photoman12001
Member
I'm looking for assistance in adjusting the rangefinder on this camera whether through instructions or sending it somewhere for service.
I bought it on a whim about a decade ago at an antique store in Virginia. It was cheap; I can't remember how much but probably no more than $50. I had no intentions of ever shooting film again so I purchased it to be only a neat item for display. I didn't know anything about it and just like the way it looked. Fast-forward 10 years and I've jumped head-first into film while having long forgotten this camera tucked away in storage. A few weeks ago I remembered it and finally found it after searching through many boxes. I only remembered a neat folding camera and had no idea what it was. I was pleasantly surprised to find a camera that was in really good shape and apparently a very decent one after some Internet research. I was super excited to discover that it uses 120 film and anxious to use it if possible. Having no idea how it functioned I sought out a manual and began verifying the mechanics.
I was surprised to find that most things were working properly and the bellows had no light leaks.
However, there were two glaring issues:
This is the only photograph I have of the Zeiss. I just used it as a background item with these knives for some reason. Seeing this photo on my phone during a recent flight is actually what reminded me that I own it and initiated the search. I'll take other better photos of it and post the results from the first roll soon.
- I've done a lot of digging and not found any detailed instructions.
- I did find a few people who might service it but haven't heard back from them.
- The specific issue is that I can't get the rangefinder adjusted properly both horizontally & vertically. I can get it adjust for one or the other and choose vertical.
- The rangefinder patch also travels diagonally during focus, though I'm not sure if this is normal or not. All my other rangefinder cameras just travel horizontally.
- All other functions seem to work perfectly well and a test roll yielded good results.
- I'd still like to get the rangefinder functioning properly so I feel like I can trust it while traveling.
I bought it on a whim about a decade ago at an antique store in Virginia. It was cheap; I can't remember how much but probably no more than $50. I had no intentions of ever shooting film again so I purchased it to be only a neat item for display. I didn't know anything about it and just like the way it looked. Fast-forward 10 years and I've jumped head-first into film while having long forgotten this camera tucked away in storage. A few weeks ago I remembered it and finally found it after searching through many boxes. I only remembered a neat folding camera and had no idea what it was. I was pleasantly surprised to find a camera that was in really good shape and apparently a very decent one after some Internet research. I was super excited to discover that it uses 120 film and anxious to use it if possible. Having no idea how it functioned I sought out a manual and began verifying the mechanics.
I was surprised to find that most things were working properly and the bellows had no light leaks.
However, there were two glaring issues:
- The rangefinder was misaligned. It traveled diagonally while changing focus and never aligned with the primary image horizontally or vertically.
- It didn't seem to focus at all. I couldn't see any change in focus on a piece of tissue paper affixed to the film plane and saw no movement of the lens in/out as I turned the focus wheel.
- I was able to get access to all the lens surfaces and clean up the majority of haze and such.
- After removing the center/front elements I found they were seized together. I'm guessing that they were rotating in unison during "focusing" which is why the focus never changed. I got them separated & lubricated. Focus then seemed to be working properly.
- The next issue to tackle was the rangefinder. After fiddling with the gears for a while I was able to figure out how to make some adjustments. However, I could only get the rangefinder patch aligned either vertically or horizontally, not both. I decided to go with vertical alignment and test the camera with film. It's still moving diagonally too.
- There were no issues with film advance, shutter, aperture.
- After developing the film, focus seemed to be good for the most part despite the rangefinder issue. It might be less accurate as the focusing distance gets closer though.
This is the only photograph I have of the Zeiss. I just used it as a background item with these knives for some reason. Seeing this photo on my phone during a recent flight is actually what reminded me that I own it and initiated the search. I'll take other better photos of it and post the results from the first roll soon.