Voigtlander Bessa R3 rangefinder adjustment/calibration question

[tomperson]

Hi all!!!

Less than a month ago I bought a Bessa R3A from B&H. The camera is lovely, but as many people has already experienced, it came with an off rangefinder patch (infinity focus and vertical position out of alignment). I'm so frustrated with having a brand new camera with the rf patch off. And it was bought in the US (B&H) but I live in south america, so it's a royal pain sending it back to get it fixed.

So, I investigated on this, and came accross Arran Salerno's instructions for rangefinder adjustment http://www.arransalerno.com/blog/200...r-calibration/.

They are definitely the best out there.


I managed to get the cover off. I wouldn't have imagined the adjustment screws were so deep inside the body, though. The thing is, I wasn't able to fix the infinity focus (it's quite off), as the screw was so tight, and I'm worried about breaking something inside as i've read on many places that the whole mechanism should be handled delicately.

I have a couple of questions. Do you know which movement (clockwise, counterclockwise) moves the patch to the left or right? How much is it necessary to move the screw to actually see a difference? (1/4 of a turn, 1/8 of a turn, etc). What size screwdriver should I use to move the infinity focus screw? How "delicate" do I have to be? I mean, i haven't been able to move the patch so either I'm being too delicate, or the screw is too tight or something like that.

Any input will be highly appreciated.-

Thanks.

 

[billbretz]

The link got scrambled. I think this is what you are looking at:

http://tinyurl.com/lgs86w

Don't have any answers for you, though I do have an R I've not had to calibrate it (at least, I don't think I do!).

 

[John Koehrer]

The proper screwdriver is one that fills the slot & that means if you need to file it thinner you need to do it.
The better it fits the less likely it is to slip.
Adjust in TINY increments. 1/8 turn is a gross adjustment with something like this.