Sticky Voigtlander Vito CLR shutter

I have obtained recently a second Vito CLR that seems to work fine

(even the lightmeter) but has a sticky shutter. It speeds up after a

few clicks, but then goes back to being sticky. So, is this

something that I can repair myself, or can anyone recommend a good

place to send it? Thanks mucho.

You can try to clean it from behind. The good thing, is that the shutter is in the back of the lens, not between the lenses like usual. So, you can try to clean it without taking it apart.

 

Others will give you cleaning advice, but I think q-tips and rosenol is the usual advice.

The answer is no. Repairmen will fix the problem for 90.00 to 125.00.

 

To prevent this, "exercise" all between the lens shutter monthly. You trip the shutter at each speed 10 times. This is particulary important for shutters slower than 1/50th or 1/60th of a second.

 

Lynn

I'd be hesitant about using any type of cleaning fluid on the shutter blades. At best, you run the risk of contaminating the rear lens element unless you completely disassemble the thing.

Professional camera repair is very expensive and very often can exceed the value of the camera. It is also not for the beginner since it requires special skills and tools. Many amateur repairers ruin several cameras before they perform a succesful repair; either that or they disassemble a camera and then cannot put it back together again. It's best to buy cameras that are in good working condition and leave these problems to other people.

Well, I think I managed to fix the sticky shutter, sorta.

 

I removed the top chrome part of the camera by removing the three screws that hold it to the rest of the body (two on each side, one under the winding lever) as well as the pleather around the lens assembly on the front of the body. I saw that the lens assembly was attached to the body by four screws -- removing them allowed me to remove the entire lens assembly from the front of the camera body. Then, I removed the three tiny screws holding the focusing ring and then I unscrewed the rear lens element using a simple homemade lens wrench. Then, I dunked the whole assembly minus the lens elements into a bowl of 91% alcohol, shook it around a bit, cocked and fired the shutter a few times etc. then did the same in a second alcohol bath, and then placed it in front of a warm hair dryer on top of some paper towels as I continued to cock and release the shutter and dabbed the shutter and diaphram blades with a q-tip until all the alcohol evaporated and the shutter/diaphram was dry.

 

Then, I cleaned and replaced the element and put the lens assembly back together and attached it onto the body again. Everything sorta just went back together without a problem -- rangefinder seems to be still accurate as before, shutter clicks and doesn't stick at all. The grease around the focusing ring had accumulated some grit, which I cleaned. Having very lightly regreased the bushing, it is now moves silky smooth.

 

The biggest problem I had as with three pins that kinda fell out of lens assembly but I think I got them back in the right places after some fiddling. They seems to be involved in the rangefinder mechanism and the in focusing.

 

I say I was only "sorta" successful because of two problems

 

1- I lost the tiny screw that goes behind the winding lever. The other two screws are holding the top chrome part to the camera body by themselves, so losing one of the screws is not a major catastrophy, but I'll have to get a replacement for that screw -- maybe a watch repair place will have them?

 

2- I wonder whether the shutter mechanism requires some sort of special lubrication, which obviously I removed with the alcohol but did not replace. I'm not sure. Anyway, as long as the shutter doesn't stick anymoe, I think it can survive without lube for the few pictures that I plan on taking with this camera for now. It was fun taking it apart anyway!