Bessa R Winder Problem

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marknyc

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Sorry if this has already been discussed -- I could not find a thread on it. I have had my Bessa R for about five years and it has served me well, but the last three rolls through have had winder issues. About three or four times in the roll of 36 the winder has not worked properly so I have too big or gap between frames or frames overlapping.

Has anyone else had this problem?

If there is not an easy home fix, where can I get this repaired (I am in the US -- Los Angeles. Yes, I know my name is MarkNYC . . . )

Thanks
Mark
 
I have the same problem with my R2A, but without using the Triggerwinder. You can see these two threads: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91547 http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=82333 Roger Hicks writes "I've had the same problem with all the Bessas I've had (L, R, T, R2, R2S, R3A) but it's not serious -- I've never had an overlap that I can remember". I am surprised that Cosina-Voigtlander can produce the cameras with a defect that appears so often. I contacted Stephen Gandy today but he asked me 175 USD + 40 USD shipping cost as a minimum of repairs. I wonder if it really worth ...I am also surprised that this happened to me with the purchase of R2A from Cameraquest that seems a reliable seller. Unfortunately, some days have passed since the expiry of the warranty. But the problem occurred from the beginning.

Luigi
 
CV Warranty

CV Warranty

luiman said:
I have the same problem with my R2A, but without using the Triggerwinder. You can see these two threads: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91547 http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=82333 Roger Hicks writes "I've had the same problem with all the Bessas I've had (L, R, T, R2, R2S, R3A) but it's not serious -- I've never had an overlap that I can remember". I am surprised that Cosina-Voigtlander can produce the cameras with a defect that appears so often. I contacted Stephen Gandy today but he asked me 175 USD + 40 USD shipping cost as a minimum of repairs. I wonder if it really worth ...I am also surprised that this happened to me with the purchase of R2A from Cameraquest that seems a reliable seller. Unfortunately, some days have passed since the expiry of the warranty. But the problem occurred from the beginning.
Luigi
Click to expand...

I'm really surprised that with a problem that has been apparent "from the beginning" that you waited until the warranty had expired before seeking to address the issue with the supplier. A warranty is offered by any manufacturer in good faith so that if something unexpected happens within a reasonable time and it is not due to abuse, then they will fix it. Seems kind of dumb not to take advantage of that. With an expired warranty and a problem you did not advise anyone about, why now do you think Stephen should do anything other than what he's offered to do? It's nothing to do with his reliability as a seller - it's a lot to do with your failure to take action as a consumer.
Having said that, I had occasion to send my R4A to CV in Japan through the Australian Distributor for a repair to the flash synchronisation recently.
I had bought it second hand, no warranty, and it cost pretty much what they quoted - a bit over $100, and I got it back in about three weeks. Nothing to complain about there!
Just do it.
 
I appreciate your defense of Cameraquest, but I don't think it is necessary because I have not made any accusation against Stephen Gandy. I have not exercised before the warranty for two reasons: 1) the problem does not occur always; 2) the problem started to be boring lately, when I started using a film scanner.
 
Hmmm. Thanks for the responses. Sounds quite expensive for the repair. Unfortunately the issue is big enough for me to have to worry about. Actually, it is getting worse -- the last roll had overlap on more than half of the shots, sometimes as much as 1/4 of the frame. Not sure what I will do.

By the way, I agree luiman's message did not look like a criticism of Stephen (who I have also had very good dealings with in the past).
 
Did you use it heavily these 5 years? Don't get me wrong because I like these cameras and currently own an R4M and a Rollei RF (R2?) but never expected them to last under real use. This is Cosina's mass market amateur body also available in many guises and were not meant for heavy use. Expectations should be pretty low. It is not a Leica nor is it an FM2. Most of the $400 probably went into the rangefinder assembly which is damn good.
 
OK. Firstly apologies for misinterpreting Luigi's comments re Camera Quest.
However, my point remains that it's not smart to ignore a problem until the manufacturers warranty expires - for anything!
As for expensive repairs - it's all relative I suppose. The R4A developed a malfunction in the shutter circuitry that could not be fixed in Australia. It required replacement of the circuit board. The fault allowed the shutter to fire OK but any flash used would fire randomly and regularly without reference to what the camera was doing. At first I demurred, as I use flash infrequently. Then I realised I used the R4A more than the R3A and it had become my main camera. At that point I had to decide whether to get it repaired (AUD$125 incl freight) or buy a used M6TTL body (about AUD$2000). And since the M6 framelines don't go wider than 28mm and I use a 25mm lens quite often it seemed a simple solution. I'll miss out on the "Leica Glow" (which I think is more to do with the emotion of ownership than anything else) but instead have two fully functional user cameras that provide backup for each other.
 
I used it fairly heavily for the first couple of years of ownership, then i got a new M7 about two years ago and I have been using the Bessa a lot less. It is only very recently the problem has manifested itself. I am in two minds as to whether to repair or not. Luckily, I have the M7 as my primary camera so it is not the end of the world, but I have a good deal of affection for the old R.

Thanks for the help.
 
Have you tried phoning / taking it to a camera shop that has a repair person ('or uses a guy')? I'd be surprised if you couldn't find one in LA that could give you a quote.

I suggest this because the Bessa is made by Cosina, and surely it would have pretty standard cosina winder parts inside it that are / were common with dozens of other cameras - apart form the rangefinder and double shutter of course. My best guess would be a either a worn nylon cog / gear, loosening of some screws or some sort of clutch problem. All pretty standard camera problems.

Here's a link to another forum that discusses another (I think) Cosina product, the Nikon FE. The author suggests 3 pretty simple reasons for frame spacing issues. I think any camera repair person could sort this out for a pretty reasonable charge.

Get that Bessa repaired! Good luck.
 
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