the sawtooth edge is to prevent the cocking stroke from returning upward until cocking is complete. As you can see, it is a little different type of camera. In my opinion, Voightlander had different ideas on how a camera should be built |
Marco
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 12, 2005 - 07:16 am: |
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All right I believe I have solved the bent rod issue, this rod is definitively "bent" that is the way it is designed! If you look at the receiving tube (the one with the ball bearing in it)it too is at an angle)...Now straightning this thing out and then getting it back to the correct "bend" is a major PITA, but I am slowly getting there....
The other issue I am having is the cocking plunger not travelling as far as it should and failing to cock the shutter..were are talking maybe 1mm here..any ideas?
Thanks
Marco |
Stuart Willis
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 12, 2005 - 08:46 am: |
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Under "Camera Articles" your will find a Vitessas L contribution which I wrote last year. The cocking plunger malfunction factor is addressed within my article.
Fundamentally the problem is side-play in the cocking plunger shaft. There only has to be a fraction of a millimeter misalignment at the bottom of the stroke and the shaft will fail to latch. You will have to shim one side of the plunger hole. 0.007" brass shim is typical. Beacuse of wear however you may have to adjust the closest focus from 3.5ft to 4ft. By this measure the bellows will move slightly less distance outwards. This will keep the latch within tolerances - as long as you have done a good job with the aforementioned shimming.
The above measures are something of a compromise however.
The alternative is to completely strip out the front end and indulge in some quite sophisticated lathework and milling machine operations. A hell of a job, if I may say so. |
Marco
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, December 13, 2005 - 07:33 am: |
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Stuart thanks for your reply.
I have gotten the Vitessa back togheter and it is working correctly, the shutter is releasing at 3.5 ft! even though I did slightly (1mm or so...)bend the very end of the catching plate).
Now to the plunger: It is engaging correctly with the shutter module, it is just not travelling far enough to fully set the shutter spring...we are talking maybe 1mm short...this causes the shutter not to open when the release is pressed, hence producing a blank frame. Unscrewing the "button" on top of the plunger about 1mm makes it work correctly! Why I have no clue....(is there a washer between the button and the Plunger?)
There could be two issues here: 1)the shutter just needs a better cleaning than the one I gave it about 1 year ago, with some more attention given to the cocking mechanism. 2)This not working, is it possible to rotate the entire shutter/lens module a fraction of a degree to correct the short travel and get more consistent shutter cocking? I dont know if looseing the rear shutter ring like in most folders will allow for this rotation.
My conclusion is that the Vitessa is probably the most beatiful 35mm folder out there, with superb optics, but it's design complexity does not make it a very reliable user......
Thanks Again
Marco |
Stuart Willis
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, December 14, 2005 - 02:22 am: |
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Voigtlander regarded itself as an innovator - which of course is correct. The Vitessa barn-doors model is one of Voigtlander's classics of all time but there are technical complexities associated with the innovative aesthetics. There were to the best of my knowledge no less than seven versions of the model and each with small but significant technical design variations. The Vitessa T as with fixed lens mount is easiest to service whereas the barn-doors models can be problematic in terms of accumulated wear.
The root is that the position of the lens-shutter block is, by reason of the contracting bellows design, not in a permanently fixed position relative to the plunger drive.
If after 40 years or so of use, there occur alignment problems such as you describe it is unlikely that they can be corrected at one station. Correction involves a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Some of the Vitessa L variants had a thin washer beneath the button as atop the plunger - and some did not.
If you are finding that addition of a small washer provides a correct axial movement which cocks the shutter properly - then introduce such a washer. It's as logical as that. Indeed - maybe there was one there orginally and it has been omitted by some past serviceman or tinkerer ?
However - there should be zero rotational movement of the lens-shutter block and if there is, then your problem is not a short plunger stroke but rather that the shutter cocking piece is rotating away from the plunger cocking arm as the plunger descends. You have to correct that lens-shutter block looseness and ensure that in its retightened position the block is at a counter-clockwise position whereby the earlier lost motion is eliminated. I have virtually no doubt that this factor is the cause of shutter cocking failure.
The lens-shutter block may not have been correctly seated before you installed the outer slotted retainer ring as to be seen around the lens rear element when the camera back is removed. Or it may simply be that all is correctly seated but the ring is not sufficiently tightened. The integrity of the cocking linkage between the plunger and the actual Synchro-Compur cocking arm, is also something to look at - but things then start to get very tricky.
I am sure if you correct the lost motion as due to the loose len-shutter block, all will come good.
Stuart Willis |
Marco
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, December 14, 2005 - 07:49 am: |
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Stuart thanks for the reply, but I probably was not clear in my statement. The shutter module is tight. I was thinking of loosening, rotating and retightning.
But I will start the search for the perfect washer!
Marco |
