Voigtländer Vitessa

<p>I have a Voigtländer Vitessa (original "bomb door" model). It works fine except that the rangefinder won't focus closer than 4 feet - the patches stop moving at this distance even though the lens will focus via a thumbwheel at the rear of the camera to a little less than 3.5 feet. I suspect this is a design fault, since the focus mechanism moves the whole of the front lens panel backwards and forwards and probably simply runs out of travel at 4 feet, but can anyone who has this camera confirm that this is normal?</p>

<p>I have this camera and I dont think is normal. When I bought the Vitessa camera it was perfect, after few months it had a similar problem and was related with the rangefinder mecchanism, finally the rangefinder stop working and when I took the camera to the repairman he was not able to repair it. Now I have a beautiful camera with a excellent lens that is scale focus.<br>

If possible, my recommendation is to send it to repair.<br>

Good luck.</p>

<p> </p>

I can't confirm if this is "normal" but I'd say ..it may well be! A design fault? Probably not just a practical limitation. C'mon this isn't an SLR and under three feet is way too much parallax to overcome that it is no longer practical. A range finder is in name alone a proximity device. The greater the rangefinder base the more exact the measurement.I'd say that three feet or 90cm is a pretty standard minimum focusing distance. Back in th day you could buy special viewing attachments for "close-up" work!

<p>Mine goes all the way past the 3.3 foot mark. The problem in yours is built up grease at the end of travel of the "arm" which is blocking its travel all the way to the end. It is a simple cleaning job but I must warn you it takes three hands to reassemble these and you have to do it with the camera up-side-down. The prism had come off on one of mine and needed reattaching. It was not really difficult but I would recommend you only try it when you are feeling patient and had a good night's sleep.</p>

<p>When the RF is off, aligning it can be a pain of a DIY job :</p>

<p> <a href="http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/vitessarf.html" target="_blank">http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/vitessarf.html</a><br /><br /><br>

Too many tiny bits and ball bearings to get swatted by your cat and swallowed up by the carpet.<br>

Best left for a competent repair shop.<br>

However, did you check the actual focus at the film plane ? Scotch-tape and a yardstick might save you from a needless waste of money, for the time being. <a href="http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/collimator.html">http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/collimator.html</a> </p>

<p>Thanks guys, looks like a CLA will fix the problem.</p>

<p>Camera back from CLA and working great!</p>