willie_901
Veteran
After carrying my Zeiss Ikon ZM with me daily for two and a half years, the rangefinder infinity horizontal alignment became an issue. The infinity mis-alignment just slowly increased with time.
Despite the generous and helpful advice posted in this forum on how to adjust the rangefinder, I decided to send the camera to Zeiss for repair.
Yesterday Zeiss returned my camera and I'm very pleased with the results. I shot a quick roll of film using my c-Sonnar 50/1.5. Both distant and close-up (in rangefinder photography I consider subjects 4-6 feet away to be close up) focusing is spot on. By spot on I mean the focusing techniques I used before the horizontal mis-alignment became significant worked as expected. Along with the rangefinder alignment, the focus cam tolerance was checked. The c-Sonnar DOF asymmetry (a.k.a. focus shift) at f 1.5 was not problematic (just like before). Zeiss also replaced the leatherette (which I did not request) as part of the basic service fee.
Zeiss's communication regarding the repair was excellent. My camera was gone for 6 weeks (door to door). Zeiss returned the camera via Fed-Ex. The total cost was $98 plus one-way shipping to New Jersey. I am a very happy Zeiss customer.
Now I'm ready for another 2 + years of ZM photography.
Despite the generous and helpful advice posted in this forum on how to adjust the rangefinder, I decided to send the camera to Zeiss for repair.
Yesterday Zeiss returned my camera and I'm very pleased with the results. I shot a quick roll of film using my c-Sonnar 50/1.5. Both distant and close-up (in rangefinder photography I consider subjects 4-6 feet away to be close up) focusing is spot on. By spot on I mean the focusing techniques I used before the horizontal mis-alignment became significant worked as expected. Along with the rangefinder alignment, the focus cam tolerance was checked. The c-Sonnar DOF asymmetry (a.k.a. focus shift) at f 1.5 was not problematic (just like before). Zeiss also replaced the leatherette (which I did not request) as part of the basic service fee.
Zeiss's communication regarding the repair was excellent. My camera was gone for 6 weeks (door to door). Zeiss returned the camera via Fed-Ex. The total cost was $98 plus one-way shipping to New Jersey. I am a very happy Zeiss customer.
Now I'm ready for another 2 + years of ZM photography.
