m.c.fitz

<p>Last fall, taken with a test roll in the Leica IIIC to determine if it was still working.<br> Turns out it wasn't, as the shutter curtain stopped firing after the first 8 or 9 pictures.<br> It has since been given a good CLA and is working better than it had since I've owned it. They also cleaned up the view finder window, which made an amazing difference.</p> <div></div>

<p>Ruins of old fortified château:</p> <p> </p><div></div>

<p>Another one from Pont en Royan last Sunday:</p><div></div>

<p>David Weiss, that is a lovely portrait of your father.</p> <p>Sunday at Pont en Royan:</p><div></div>

<p>Public flower gardens, late August.</p><div></div>

<p>Andrew Brown, thank you so much. I've taken a look at Rick Oleson's site and think it is going to be helpful.</p> <p>I would like to give this a try myself. I already know how expensive camera repairs and a good CLA costs, having had some equipment - Leica IIIC, Rolleiflex - repaired and given a thorough CLA by excellent people in Holland. But I am not sure they handle folding cameras, and the camera repair budget has been stretched to the limit at this point. <br /><br /><br> The cost of putting this camera into working order again would mount very quickly, especially if it had to be sent away somewhere for repairs. The cost of reliable transport alone is high, which means using the French postal system is out of the question, as reliable it is not.</p> <p>However it is a sweet camera and has sentimental value as well, so attempts shall be made to get it working again.</p> <p>Thank you again for your help and suggestions.</p>

<p>John Shriver, Bill Bowes, thank you for taking the time to suggest several repair services. Unfortunately they seem to be in the U.S., but I do not live in that part of the world.</p> <p>Shipping, return shipping, payments, currency exchanges, tarif for payments etc, quickly make a repair somewhat exhorbitant.</p> <p>Ken Rapp, thank you for your feedback and so sorry that you had bad experience with one of the suggested repair facilities.</p>

<p>Paul, yes, the shutter leaves are completely closed. Before putting film in the camera I verified that all speeds and apertures worked in terms of the shutter leaves.</p> <p>Self timer has completed its cycle. More than once in this attempt to diagnose the problem.</p> <p>Thank you again for your questions and insight.</p>

<p>John Wiegerink, thank you for your input.</p> <p>Yes, the shutter release lever returns to the ready position, but at this point the cocking lever has had enough, and will not return to the preset position <em>at all</em>, even after having activated the shutter release.<br> The shutter cannot be opened and closed in any position, T or otherwise.</p> <p>Thank you again for your help.</p> <p> </p>

<p>Thank you for replying, Andrew, here are the answers to your questions.</p> <p>The gap between the release paddle and the shutter release is normal. The paddle swings away from that position when the bellows are folding to close the camera.</p> <p>When activated, the paddle moves easily and completely into contact with the shutter release.</p> <p>Pushing only the shutter release does absolutely nothing at all, same as using a cable to fire the mechanism.</p> <p>None of these actions has any effect on the cocking lever at the top, except, perhaps, to unblock it, but not fire it.</p> <p>If the shutter release is not activated after the cocking lever has been set to fire, then the cocking lever cannot be moved out of that position by gently nudging it.</p> <p>Depressing the camera's shutter release at the rear platform activates the paddle, and it does indeed move far enough to fully engage the release lever on the shutter assembly.</p> <p> </p>

<p>It takes a cable release, and I've tried that, but it doesn't fire the shutter.</p>

<p>Paul, I tried doing that, but it didn't do the trick. Thanks for the suggestion.<br> And I realise that I haven't correctly explained the situation.<br> The paddle that presses on the shutter release lever is in place as it should be, and moves when I press the shutter release, but the lever that cocks and fires the shutter does not move. Something isn't connecting the one to the other.<br> I don't know if that helps to describe it clearly, perhaps not...</p>

<p>The last photo taken with the camera:</p><div></div>

<p>Hello, I'm new to this forum, although not new to Photo.net<br /> I have my grandfather's Voigtlander and in general it is in very good condition. The bellows are light tight, and the lens is clean. I started using it again recently, and took several rolls of film with it, but the shutter release has now given up the ghost.<br /> The mechanism for firing can be cocked but the lever that trips the shutter release is no longer engaged, so the shutter does not work.<br /> Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to go about trying to take this apart and see if it can be repaired?<br /> It isn't a straightforward camera to use, since it is zone focus, but I have become quite fond of both using it and the 6x9 format.<br /> Here is the camera itself:<br /> <br /> <br /> In advance, thank you for any help or advice.</p><div></div>