Vito CLR: Match-Needle Pointer Clunky

[Jim-st]

Hi-

A couple of months back I bought my first RF, a Voigtlander Vito CLR, from that auction site

It all works pretty well, and must have impressed me as I now seem to have a Bessa R and a growing collection of CV and FSU lenses.

I have one problem with the CLR, though, and that is that the match-needle pointer is a bit prone to sticking, and it needs a tweak to the extreme of the aperture or shutter ring to get it shift, which it then does with a sudden jerk and an audible click. I'm guessing this is not the expected behaviour, and wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to whether it's worth trying to fix it

Any suggestions welcome

Jim

 

[batterytypehah!]

Hi Jim, welcome to RFF!

My first real camera was my father's old Vito CL - same as yours, minus the RF. I liked it so much I used it for years, lugged it through your beautiful corner of the world the summer of '90, in fact.

It's the red indicator that's sticking, right? Not normal. Should be quite smooth.

The meter is easy to get to, I did that once. (Not sure about the extra complication due to the RF on yours.) I think there are three screws holding the top of the camera, one of them where the advance lever rests. The whole stamped metal top lifts off. The meter is a self-contained unit but needs to engage the linkage from the lens coming in from below. Could well be the source of your problem.

Don't forget to jot down your settings before you separate the meter from the body. Better yet, take the opportunity to "calibrate" the meter - by that I mean make sure it agrees with sunny 16 (or another known good meter, if you have one) when you're putting it back together. There was some provision for adjustment, although the details escape me now.

Good luck.

 

[Jim-st]

Hi batterytypehah!

Thanks for replying to my question. Yes, it is the red indicator that's sticky, and thanks for your suggestions on how to deal with it. A bit scary, and it'll have to wait a couple of weeks til I get back here from imminent Italy trip, but I will give it a try and let you know how it goes.
If it seems to be getting too complicated I'll probably back off, because although it's a bit of a nuisance, I've had fairly good pictures out of the CLR, so maybe I'll opt to live with it and its one significant foible. From what I read, I'm quite lucky that selenium meter is working at all after 45 years or so!

Thanks again

Jim