Building a Voigtländer Prominent system

I took a metal string, hooked it around the pin and pulled and pulled and pulled and it jumped back into position. I don't have a soldering iron so I can't resolder one of the flash wires that is loose but I can do it later and be without flash.
 
Madre Mia! It works!

It still have the sticky second shutter that won't close entirelly after a shot, but now I feel confident enough with the construction (talk about a tank surviving my "repair") to clean them to see if it helps. What should I try? Any special lubrication for it?

I'm now sure, seeing the construction and the fault, that the fact that the whole shutter was slightly loose messed it up.
 
Yes she is a beauty and a mechanical beast too - like the Bessamatic!
I wouldn´t tread her with hitting and shaking - she isn´t a woman :D!
Give her a good CLA and you will have a cam that satisfies you and works for years!
 
BW400CN said:
Yes she is a beauty and a mechanical beast too - like the Bessamatic!
I wouldn´t tread her with hitting and shaking - she isn´t a woman :D!
Give her a good CLA and you will have a cam that satisfies you and works for years!
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I will probably have to do it by myself as as nearly nobody in the EU seems to give me a good price or even seem interested in doing it. Zacks seems great though, and it's a shame he lives so far away from me.
 
Well, as I said, stop hitting it. That's a good start. I suppose I should qualify that. I tap cameras occasionally. For instance if the self timer or slow speed escapement of a Compur shutter sticks, it is almost always possible to get them to run off completely with a little vibration. But I'll generally tap around the shutter housing with a knuckle. Don't go belting things, please.

I've done a fair bit of tinkering with a few Voigtlanders, and the older ones were pretty nicely made in my view. As I alluded earlier, I actually made a bid on a Prominent I with Skopar lens a few days ago and really should have bid a bit higher, as it went for around $115 (needed a darned good clean and some TLC, though). Point is, I would have been pretty confident of getting it working again as they were well constructed, so fixing problems, providing an example hasn't been abused, frequently consists of nothing more than a need for some cleaning of mechanisms to remove old lubricants, re-lubricating if necessary, and re-assembly.

I should also point out that Thomas Tomosy's book Repairing the Great Collectible Cameras (1945-1970), pages 27-31 in my edition, has a fairly detailed section on the Prominent I. I suggest you procure this book and consult it before proceeding, because you're not dealing with a Canonet or Yashica RF here but something much more collectible, valuable and (at the risk of offending some, I'll go ahead and say it); beautiful. Ie. don't go off half-cocked.

In fact, if you intend to do your own repairs, I suggest you procure all his books. They're not perfect, contain the occasional factual error, and I don't agree with his recommendations of graphite for lubricating shutters, personally (at least, not German ones), but they are still worthwhile reference sources. Just because you are doing your own repairs doesn't mean you can't take a professional approach to your work, and part of that includes using quality tools, and collating available reference material for specifications and information. The quality of your repair work is entirely up to you.

Having said all that from the sounds of it some cleaning with lighter fluid may be in order. A suggestion which has been known to polarise discussions about repairs!

Please note that I am not suggesting you douse the mechanism with fluid. "Flood cleaning" may be in order for individual assemblies that have been removed from a camera, but is a desperation measure when used on an assembled camera, as it invariably disperses lube to places it ought not be and causes more problems than it solves.

However, you may find that a drop of fluid on clean lens tissue, gently applied to the rear shutter in a wiping motion (watch the edges of the blades, don't snag them!) followed by wiping with a clean, dry lens tissue may, at length, restore proper function to them. They will stick if they are contaminated with oil. This procedure will render them clean, be prepared to spend a couple of hours repetitively doing it, firing the shutter every few minutes after cleaning to draw contaminants to where you can reach them. Did I mention camera repair can be tedious?

Thomosy comments in his Prominent article regarding the focusing module that:
"This is one of the most complicated focusing mechanisms I have ever seen".
​
So be warned that, if you are liberal with the lighter fluid and contaminate the focus components, you'll be in way over your head. When I say a drop of lighter fluid on lens tissue, I mean precisely that: a drop!

No guarantees the above suggestions will get it cycling happily again, however if you follow my instructions as outlined you will do no harm (and that is the first commandment of camera repair). You may always if necessary proceed to disassembly should it be unsuccessful and will not have created further problems to solve.
Cheers
Brett
 
Thanks for the write up! Maybe it sounded worse that in reality, it was more like gently tapping with the soft handle of a plastic screwdriver than beating it. I doubt that I will need to touch the focusing part (the one in the actual camera?) as it works just fine. The only thing struggeling is the shutter.

I actually just bid home a second Prominent (way worse cosmetics) kit as I wanted a new Ultron, a hood and a turnit finder, all in the kit. So if the shutter in that unit works better I can probably just switch them and at least have one good copy. It will also come with a Dynaron and a second Skoparon (marks on a element) so I will probably sell excess parts.
 
