Retina IIIS Conundrum

[Ezio]

I've recenty acquired a Kodak Retina IIIS in very good conditions and fully working (even the meter!), which however shows a perplexing defect.
AFAIK installing any of the available lenses should result in the appropriate frame becoming automatically visible in the finder, while the largest frame (for the 35mm lens) remains always visible. In my camera, this does not happen - only the largest frame shows, irrespective of the lens.
If I understand it correctly, the frame projection function is controlled by the same concentric pin that also provides RF coupling. There is no visible sign of damage to the pin, and the RF works perfectly well. The frame even moves for parallax correction, so the linkage is not broken. But then, where are the frames for 50, 80 and 135mm lenses?
If this is a pointer to something gone bersek in the camera's innards, is it repairable? Or, am I missing something? (This being a Retina, I wouldn't be surprised being told, "BEFORE installing a new lens, you must do three somersaults to the left, touch your nose with your left big toe, and then....")

 

[rbelyell]

this may not be the specific case with your situation, but ive had the iiis and the iv, which is not a rf, and they both utilize the same mount, and can thus mount the same dkl lenses.

however, not all dkl lenses are rf coupled! by dint of luck of the draw, one of my dkl lenses was not rf coupled, and thus while it mounted fine on the iiis, none of the rf functions worked. in my case, i much preferred how the iv operated and ended up selling the iiis.

tony

 

[Uglee]

I hope this reply is not too late . Take a close look at the rangfinder coupling pin. You should see a small collar rising from the base. This collar will activate the frame lines when pressed down by the corresponding lens. It should catch the outer edge of the rangefinder slot on the lens to activate the frame line. It may be simply stuck and a light cleaning will free it.