Rangfinder adjustment required?

[thegman]

Hi all,
I have a ZI and a Nokton 35mm 1.4, the pair appear to work together perfectly, however, I happened to be focusing on infinity out my window, and in the viewfinder a distant apartment block (maybe 500 metres away, maybe a bit less) did not seem to be perfectly focused in the focus patch.

I tried focusing at a much closer range, about 1m, and it seemed to be correct, is this normal?

If it indeed needs an adjustment, I don't really like the idea of doing it myself, so an anyone recommend a central London place I could get this done? The Classic Camera is reassuringly expensive, but not sure if they'd do this kind of thing or not.

All the best

Garry

 

[youngmrcurtis]

Try pointing it at the moon, or something a few kilometers away, it could just be that 500m isn't far enough.

 

[thegman]

Hmm, I'm not sure about about that, it's almost like it's too close, when I focus, I see the two images closing in on one another but I can't get them to quite match up as the lens stops at infinity. I just had a thought that maybe looking through a window isn't helping, maybe there is some kind of refraction happening?

I'll have to give it a try tomorrow outdoors.

 

[payasam]

Looking through a window should make no difference. I agree with youngmrcurtis that the moon is an excellent target. Take a look, from below, at the cam follower wheel near the top of the lens mount. If it has a slot like the head of a screw, then that is the adjustment. The CV Bessa, though, has adjustments under the accessory shoe.

 

[thegman]

Does not seem to be a slot in the wheel, but I've seen before the screws under the accessory shoe on this forum. Would it be a matter of focusing on infinity and adjusting until it looks correct?

Also, should the patch be in focus when it appears brightest? i.e. if I push my eye against the viewfinder, the patch appears brighter and more contrasty, but distant objects are not aligned, if I move my eye away a bit, the contrast goes away but the distant object appears better aligned.

Thanks for the help...

Garry

 

[jonmanjiro]

It could be the lens. Have you tried other lenses on the camera?

 

[jonmanjiro]

If it is the camera at fault, you can fine tune the infinity setting by adjusting a screw under the shutter speed dial (not the hot shoe). Check out this page for details.

 

[thegman]

I don't have any other lenses unfortunately, I did not consider it could be the lens at fault, it just seems the camera is a more fiddly/sensitive thing and more likely to have it's settings waver a bit.

I don't really fancy doing this myself, I've owned it for less than two weeks, and it's my first rangefinder, so I'd probably rather drop a little money having a professional do it. I'll try it today, on long distances, and see if it's worth taking somewhere to get looked at.

 

[thegman]

Hello, thanks to everyone who advised here, I took the ZI and lens along to a dealer, who confirmed that infinity focus was way off. I've left the ZI with him to wait for an estimate on adjustment/repair, a shame, but I'd rather have it looked at by a pro than fiddle myself.

Garry

 

[Vertigo2020]

If you call Richard Schleuning 973.226.7387 rschleuning@zeiss.com at Zeiss USA he'll assist you in getting the camera repaired. Cost of rangefinder adjustment is $125, however the camera must be sent to Germany for the repair.

 

[thegman]

I've left it with the chaps at The Classic Camera in London, they seemed happy to do the repair themselves, and I'd rather that than have it fixed in Germany and get knocked out of alignment again on the way back.

 

[Vertigo2020]

My bad...thought you were in the US.

 

[thegman]

No problem, maybe I'll mail him anyway if the price is sky-high here (this is London after all)...

 

[monopix]

Maybe a bit late now but Malcolm Taylor who is usually known for repairing Leicas did look at mine for me before I decided to pop the top and write the page noted above. He is at:

Malcolm Taylor
Upper Lye Farm
Aymestrey, Hereford
HR6 9SZ
(UK)
+44 (0)1568 770 542

He advertises in the back of AP.

 

[thegman]

I'll bear him in mind if The Classic Camera is too pricey, but I'm reluctant to send it off and risk it getting a knock in the post, I'd rather walk into a London shop and get it done there.

 

[Vertigo2020]

Mine just made the return trip from Germany back to the US without a problem. Took about 6 weeks but was well worth it.

 

[Huck Finn]

I'll bear him in mind if The Classic Camera is too pricey, but I'm reluctant to send it off and risk it getting a knock in the post, I'd rather walk into a London shop and get it done there.

It's a non-issue. Just keep using the camera & enjoying it. 🙂

 

[thegman]

Well, it's getting fixed right now, apparently it has a "loose prism" and I should get it back on monday, the price was not too bad, so I'm relatively happy with that.

 

[monopix]

apparently it has a "loose prism"

Seems highly unlikely. If the prism was loose the rf alignment would keep changing. It probably just needed adjustment.

Don't suppose you'd tell how much this is costing just as a matter of interest.

 

[thegman]

Hi there,
It's costing about £92 inc. VAT. The repair guy says it's a loose prism, I don't know much about the internal workings, so I have to take his word for it as someone with much more experience than I. Sure they could be making it up to make a few pounds, but I don't see why, as there absolutely *is* an issue with the range finder (it could not get to infinity, at all), so why invent another one?

I also don't think it's a mistake, as this shop is a Leica specialist, who also sell Zeiss stuff, so they've likely got decades of experience with range finders like this.

Call me too trusting (generally I'm very cynical), but I think/hope that they've diagnosed it correctly and I should get it back ready to run film through it. Also, the repair has a 6 month warranty, so should I not be happy, then I can take it back.

Frankie, it's at the shop right now, so a bit late I'm afraid. Although the camera could not get to infinity, the lens stopped before the focus patch images align on infinity, so I do still think there is a problem to be fixed there.

Cheers

Garry