Canon VT deluxe - adjust the rangefinder?

M

M like Leica M6

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My VT is such a nice camera... but the rangefinder is not adjusted. If I set my 2/35 to infinity and point at an object far away the rangefinder pad is 'too far', the problem is much worse with my 2/100 and 3.5/135. WIth the 2/100 the rangefinder believes it is set to infinity though it is set to ca. 20 meters. At f2 all shots would be out of focus.

Is there a way how I can do the adjustment on my own? I am not a mechanic...
 
Mount the camera on a tripod and set the focus of a known good lens to the infinity mark.
Aim the lens and camera at a far away object like a church steeple , or a far away chimney etc.

now remove the cover screw beside the view finder window in the front.
insert a very small slotted screw driver and minutely turn it until the two rf images of that far away object coincide.
re seal the hole with the screw you took out when done.

check for vertical rf image alignment after this procedure.
this can be corrected by removing the round rf window trim ring and turning the rf window slightly till correct vertical rf alignment is seen thru the VF. Place the trim ring back when finished.
 
Also, when zeroing the rangefinder, it is important to use a lens that has an accurate focusing cam. Canon made a dummy lens for this purpose. If using a lens, use a Canon or Leica 50mm lens, there's nearly zero chance it would be misassembled and lead you astray.

On any LTM lens, the focusing cam should protrude 7.5mm into the camera (back from the lens mounting surface) when the lens is focused at infinity.
 
John, now I understand why... I did as recommended with the 2/35 Serenar that came with my VT, the "zoom" finder made it possible to adjust the rangefinder very precisely.

Then I tried my other LTM lenses: Canon 2/100 and 3.5/135, 1.5/50 Zeiss, and they are all slightly different. The 2/100 and 3.5/135 had been in maintenance a year ago, together with my M6 and their LTM-to-M adapters, and they work fine on the M6. Can I assume that their cam is fine and I should trust these lenses more than the others and use them to adjust the rangefinder again? What can I do to make the others work fine?
 
M like Leica M6 said:
John, now I understand why... I did as recommended with the 2/35 Serenar that came with my VT, the "zoom" finder made it possible to adjust the rangefinder very precisely.

Then I tried my other LTM lenses: Canon 2/100 and 3.5/135, 1.5/50 Zeiss, and they are all slightly different. The 2/100 and 3.5/135 had been in maintenance a year ago, together with my M6 and their LTM-to-M adapters, and they work fine on the M6. Can I assume that their cam is fine and I should trust these lenses more than the others and use them to adjust the rangefinder again? What can I do to make the others work fine?
Click to expand...

How does your 35mm Serenar lens focus on your M6 with the LTM to M adapter?
If it is fine on the M6 , I would run a film test on the Canon VT using various LTM lenses at full bore and at 1.2 metres to 10 metres and to infinity.
Use a tripod and a cable release and take some notes down on the different settings and focusing distances, you could be just splitting hairs.
 
I have 3 LTM lenses that are perfect on the M6, I adjusted the VT rangefinder with them as fussy as possible and now ran a test film... let's see how that develops 🙂

Thanks for your advice
 
If the focusing cam of an LTM lens doesn't protrude exactly 7.5mm when it is focused at infinity, it is goofed up.

There are many hack ways to adjust the focusing on Leica lenses and cameras. There is only ONE right way.

1. The body must have the correct flange to film distance - 28.80mm for LTM, 27.80mm for M. The flange must be parallel to the film.

2. Every lens must be collimated to focus at infinity when the focusing ring is set to infinity. This is, of course, tested with the correct 28.80mm or 27.80mm distance.

3. Every lens must be adjusted to have the cam protrude 7.5mm (LTM) or 6.5mm (M) when the focusing ring is set to infinity.

4. The rangefinder must coincide at infinity when the roller is 7.5mm in from the flange (LTM), or 6.5mm in from the flange (M).

5. When the lens is focused to 1 meter, the cam should have moved forward about 2.8mm.

6. When the rangefinder is focused to 1 meter, the roller should have moved out about 2.8mm.

I won't stand by the exact accuracy of the 2.8mm number. I did the math a bit carelessly. That is related to the "rate" of the rangefinder.

This is the ONLY way to setup Leica lenses so that they are interchangeable between cameras.

You can hack a set of lenses and a camera to match each other, ignoring these standards. But then the camera and lenses are junk, since they are not interchangeable with other Leica equipment.
 
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