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Timv
Tinkerer
Username: Timv
Post Number: 1
Registered: 04-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 25, 2008 - 08:31 pm: | 
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I've just bought and repaired a Voigtlander Vito I. It had a couple of problems and the most useful resource I could find for repair information was this forum, so I thought I'd post some observations that might be useful for anyone else working on the camera in the future.
The problem was that the film advance seemed completely jammed. The Vito's film transport system is controlled by a set of "film feeler" rollers on the left hand side of the camera (similar in principle to those on a Rolleiflex). These rollers detect film passing over them. They are usually in a locked position, preventing film from being advanced. Each time the shutter is fired this lock is released, allowing one frame of film to pass over the rollers. After they detect a frame of film has been advanced the rollers lock the entire transport, including the film advance knob (on the right). This is achieved by a disc fixed to the top of the rollers, which rotates when they do. The disc has a small notch in it, into which a pin slots. The transport is locked when the pin is in the slot; when the pin is retracted, the disc can rotate, so film can in turn be advanced.
The weak part of this otherwise simple and robust system is an incredibly complex and fragile series of external linkage rods. These served to connect the film transport (under the top plate of the camera) to the shutter release on the folded-out lens board. They are stamped out of thin metal and are easily bent. On the Vito the shutter will only fire with film in the camera and if you've remembered to cock it. I suspect that the previous owner was frustrated by the refusal of the shutter to fire and so applied excessive force and bent the linkage rods out of shape.
The good news from is that I eventually managed to bend the linkage rod back into place very easily, even though it is buried deep behind the bellows of the camera. It turned out that the leverage of a screwdriver at the right angle worked perfectly. I did try everything else before daring to do this, because I was worried about ripping the bellows if the screwdriver slipped. In the process I worked out how to disassemble the top part of the camera, which also permits cleaning of the viewfinder.
To access the film transport unscrew the film advance and rewind knobs using the large screws in their centres. Then undo the small screws at each end of the top plate. Lift this off carefully, ensuring that the film counter cover, viewfinder etc don't fall out. The viewfinder, film transport cogs and gears can then simply be lifted out for cleaning. I was interested to discover that the small toothed wheel used to manually reset the film counter on the Vito is set at an angle to the other gears. At first I had thought that it had become bent out of shape and might be causing the film advance problem, but it seems this is part of the design to get all the gears to fit under the cover and place the wheel at a more ergonomic angle under the user's thumb. Despite Voigtlander's patchy reputation for quality control the precision workmanship on the gears is impressive.
I also attempted to remove the entire lens and shutter assembly, as I could then have collapsed the bellows completely, giving better access to the linkage. This proved impossible as I don't possess a shutter/lens spanner wrench. This is required to undo the rear element of the lens and then the shutter, I assume. If anyone else has needed to try this could they post their experiences please?
Another clever feature I noticed is the tiny little ridged lever at the end of the shutter release button by the cable-release. This can be raised to lock the shutter open on bulb, even if you don't have a cable release to hand - very ingenious. Also, an earlier owner has glued a crib sheet of exposure reminder information inside the top lid of the leather case. This is a cunning solution as it's always visible when you're using the camera.
All in all it's a relief that the Vito's now fully functional (except the slow speeds...) as it's a great, if somewhat quirky, little camera. |
Adrian
Tinkerer
Username: Adrian
Post Number: 164
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 26, 2008 - 01:15 pm: |
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Great set of info - just the sort of thing this place needs! Thank you for posting it.
Somewhere on Pablo Martinez's website (Google "If its rusted its mine") there's a picture of a home-made lens wrench - I think its in the article about a Coronet camera. Useful - but practice before you use, as they are a bit fiddly!
Adrian |
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