Voigtländer Bessamatic - dreaded shutter jam

Theo Sulphate · Sep 17, 2014

Ten or so years ago I bought a nice Voigtländer Bessamatic and made many fine photos with it. Alas, the behind-the-lens leaf shutter became jammed some years ago (shutter is cocked but won't release). I've been told that repairmen don't want to fix them because it's such a difficult job.

However, I would be willing to pay enough to make it worth someone's time and effort.

Is there anyone who does this?

Being unskilled and unknowledgeable about camera repair, is there anything relatively simple I could try?

summicron1 · Sep 18, 2014

probably needs a clean and lube, I was referred to Zack for my Richard Busch f40 Verascope and he said he can do it if it's not missing parts. We'll see...

anyway, link: http://www.zackscamerarepair.biz/index.html

Peltigera · Sep 18, 2014

I had this with my Bessamatic and the flushing with naphtha worked fine. That was a couple of years ago and no further problems.

gone · Sep 18, 2014

Right. Flood it w/ lighter fluid, and give it a couple of good knocks on the table top. That will usually work wonders, but if it doesn't, perhaps it would be cheaper and better to buy a fully working one w/ a guarantee and sell yours.

People go on and on about lighter fluid being a no no in cameras. I wish these folks could go into the repair shops and see what goes on in there! Anything that fixes the problem is the name of the game, up to and including an open flame and a good sized hammer. Or, as we said in the Alfa Romero shops (where the cars were always valued far more than the most expensive camera) don't force it, get a bigger hammer.

One of my favorite things to do w/ customers that just couldn't keep out of the shops was to rev the engine in their $40,000 Maserati to about 7,000 rpm and dump a cup of water into the carburetor. That really opened their eyes, and did a nifty job of cleaning off the carbon on the top of the pistons and valves. Just don't stand over the engine, as it has a nasty tendency to back fire and shoot blue flame out of the top of the carb. If it was a particularly aggravating car owner I'd sometimes "forget" to point this out. They didn't need those eyebrows anyway, and I definitely didn't need them in my way.

Theo Sulphate · Dec 23, 2014

UPDATE, 2014.12.23:

The lighter fluid approach did not work - however, I did find an experienced camera repairman who knows these cameras and is willing to work on it.

I will provide details later.

Thanks, everyone, for your help.

Brett Rogers · Dec 23, 2014

momus said:
Right. Flood it w/ lighter fluid, and give it a couple of good knocks on the table top. That will usually work wonders, but if it doesn't, perhaps it would be cheaper and better to buy a fully working one w/ a guarantee and sell yours.

People go on and on about lighter fluid being a no no in cameras. I wish these folks could go into the repair shops and see what goes on in there! Anything that fixes the problem is the name of the game, up to and including an open flame and a good sized hammer. Or, as we said in the Alfa Romero shops (where the cars were always valued far more than the most expensive camera) don't force it, get a bigger hammer.

One of my favorite things to do w/ customers that just couldn't keep out of the shops was to rev the engine in their $40,000 Maserati to about 7,000 rpm and dump a cup of water into the carburetor. That really opened their eyes, and did a nifty job of cleaning off the carbon on the top of the pistons and valves. Just don't stand over the engine, as it has a nasty tendency to back fire and shoot blue flame out of the top of the carb. If it was a particularly aggravating car owner I'd sometimes "forget" to point this out. They didn't need those eyebrows anyway, and I definitely didn't need them in my way.

That is appallingly bad advice in relation to a Bessamatic. Clearance between a rack and the bottom plate is quite tight. The cover is easily bent which will simply stop the mechanism in its tracks if the rack gets jammed, which it usually does. I was going to suggest removing this bottom cover to the OP as a possible fix (if the whole mechanism is locked, not just the shutter, they can wind even if the shutter is sticking). Having belted it on a table a few times (if they took your advice) that bottom cover is now probably fucked.

Theo Sulphate · Dec 24, 2014

The bottom cover is fine; I didn't whack it

I guess wear, lack of lubrication, parts being out of time, or some combination thereof is the cause. Regardless, I'm confident it will be repaired properly. I'll be getting it back in January.

Kodachromeguy · May 19, 2019

Theo, this is an old thread. Did the Bessamatic repair work out? Are you using the camera?

Theo Sulphate · Jun 11, 2019

Kodachromeguy said:
Theo, this is an old thread. Did the Bessamatic repair work out? Are you using the camera?

Somehow just saw this now.

Yes - my Bessamatic was expertly repaired and returned to me within 10 days at a very modest price. The guy who did it told me the Bessamatic was actually the first series of cameras he was given to work on when he first started camera repair long ago.

After receiving the camera back and testing it, I asked the repairman if I could give him public credit here and he declined because he already has plenty of work to do and, getting old, he wants to reduce his workload. However, he is known to some people on this site.

The camera works perfectly - even the self timer.

I have used the camera numerous times since then and it's been fine; exposures were good.

It will be a sad day when our best repair people of older cameras are gone.

Voigtländer Bessamatic - dreaded shutter jam

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency