Which 6x9 to cla ?

[littlemax]

I have recently visited my repair shop for an old 534/16 which looked nice but had a few things not right (film advance was erratic, focusing ring uneven due to dried grease, and the repairman suggested a RF calibration)
The estimate is 200 € so won't be able to fix all my 6x9 that I have gathered over time.

At the moment I have 2 6x9 that may be good enough to be fixed:a Bessa RF with color heliar or a 531/2 with a Tessar 105 3.5

They both have common issues : RF not calibrated at infinity or vertically, slow speeds inaccurate etc ..

Though my main concern is the framing of shots:

In the Bessa RF the viewfinder is very tiny and basically when we look into it we can see a square (this is a 6x9).
I realised I had to pan/tilt my head to see the sides of the window (I wear glasses but even without glasses I end up doing the same)

On the 531/2 there is this funny doubled window popping. It is more workable yet it is very foggy. I can surely frame but can't see the subject of the photo.
So taking a shot with this camera would be an X steps process with 3 steps being : looking into the rf window, looking at my subject and then looking into VF.

I guess it is the fun 😀 of using ol cameras but maybe you can help me decide which camera to fix and if my repairman will be able to "unfog" 531/2 VF if I give this one.
In this case I think the Zeiss is probably the best option...

 

[littlemax]

Edit : I am a bit stupid. The Bessa RF was probably accepting 6x6 masks as the VF has two positions. And was looking through it in the 6x6 position. It looks much better now.

After thorough check the Bessa has only vertical misalignment. I will just use it as is I think. And delay the Zeiss fixing.

I have read the Voigtlanders are prone of vertical misalignement but not sure how to fix it. The Bessa RF is heavily riveted with not many screws visible. I can see a screw below the top plate in the right spool location. The screw is a bit damaged and not easily accessible, maybe this is the one ?

 

[Solinar]

Two Golden Oldies - 😎

Two Golden Oldies - 😎

Yes, the old prewar Bessa RF is prone to having it RF patch vertically misaligned. Should you wish to have it re-calibrated, here are two links that you can forward to your repair person.

http://www.corff.de/Klappkameras/contrib/Etteldorf/Bessa_Justage.html

https://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2315385&postcount=4

A heads up: the focus thumb wheel/dial will need to be re-calibrated to infinity, as the next to last step before using the camera.

 

[littlemax]

thanks a lot Solinar. I will print these and bring them to Formosaflash in Paris.

Also RE the 531/2 I have read Albert Kampermann review that he made this year : https://vintage-photo.nl/perfection-from-the-thirties-zeiss-ikon-super-ikonta/

It seems the blurred VF is very common. Mine is very blurred though. Albert says it is due to some yellow coating aging.
I can't even see this coating eventhough the reverse magnifying glass part of the VF has a "mirror like" coating that looks perfect.
Also Formosaflash don't do coatings.

I will bring the two and check with them. The Bessa seems to be the best option as of now.