Sounds like you have the Prominent bug! I don't blame you. 1950s Voigtlanders are very pretty things.

The focus module should not require any attention, however its proximity to the shutter means that unless care is taken to avoid an excess of lighter fluid, it may become affected by it, with undesirable consequences, hence my mention of it.
Cheers
Brett
 
Sarcophilus Harrisii said:
Sounds like you have the Prominent bug! I don't blame you. 1950s Voigtlanders are very pretty things.

The focus module should not require any attention, however its proximity to the shutter means that unless care is taken to avoid an excess of lighter fluid, it may become affected by it, with undesirable consequences, hence my mention of it.
Cheers
Brett
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The Prominent bug is wonderful! I can't say tht ergonomics are as bad as people write either and the focusing knob may not be a good design but it works. Left eye dominant would have a tough time though.
 
Wow! This has been a wonderful story to read - you have constructed it just like a novella, with a crisis, resolution, and even the promise of further adventures to come. Thank you!
 
Chris101 said:
Wow! This has been a wonderful story to read - you have constructed it just like a novella, with a crisis, resolution, and even the promise of further adventures to come. Thank you!
Click to expand...
It felt like one too, I just wait for the anti-climax.

That Focar B lens seems to be rather unusual and I can't really think of a good way to use it.
 
I've adjusted the rangefinder to sync properly at infinity. Is there anything more I should think of here? The horizontal screw is (Edit. it loosened) now it supertight so I really had to work slowly and careful to calibrate it.

The second shutter sort of works is slow in the end and sometimes need a few pushes on the shutter button, some camera movement or small movement pull of the advance lever to close the blades completely and lock the shutter button. It should be possible to use the camera anyway right?

The self-release rarely fail anymore. I've checked the speeds and 1s=2s and 1/2s=1s but the rest seems good.

Is it ready for film guys?
 
I'm one of those who bash the camera when asked what I think about it. I think the prices for this camera are not justified by its usability. However, the market sets the prices, so plenty of people disagree with me.

Love the Ultron lens. Not a fan at all of the Prominent body.

I think the Vito III (also with an Ultron lens), which shares the body frame with the Prominent, is a much better camera as a user. Of course, it doesn't have interchangeable lenses. Win some, lose some.
 
I just got the second Prominent with stuff. It was supposed to in excellent condition but it's not.

Camera: Was covered and filler with (cat?) hair and the viewfinder is blurry due to heavy fungus. Mechanically otherwise in better condition and my other one and the shutter works way better.

Dynaron: Fungus on glass and you can see something fuzzy inside the barrel.

Skopar: Supposed to have minor marks on one element but can see something fungus like on multiple elements.

Ultron: Nice condition actually.

310/49 Hood: Good condition

Turnit: Fungus fungus fungus everywhere and heavy dust inside.

Oh boy, I will contact the seller and see what can be worked out but the descriptions weren't true at all.
 
Got back the short test roll I took with my own Zacks-repaired Prominent and Nokton. Other than the slow speeds still being a bit slow, all is great -- the Nokton is really a superb lens; you need to find one!

Too bad about that second Prominent -- God knows where it was stored for all that time. (Are you sure you don't want to send your stuff to Zacks?)
 
Yeah, god knows how it was stored. The Turnit was a supereasy and the condition don't seem to have had any irreversible adverse effect. Now it's clean and disinfected in every way and works fine.

One fun fact is that the first Prominent got scales in meters and the second one in ft, really confusing for me when I switch between them!
 
I went on with servicing the Turnit and it was extremely easy and now it's an good condition, it had suffered no irreversible damage.

Voightländer Turnit repair 3 by A.Sundell, on Flickr

Voightländer Turnit repair 2 by A.Sundell, on Flickr

Voightländer Turnit repair 1 by A.Sundell, on Flickr


Starting to look quite nice and I've shot some film to check things and had two mysterious lock-ups that suddenly just loosened, but it may be a user fault. The Dynaron is usable but in need of service and I will probably switch the shutters between the cameras. Does anybody know how to adjust the composition lines properly in the viewfinder? Can can barely see them as they are too blurry.


Voigtländer Prominent + Ultron + Skoparon + Dynaron + Turnit - Front by A.Sundell, on Flickr

Voigtländer Prominent + Ultron + Skoparon + Dynaron + Turnit - top by A.Sundell, on Flickr
 
First roll shot but I broke the film while rewinding, I know why it broke though. I hit the end of the roll at a slight pull of the advance lever and apparently it put some tension on the counter spool, so despite pushing the rewind knob it suddenly ripped the film on two.

As guessed it was the case (the film felt too short) I opened the camera in total darkness and now keep the film in a light sealed case. It probably looks really ugly though after having me pulling it out by hand. Oh well, at least the I won't feel any pressure of getting it right the first time when I get my development kit.
 
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