GF670/GF670 vertical adjustment

[Peter_S]

Hi,
has anyone had luck adjusting the vertical RF patches on their GF670 or Bessa III/667W? I have a GF670W that is slightly off. Horizontal alignmnent (middle screw) is a breeze, but vertical...I tried the left small screw, but that seems to sharpen just the patch (which is useful given the short RF base). The right large screw does nothing. I know minor mis-alignment is not an issue and all, but it does bother me (I move my eye upward to compensate, but checking with laser pointer the alignmnent is not perfect).
There was a disussion somewhere on the internet, but I cannot find it - perhaps offline.

Thanks,
Peter

 

[CameraQuest]

Yes, the factory does a great job.

For most DIYSers working on the Voigtlander / Fuji 667 folders or wides is really bad idea.

They are exceptionally complicated cameras which most experienced repair techs have difficulty repairing,

I suggest a back up plan before you start.

Find an experienced tech who will take on a DIYS repair damaged camera -- if you can.

 

[oldwino]

Yes, the factory does a great job.

For most DIYSers working on the Voigtlander / Fuji 667 folders or wides is really bad idea.

They are exceptionally complicated cameras which most experienced repair techs have difficulty repairing,

I suggest a back up plan before you start.

Find an experienced tech who will take on a DIYS repair damaged camera -- if you can.

So Cosina will service these cameras? Good to know...

 

[Peter_S]

Hi, thanks for the heads up - I do appreciate it. I have calibrated GF670s/Bessa IIIs a few times, but only horizontally (today, for instance, as I just got a used GF670W). The vertical one remains a mystery, though! In Norway it is almost impossible to get a service within a reasonable time and financial frame, and I do have the camera in hard use, where service on the road can be required.
The vertical alignment is now almost in line after adjusting horizontally (ground glass and laser rangerfinder) and patch (left screw), the image snaps notably better in focus. I will leave it at that.

 

[misteracng]

I just did the vertical alignment on gf670/w, and it took some time to figure out along with a lot of panic that I screwed it up. It is the large screw on the right with the camera lens facing away from you. How this works is not just tightening or loosening the screw. If you look the screw is holding captive a lever the goes forward. You need to push on on the part of the lever around the screw so that is is in contact with the base of the screw, which has a small round ledge. Then as you turn the screw to loosen it, meaning the screw is rising it will slowly lift the arm causing adjustment. So if you completely lower the screw and then push the lever down against it, the patch is very high. Then slowly loosen the screw, once it makes contact with the lever it will start dropping the patch. If you drop it too far, retighten the screw a bit, but you need to push the lever coupling down against the small rim on the screw and then repeat. This was the big revelation. The screw is not totally captive for vertical adjustment so you cannot just tighten and loosen the screw and move the patch up and down. If you over adjust you can to tighten the screw and push that lever back down to contact the ridge on the screw and retry. This is why everyone knows that screw is vertical alignment but so many people say when you turn it nothing happens. I am use to the horizontal adjustment which is the same as leicas, where the movement is one to one and completely captive. I suppose you can also use the bottom of head of the screw to push downward of the lever for adjustment doing it exactly opposite but it doesn’t seem like the intent to me. This was a real pain to figure out but now vertical alignment is so easy. Also use an old Nikon magnifier like a dg- which adjustments much easier and more accurate. It also makes adjusting the leftmost screw for patch focus much easier. You can change the focus of the magnifier between the VF and the patch easily, once they are both the same without changing the focus of the magnifier then the patch focus is perfect, it makes a huge difference, focus snaps into clear focus much better when everything is correct.