ALFA MALE
Newbie
G'day all,
I picked up an early Voigtlander Vitessa from a local second hand store recently. I fell in love with the design (I was also a bit tipsy at the time...) It has the flap holding the film in place and the bottom does not come completely off. I seem to be having a problem with the rewind crank. Normally I like to put a bit of tension on the film when I first load it by rewinding it just a bit but when I spin the crank it doesn't seem to do anything. When I first go it there also seemed to be a problem with the film advance (it would only advance every now and again) and I thought the problems might be related but I have since squirted some lighter fluid into the advance mechanism gears and that seems to have made it far more consistent. However the rewind problem remains. The crank just seems to spin as though its not attached to anything, but if you feel inside and crank it the fingers inside the camera are definitely spinning around. Is there something obvious I'm missing or a specific quirk with the Vitessa? I've attached a photo of the winder arm and gear, to me they look a bit stripped but I have nothing to compare it to.
Any Suggestions?
Cheers
https://flic.kr/p/TJRypj
I picked up an early Voigtlander Vitessa from a local second hand store recently. I fell in love with the design (I was also a bit tipsy at the time...) It has the flap holding the film in place and the bottom does not come completely off. I seem to be having a problem with the rewind crank. Normally I like to put a bit of tension on the film when I first load it by rewinding it just a bit but when I spin the crank it doesn't seem to do anything. When I first go it there also seemed to be a problem with the film advance (it would only advance every now and again) and I thought the problems might be related but I have since squirted some lighter fluid into the advance mechanism gears and that seems to have made it far more consistent. However the rewind problem remains. The crank just seems to spin as though its not attached to anything, but if you feel inside and crank it the fingers inside the camera are definitely spinning around. Is there something obvious I'm missing or a specific quirk with the Vitessa? I've attached a photo of the winder arm and gear, to me they look a bit stripped but I have nothing to compare it to.
Any Suggestions?
Cheers
https://flic.kr/p/TJRypj
Last edited:
ALFA MALE
Newbie
UPDATE:
I had a closer look the other evening at the crank and it definitely appears as though the crank rewind mechanism is stripped, so even though I could feel the fingers turning inside if they were manoeuvred in any other way, they would slip. It appears that Voigtlander changed the design of the crank when they updated the model. I managed to find a complete bottom cover online with one of these newer designs. Unfortunately on these really early Vitessas the bottom covers do not come completely off, so my plan is to swap in a new crank. It looks like it's just a snap ring holding it in place, so fingers cross it shouldn't be too hard...
I had a closer look the other evening at the crank and it definitely appears as though the crank rewind mechanism is stripped, so even though I could feel the fingers turning inside if they were manoeuvred in any other way, they would slip. It appears that Voigtlander changed the design of the crank when they updated the model. I managed to find a complete bottom cover online with one of these newer designs. Unfortunately on these really early Vitessas the bottom covers do not come completely off, so my plan is to swap in a new crank. It looks like it's just a snap ring holding it in place, so fingers cross it shouldn't be too hard...