Bessa R3A focusing patch not centered

[nmorozov]

Bought R3A as a backup body for Ikon. Focusing path is not centered no matter what lens I attach. Alignment at infinity seems correct. Is this a common problem (or problem at all)?

My other rangefinders are all dead-center as far as focusing patch...

Thanks in advance.

 

[gliderbee]

Bought R3A as a backup body for Ikon. Focusing path is not centered no matter what lens I attach. Alignment at infinity seems correct. Is this a common problem (or problem at all)?

My other rangefinders are all dead-center as far as focusing patch...

Thanks in advance.

It is centered in the viewfinder, but not in the framelines: as these move, the patch "becomes" (it actually doesn't move) decentered.

Stefan.

 

[nmorozov]

Nah...

Nah...

Patch stays in one place - no matter what framelines are selected (as it should). But it is off-centered, and it is off-centered for any frameliens, of course.

So, may be framelines are mis-aligned?

Best,
Nick.

 

[gliderbee]

Patch stays in one place - no matter what framelines are selected (as it should). But it is off-centered, and it is off-centered for any frameliens, of course.

So, may be framelines are mis-aligned?

Best,
Nick.

The patch stays in one place, and that should be the center of the complete viewfinder, not the center of just the framelines, no matter what framelines you select, but if you put a lens on the camera, and set the distance, you'll see the patch will be centered in the framelines also (or in other words: the framelines will center themselves around the patch and in the viewfinder) when set at infinity.
In the Leica M, the patch moves when setting the distance, In the Bessa, it doesn't move, but the framelines do, so, visually, it looks like the patch is decentered, but in fact, it are the framelines that are (with regard to the whole viewfinder).
I don't think there 's something wrong with the camera.

 

[nmorozov]

Thanks a lot to Stephen Gandy for off-line help. Issue is resolved and Bessa turns out to be 100% fine.

 

[Krosya]

So, what was the issue - and what was the help that resolved this issue?

 

[wolfpeterson]

It isn't an issue, it is a feature called parallax correction. Because you are not viewing directly through the lens, there is a slight difference in vantage point between the VF and lens. At infinity, it doesn't really matter. When you start to focus closer, the framelines move right and down to reflect more closely what the lens will see.

A small experiment:

Close your left eye.
Raise your index in front of your right eye.
Now close your right eye and look at your finger with the left eye.

Of course rangefinders don't focus that close but you should now understand why the framelines shift when you focus close!