Vitessa L Problem

Hi all, well I received my first rangefinder in the mail today, a

Vitessa L with Ultron f/2 lens.

 

Here's my problem. Most of the time, the plunger does its job, that

is to advance the film and cock the shutter. I'm then able to press

the shutter release and all's golden. Unfortunately, about 25

percent of time when I push down and release the plunger, the shutter

trips as the plunger comes back up. It almost works like it's on a

bulb setting (there's a point where I can hold the plunger and keep

the shutter open indefinitely). Is there anything I could be doing

wrong to cause this? Is this a common problem with Vitessa

plungers? Might it have to do with the V setting, which I believe is

a self-time that I can't get to function correctly (or maybe it is

and I just don't know it)?

 

Since this item was purchased off the auction block, I would

certainly return it if this isn't easily correctable.

 

Many thanks for any suggestions you can provide.

 

Dan

No that is not normal.

 

The Vitessa is a complicated and beautiful little beast but a little delicate IMHO. The connection of the plunger and the shutter release button to the actual lens mounted shutter is an excercise complex leverages.

 

Yours could be a simple problem, try to understand how the various levers work on the inside of the barn doors and you might get a glimpse of what is going wrong. If the seller offers a return option and you are mechanically challenged...I would suggest a return.

I have several Vitessa L's and I have not experienced that problem. It seems to be conventional wisdom to never use the self timer feature on cameras that are over 50 years old. Several of my Vitessa's have trouble with the slower shutter speeds, but I never use these with hand holding anyway. Whe all is working, the Vitessa is a little jewel with a great lens.

Marco and Kerry,

 

Thanks for your suggestions! For what it's worth, I'm now able to replicate the problem and, in a way, compensate for it. If I give a little (actually a fair amount of) forward pressure to the plunger as I press it down, it doesn't trip the shutter. Likewise, if I press the plunger straight down or with pressure toward any other direction, it fires the shutter during the release. I imagine the Vitessa manuals don't recommend treating the plunger like a joystick, so I'll be returning this (hopefully).

The problem with the Combi-plunger in the Vitessa-L occasionally releasing the shutter as well as cocking it is identical to what I have found in one of the three Vitessa-T cameras that I have recently acquired. Mine are shortly going into a professional shop for CLAs and repairs, after which I will be briefed fully on how this happened.<p>

 

I also intend to buy a junk Vitessa-T that I can pull apart and figure out myself how to avoid Combi-plunger related problems in the five rebuilt cameras that I intend to keep, use and maintain.<p>

 

In the one camera body with the most problems, the Combi-plunger neither rotates the film advance or the film counter unless the film release button beneath the lens has been pushed. Furthermore, the sometimes the presumably cocked shutter does not release, and at other times, the Combi-plunger both cocks and releases the shutter. I presume these all are related problems in the linkages, but I cannot be certain until the camera body is opened and the linkages are inspected.<p>

 

Arnold Harris<br>

Mount Horeb WI